BETTY SHIMABUKURO / BETTY@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sue York's Aloha Kisses gelatin and cream cheese dessert uses two types of graham crackers in the crust. It won first prize in the Diamond Bakery recipe contest.
Local contest winners
recall simple snacks
made with love
Warm memories can be found in a cracker's crunch -- if it's the right cracker. It was with that thought that Diamond Bakery launched its search for the best cracker-based recipes and family tales.
The Search for the Ultimate Diamond contest required use of the Diamond line of Saloon Pilots, Royal Creems, graham or soda crackers.
Company President Brent Kunimoto said his own favorite story involves staying with his grandmother whenever he got sick, and how she'd give him sparkling water, soda crackers and soup -- "and then she would rub my head." To this day, he said, when he's given that combination of foods, "I feel my head being rubbed ... and I see my grandmother's face."
In similar fashion, the contest winners show how a simple snack can become such a tactile part of human memory.
Jo-Ann Morisato's first-place story recalled how her grandfather, a baker at Diamond, always served his guests soda crackers spread with butter and guava jelly. When Morisato was due to leave for an exchange program in Japan, her grandparents invited her over and served her their special snack. Her apprehensions about traveling alone disappeared.
"My grandparents didn't say much. They didn't have to. This was their special treat and way of telling me not to forget Hawaii and how important family traditions are. I left on the airplane that afternoon with a warm feeling and a peaceful heart. My grandparents have long since passed away, but anytime I need a warm memory, I bring out the soda crackers, butter and guava jelly."
Second-prize winner Arlene Young also reached back to childhood, and the treat of Royal Creem crackers spread with guava or strawberry jelly that her popo -- grandmother -- made. The treat capped off each afternoon spent playing in the kiawe woods or catching crayfish in the area that is now Kaimuki High School.
"Each of us was given only one cracker -- no seconds. Times were hard, so Popo needed to save the rest for another day."
As for the recipes, first prize when to Sue York for her localized take on the layered gelatin dessert, using pineapple and coconut -- and two types of Diamond graham crackers.
Second prize went to Heather Thomas for a creamy dessert with a cracker-macadamia-nut crust that she modeled after a recipe of her grandmother's.
To make topping: Combine gelatins in a bowl. Add boiling water and stir to dissolve. Mix in pineapple, reserved syrup and extract. Refrigerate until mixture is cool and begins to set, a little more than 2 hours.Aloha Kisses
>> Topping:
1 6-ounce package pineapple-flavored gelatin
2 small envelopes unflavored gelatin
2-1/3 cups boiling water
1 20-ounce can pineapple rings in heavy syrup, chopped fine, syrup reserved
1 teaspoon pineapple extract, optional>> Crust:
4 small packages cinnamon graham crackers
4 small packages Maui sugar graham crackers
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped coconut
1/2 teaspoon salt>> Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
8 ounces whipped topping
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons coconut extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
To make crust: Combine crust ingredients and press into baking pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool.
To make filling: Combine ingredients using a hand mixer. Pour into cooled crust.
Spread gelatin topping over filling. Refrigerate until completely set.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch pie plate.Macadamia Nut Cracker Torte
>> Crust:
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup fine soda cracker crumbs
3/4 cup copped macadamia nuts>> Topping:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Sliced strawberries, mango or other fruit, optional
Beat egg whites, baking powder, vanilla and salt until soft peaks form. Add sugar slowly, beating well. Fold in cracker crumbs and nuts. Spread in pie plate. Bake 25 minutes. Cool.
To make filling: Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Spread over cooled crust. Top with sliced fruit, if desired. Serves 6 to 8.
Nutritional information unavailable.
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