Naturally sweet

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Sorghum is one of fall's most delightful products.

And, undoubtedly, the best way to eat it is by drizzling it over a spoonful of butter, mixing the two together and slathering it on a hot biscuit or corn bread.

"Pure sorghum has the best flavor, full and rich, smoky, woodsy, sharp, salty and sweet," says Mark Sohn, Kentucky's most authoritative writer on Appalachian cooking. "I like to serve it hot over pancakes or stack cakes. And of course, I microwave it with a pinch of baking soda, as that makes it bubble up."

Sorghum also is pretty good mixed with peanut butter, added to baked beans or used to glaze ham, and it's an important ingredient in ginger snaps and some barbecue sauces.

Many people think molasses and sorghum are the same, but sorghum makers will tell you that molasses is a byproduct of making sugar and often can be a blended product, even ­containing as much as 20 percent Karo syrup. Sugar cane does not grow in the mountains of the South, so the syrup produced in southern Appalachia is properly called sorghum, from sorghum cane.

Kentucky and Tennessee are the leading sorghum syrup-producing states, said Fred Sauceman, who has written about the traditions of making sorghum in Volume 1 of his book series "The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South, From Bright Hope to Frog Level." Sauceman also is the author of "Home and Away."

Arland Johnson, a member of the National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processors Association, makes sorghum in rural Washington County, Tenn., and he has a sign at his farm that reads: "Mother Nature in a Jug."

Sorghum syrup is a natural, pure product with no additives and contains iron, calcium and potassium. Before the invention of daily vitamins, many doctors prescribed sorghum as a daily supplement for those low in these nutrients, according to the processors association.

For more than 30 years, sorghum has been celebrated at the Morgan County Sorghum Festival.

"We started out with the dogwood festival to sell crafts, but it just didn't go," Barbara Perry said. Focusing on sorghum instead "was a chance for farmers to sell their product. It turned out much better and it's grown steadily."

Members of the festival committee printed a sorghum cookbook several years ago.

"They researched old cookbooks to get recipes, but most of them said use a handful of flour, a pinch of this, put in the oven and bake. That was tough," Perry said.

The festival also proved to be an opportunity for cooks and bakers to sell their sorghum specialties. For years, Ollie McKinney, now 99, made soft molasses cookies for her church to sell at the festival.

"They were always a hit. Ollie also made hand pies, fried apple pies and stack cake for the many festival visitors," Linda Oakley said. "Ollie is known for her excellent heritage cooking skills."

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SORGHUM SNAPS

1 stick butter

½ cup sugar

½ cup sorghum

½ tablespoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon baking soda

1Âľ to 2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together, then blend in sorghum, ginger and soda. Add 1 ¾ cups flour and test for stickiness. Dough should be slightly sticky but manageable if you lightly moisten your hands. Add extra ¼ cup flour if needed. Wet hands lightly, break off pieces of dough, and roll them into small balls. Space evenly on ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about 1½ inches between cookies. Bake in upper third of oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until nicely browned. Cool briefly on cookie sheet, then transfer cookies to a cloth towel to cool completely. Makes about 60 cookies.

From "The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South, from Bright Hope to Frog Level" by Fred Sauceman

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SOFT MOLASSES (SORGHUM) COOKIES

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup molasses (sorghum)

½ cup hot water

1 cup lard or Crisco

1 tablespoon soda

1 egg

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon ginger

5 cups flour

In a large bowl ­combine all ingredients except flour. Mix well. Slowly add flour, blending well. Mix to make soft dough. Roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Place cookies on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 ­degrees for 10 to 15 ­minutes. When cookies are cold, frost with favorite frosting. Makes 36 cookies.

From Ollie McKinney of West Liberty, Ky.

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SORGHUM STACK CAKE

Âľ cup brown sugar

Âľ cup shortening

2 eggs

Âľ cup sorghum

3½ cups flour, sifted

1 teaspoon each cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger and nutmeg

2 teaspoons soda

Âľ cup buttermilk

Apple filling (recipe follows)

Cream together brown sugar and shortening. Add eggs; beat well. Stir in sorghum. Sift flour with ­spices. Stir soda into ­buttermilk; then add alternately with flour to creamed mixture.

Grease and flour two iron skillets of the same size. Lightly warm skillets, then pour two ­heaping spoonfuls of dough (which should be rather stiff, like drop cookie dough) into the center of each skillet. Wet hands in ice cold water and pat dough toward sides of the skillet, making a very thin layer. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn out on baking rack when done. Add a bit of oil to the warm skillet and repeat until all dough is used. Makes 6 to 7 layers.

Stack layers, spreading apple filling in between.

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APPLE FILLING

4 cups dried apples (about 2 pounds)

3 cups water

2 cup sugar

½ teaspoon each cinnamon, allspice and cloves

Place apples, water and sugar into saucepan. ­Simmer slowly until apples are tender. This will take several hours. When almost done, add spices. Cool. Put about a cup at a time in blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.

From Lorene Trimble of West Liberty, Ky.

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SORGHUM PUFFS

4 cups sugar

ÂĽ cup Karo syrup

Âľ cup sorghum

½ cup water

Pinch of salt

3 egg whites

In a saucepan, combine sugar, Karo syrup, sorghum, water and salt. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture spins a thread or it comes to hard ball stage on candy thermometer.

In a bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Pour boiling hot syrup over egg whites, beating constantly. Beat until stiff like bread dough. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper.

From Lorene Trimble

Baked beans

1 large can pork and beans

1 medium onion, chopped

½ cup ketchup

½ cup sorghum

ÂĽ brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Bacon slices

Mix all ingredients but bacon in a bowl and pour into a baking dish. Cut bacon slices in half and lay across top of beans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

From Linda Oakley of West Liberty

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PUMPKIN MUFFINS

½ cup softened margarine

Âľ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sorghum

1 cup pumpkin

1 egg, beaten

1Âľ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

In a bowl, beat ­margarine, brown sugar and sorghum until creamy. Add pumpkin and beaten egg. In another bowl, mix flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg very well, mix into creamed mixture. Pour into greased muffin pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes one dozen.

From "The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South, from Bright Hope to Frog Level"

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REPLACEMENT VALUES

_Sorghum may be used in place of honey in almost any recipe on a simple 1-for-1 basis. The only exceptions are recipes for cookies and cakes that use baking powder, where the change might prove troublesome (recipes calling for baking soda will not cause any trouble).

_In meat sauces, barbecue sauces and baked beans, sorghum can be substituted for molasses on a 1-for-1 basis. In baking recipes such as cookies and cakes, sorghum should be substituted for molasses 1-for-1, but it is necessary to cut the amount of sugar used in the recipe by 1/3 because sorghum is sweeter than molasses.

_In replacing ordinary sugar with sorghum, increase the amount of sorghum by 1/3 over the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. At the same time, decrease the amount of liquid (milk and/or water) by this same amount. This keeps the amount of total liquids and sugars in balance.

_When replacing sorghum for sugar in baking recipes, some experience will be required. The exact ratios of substitutions might vary somewhat among different recipes. Also, it is not recommended that all sugar be replaced under most circumstances. Best results are obtained by replacing 50 percent to 75 percent of the sugar with the required amount of sorghum.

Source: National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processors Association

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© 2008, Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.).