Gwen Nakamura’s friends and family reap the benefits of her inability to sleep until the sun comes up. "I’m an early riser," Nakamura says. "I get up at 3 or 4 a.m."
And then what? She bakes. "This morning I made a lemon pound cake."
The proceeds are shared, often with the staff of the University of Hawaii Music Department, where Nakamura is assistant band director. You’ve seen her, often wearing balloon hats, directing the pep band at UH basketball and volleyball games.
Mildred Komoda remembered reading about a recipe for a pastry baked in a muffin pan that Nakamura had learned from her grandmother. She wrote, looking for the recipe from "the band leader of the university."
I didn’t have to look far, as Nakamura shared the recipe in "Hawaii’s Ohana Cookbook," published in 2011, a joint project of Mutual Publishing and this newspaper.
The recipe was inherited from Nakamura’s late grandmother Yumiyo Nakamura, who lived in Hilo. Gwen Nakamura spent summers with her grandma, following her around her kitchen and garden. The apple rolls were a favorite, and the only recipe she has from that time.
The kitchen has since become Nakamura’s happy place. "I find baking relaxing and fun — even the cleaning up. It’s all good."
She experiments a lot, lately with "a coffee-toffee brownie thing" and a "double Oreo cookie peanut butter brownie thing."
This apple-cinnamon muffin thing actually turns out a bit like a mini-apple pie. Serve it warm and you’ll be in a happy place.
GRANDMA’S HOMEMADE APPLE ROLLS
» 2 cups flour
» 2 tablespoons sugar
» 1/2 teaspoon salt
» 4 teaspoons baking powder
» 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into cubes
» 2/3 cup milk
» 1 large egg, beaten
Filling:
» 2 large apples (any type), about 1 pound, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
» 1/4 cup sugar
» 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Glaze:
» 1 cup powdered sugar
» A few drops lemon juice
» 2 to 4 tablespoons hot water
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
To make filling: Toss apple slices with sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Sift together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder (4 teaspoons may seem like a lot, but it’s OK). Cut in shortening. Add milk and egg, stirring to make a sticky dough.
Divide dough into 12 portions. On a work surface dusted with flour, roll out each portion into a 5-inch circle, dusting with more flour if dough is too sticky. Mound apple filling in center of circle. Gather edges over filling and crimp together to form a ball (use as much filling as you can fit, breaking apple slices in half if necessary; it’s OK if there are some gaps in the dough).
Place balls of dough into muffin pan, crimped side up. Bake 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, make glaze: Combine sugar with lemon juice, then gradually stir in just enough water to make a light glaze. Drizzle over muffins right out of oven. Serve warm.
Nutritional analysis unavailable.
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