Does this sweet treat look familiar? It's called a "retro bubble," although this particular one is filled with something very current – bacon jam. You can freeze it and warm it up in the toaster, and we'd love to learn how to make it. Got any ideas?
This retro bubble was made by a bakery in Austin called Retro Bizzaro. Its online menu explains that the bubbles are made with a whole wheat crust, filled with jams and then frozen. Customers can warm them up in the toaster.
We're intrigued. It sounds a cross between a pie and a Pop-Tart.
Imagine the possibilities – this would be a great use for homemade preserves, maybe even something savory like Oven-Roasted Tomato Jam with an herbed crust. Or a gingerbread crust with lemon curd filling.
The toaster idea also has us thinking. How great would it be to freeze a batch of these and pop one into your lunch bag for a treat at the office? It would also be a great homemade after-school snack to keep on hand.
But first, we need to track down a recipe. Anybody have one?
If it's really a retro treat, they must be out there somewhere. Maybe you know the retro bubble by some other name? Let us know!
- Retro Bizzaro
- Flickr: Retro Bubble
Related: Goes Well With Coffee: Homemade Pop-Tarts
(Image: Flickr user stetted, licensed under Creative Commons)
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It looks just like dorayaki!
These look like the hand pies my mom grew up with. Her sister called them "toasty tights." They used an iron/mold like this: http://www.besttoasters.net/hand-held-vintage-jem-toaster-for-camping/
Given the "retro" moniker, it seems like that might be what they had in mind to approximate. My grandma used bread and whatever filling her kids picked out - a piece of bread on each side, some filling, then clamp the mold shut and toast it over the stove (or campfire as the link suggests).
My parents made something similar to the "toasty tights", with the same contraption, but we called them flying saucers and were exclusively savory. And exclusively delicious.
I thought "toasty tights" was just my aunt's name for them, but it turns out that's a brand of this type of iron. I never knew: http://toastiterecipes.com/2009/05/30/toas-tite-60th-anniversary-a-bit-of-history/
@Avienda: This blog post references your flying saucers name!
Fun stuff.
Here's a recipe from Chez Pim for home-made pop tarts: http://www.chezpim.com/blogs/2008/08/how-to-make-you.html
I think you could probably make pie crust using whole wheat pastry flour and adjusting with some type of shortening to add flakiness to the pie crust. However, the crust in the above picture looks shorter to me than normal pie crust, so I'm guessing it has more butter in it than your standard pie crust. Time to start experimenting?
Forget how to make the bubble itself.
Someone tell me more about the bacon jam.
Yah, empresscallipygos, I'm with you on a post for bacon jam. I'm intrigued.
When I first saw the picture, especially when I noted the word "retro," I thought these were the filled cookies my grandmother used to make. In fact, come to think of it, they are the only cookie I remember her making. Interesting how we associate things - I can't see those cookies without thinking of her.
Growing up, our next door neighbor had one of these "toasty tights". We called it, and the sandwiches it made, smashers. They made the BEST grilled cheese sandwich pockets.
Hey Guys,
I'm Amanda the Bizzaro in Retro Bizzaro. Im excited to hear all of your minds working on the possibilites of what you could make! Our whole idea behind our company is re-inventing classics. This was our take on poptarts using local ingredients. If your looking for bacon jam we actually posted a simple recipe on our blog www.wordpress.com/retrobizzaro keep in mind my recipe is the sweet not savory recipe that has been floating around. Happy Baking!
Thanks, VeryKerry, for the shout out to Toas-Tite Recipes! A Toas-Tite sandwich maker is indeed a great way to make something like the "retro bubble".
There are a couple other types of sandwich irons which work similarly but go by different names (like Nutbrown or Pie Iron...in Australia, they call them "jaffle irons"). They're basically clam shell devices which crimp the edges of the bread together and allow you to toast the sandwich all over (if you want to).
These sandwiches go by other names too...pudgy pies, mountain pies, flying saucers. And when it comes to making them, your imagination is really the limit. We've made sweet ones, savory ones, we've even tried using pancakes and tortillas as the bread!
Wouldn't you get the same effect of this sandwich iron by just using one of those electric sandwich makers?