Sigh, A Giant Edible Pop-Tart
And a whole wheat pâte brisée recipe for a better homemade version.
Well, it’s the end of the world as we know it. You may have seen by now Florida Citrus Sports secured Pop-Tarts (owned by Kellanova, formerly Kellogg’s) as the title sponsor of one of their college football championships. At the end of this Pop-Tarts Bowl tonight, the winning team’s players will take turns consuming the first-ever edible mascot in the form of - you guessed it - a giant Pop-Tart. Take a moment if you need one.
Recommended listening: “Sugar, We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy (Chef’s pick), “Can’t Help Myself” by The Four Tops, “Imagine” by John Lennon, “I won’t back down” by Tom Petty.
The Giant Pop-Tart Problem
The food safety risks are enough to alarm me. The marketing to kids is too obvious (see the cartoonish face above). But the spectacle of extreme eating of sugary junk food begs many questions. I sent similar ones to the media contact at Florida Citrus Sports two weeks ago. Should he respond I’ll share his answers (not holding my breath).
Why do sports organizations often partner with Big Food for sponsors?
What is the process sports organizations follow for acquiring a sponsor? (Email me if you know; even my sports journalist husband didn’t.)
Is it appropriate to glamorize ultra-processed food to a national audience of families in a country with a metabolic disease problem?
Is there any appetite by sports event organizers to move away from junk food sponsors?
The Pop-Tart Point
No doubt sales of Pop-Tarts will spike in the days to come and following the game. Just as same-store sales at Chick-fil-A will likely rise after the Peach Bowl.
The Sugar Bowl (this year sponsored by AllState) while equally problematic on its face, came from the original location at Tulane Stadium. The university’s (now demolished) football field was built on the site of a former sugar plantation. So the Sugar Bowl is off the hook for now.
The Delicious Dichotomy
I can’t imagine a more dichotomous situation than watching high-performing athletes eat processed junk after a championship win. But the problem with food like Pop-Tarts isn’t occasional indulgence. It is the addictive nature of the “food.”
Big Food companies spend millions of dollars tweaking their “recipes” to achieve choice amounts of salt, sugar or starch, and fat that stimulate the brain’s reward centers. Here are Pop-Tarts ingredients, which are generally the same aside from “flavor” specifics:
Ingredients: Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin B1 [thiamin mononitrate], vitamin B2 [riboflavin], folic acid), corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, soybean and palm oil (with TBHQ for freshness), sugar, bleached wheat flour. Contains 2% or less of wheat starch, salt, dried strawberries, dried pears, dried apples, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), citric acid, gelatin, modified wheat starch, yellow corn flour, caramel color, xanthan gum, cornstarch, turmeric extract color, soy lecithin, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, color added.
The most delicious highlights are:
Enriched flour (but not unbleached). Many, if not most, refined flours are bleached during processing unless “unbleached” is on the label. I don’t drink bleach, so I don’t want it dancing with my flour.
Red 40 and friends. As I’ve previously shared, widely-quoted research links red food dyes to ADHD in children.
Caramel color. One of the most widely used synthetic colors in the food supply. According to the National Toxicology Program, it may be carcinogenic due to 4-methylimidazole. This 4-MEI occurs naturally in cooking processes such as roasting (the Maillard Reaction). The FDA claims it’s safe because the doses used in rat trials far exceeded the amounts in food products. I try to avoid it, just like I avoid completely blackening food. You do you.
All the different forms of sugar: high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, corn syrup, sugar. HFCS is perhaps the worst offender because of the higher percentage of fructose compared to the others. Excess free-floating fructose - that is not contained within plant fiber - is converted to fat in the liver, and implicated in fatty liver disease, among other diet-related diseases.
The Solutions
Bowl game organizers could seek out non-food or healthier food sponsors.
Congress could pass legislation preventing Big Food from advertising to children (attempted in 2009 and failed).
Kellanova could go back to the drawing board and whip up a better pastry with less sugar, more flavor, and no chemicals (pipe dream).
Since none are likely to happen, we the consumers can continue to speak with our choices by not watching, not buying, or both. Cheer on the home team, perhaps, but skip the Pop-Tarts. For a better homemade toaster pastry, you can whip up a half-from-scratch or lots-of-help-from-the-store version at home.
Edible Epilogue
A homemade version concocted from pie crust and jam is more akin to a cheat fruit turnover, but delicious nonetheless. It’s a fun project for school-age kids who need occupying over winter break. The crispy, flaky pastry crust with a surprise of sweet jam inside is delicious when eaten warm, with others, straight out of the oven.
As I baked with my seven-year-old he asked, “What’s a Pop-Tart?”
Change can start small at home.
Happy New Year!
Eat + be well,
Christina
Homemade Toaster Pastries
Simmer up homemade jam and make a whole wheat pie crust from scratch. Or buy both and get right to the fun part. Gluten-free friends will surely find buying premade dough easiest. For anyone who needs to avoid sugar, look for a jam at the store without any added sugar. The route you take for pie crust and the size of your rectangles will determine the number of filled pastries you get. Expect about four from one store-bought crust, and between six and eight for the pâte brisée recipe.
The Ingredients
homemade pâte brisée, your favorite pie crust recipe, or store-bought pie crust*
smooth jam, such as fig, raspberry, or strawberry
1 egg lightly beaten
For Easy Raspberry Jam
6 ounces or 170 grams of fresh raspberries (one small container)
3 ounces or 85 grams or ⅓ cup of granulated sugar**
zest of one orange
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon of powdered gelatin sprinkled evenly into ¼ cup cold water*
The Method
To make the raspberry jam. Bloom (activate) the gelatin by sprinkling it evenly over a small amount of cold water. Let it sit for at least five minutes. Smash the raspberries with a fork in a small pan. Then add the sugar and lemon juice. Bring the ingredients to a boil over the lowest heat possible. Cook the jam until the sugar dissolves and it begins to thicken, stirring as little as possible. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the gelatin mixture until completely dissolves. Transfer the finished jam to a heat-proof bowl and cover. Store chilled for up to two weeks.
Roll and cut the dough. Roll the dough thin to around ⅛-inch thick. Cut and trim as necessary to create an even number of rectangles. Size is the baker’s choice, but at least 3” x 2” is a nice portion.
Build the pastries. Fill half of the rectangles with a small spread of jam, brush with beaten egg around the edges, and top with the remaining rectangles of dough. Press firmly to seal the edges, and crimp around them with a fork for the signature look. Transfer the filled dough to a parchment paper-lined or nonstick baking pan using a large spatula. Chill for 20 minutes before baking to prevent spread in the oven. You can freeze the filled pastries, and bake from frozen.
Bake until golden brown. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C) while the pastries chill. Brush the tops of pastries with beaten egg and bake until the edges and tops turn golden brown, about 18 to 22 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from the pan.
Notes
*When shopping, look for pie crust made with no added sugar and unbleached flour.
** You can cut the sugar measure in half, use coconut sugar, or 1-2 tablespoons of honey instead.