This vintage promo recipe from Spry was clipped from a newspaper and found in a large collection. Date is unknown but it’s pretty old (advertisement on back lists cream cheese at 19 cents a pound, 12 cans of grapefruit juice are 85 cents and 6 cans of fruit cocktail are 71 cents…ahhh the good old days). Aunt Jenny was Spry’s fictional spokeswoman and I have archived a few recipes and cookbooks featuring her (I’ll list them at the bottom of this recipe).

AUNT JENNY’S FRIED PIES

1 1/4 cups thick apricot puree
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Spry
6 tablespoons cold water (about)

Make a thick puree by rubbing sweetened cooked apricots through a sieve. Add sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, salt and nutmeg and mix well. Cool.

Sift flour with 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in 1/2 of Spry until mixture is as fine as meal. Add remaining Spry and continue cutting until particles are size of a navy bean. (Notice how quickly triple-creamed Spry blends with your other ingredients.) Sprinkle water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over mixture. With a fork, work lightly until a dough is formed.

Roll dough 1/8-inch thick and cut into 4-inch squares. Put 1 1/2 tablespoons apricot filling in center of each square. Moisten edges, fold dough over apricot filling, and seal edges with tines of fork. Fry in deep hot Spry (375° F.) about 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper. Makes 12.

(All measurements in this recipe are level)

More Aunt Jenny:

• Aunt Jenny’s Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies (cookbook)
• Aunt Jenny’s Rosy Rhubarb Pie
• Home Baking Made Easy (cookbook – Aunt Jenny intro)
• Spry Can Label with Recipes (with Aunt Jenny’s favorite cake recipe)
• Vintage Spry Can Label (with Aunt Jenny giving tips on using Spry)