Rise up to grab a bite! Rize Carmel is a comfy spot serving farm-to-table breakfast and lunch dishes, plus coffee, fresh-squeezed juice, kombucha and house-blended smoothies at 12957 Old Meridian St., Unit 100. The team there also offers seasonal, housemade Pop Tarts, with the recipe shared on this page as created by the Cunningham Recipe Group, just in time for warming chilly autumn mornings. To spotlight delicious offerings of this restaurant and other eateries, Visit Hamilton County Indiana tourism staffers embarked on an interesting special project for the past two years through an online, culinary video series called Around The Table.
POP TART RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
For the dough:
1 pound unsalted butter
25 ounces all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 1/5 ounces granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces light corn syrup
For cinnamon sugar filling:
1 1/5 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/5 pound brown sugar
3/4 cup cinnamon
For cinnamon icing:
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
For the dough: Cube and chill butter. Pulse chilled butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor until butter is pea-sized. Transfer to stand mixer with paddle attachment; add corn syrup and mix until smooth. Shape dough into disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.
Roll dough 1/4-inch thick and cut into rectangles. Place on parchment-lined sheet tray and refrigerate 30 minutes.
For the filling: Using stand mixer with paddle attachment, whip room-temperature butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (5-7 minutes). Scrape bowl, add cinnamon and mix 1 minute. Keep at room temperature while working; refrigerate only leftovers.
Assembly and Baking: Spread 1-2 tablespoons filling on half the chilled dough pieces, leaving edges clear. Top with remaining dough pieces and seal edges with fork. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, with time varying by actual size. Cool completely before icing.
Icing: Whisk together all ingredients and use immediately to top cooled pop tarts and let set.
Gabriella 'Gabby' Blauert, Hamilton County Tourism communications manager, says Around The Table was meant to highlight dishes that feature ingredients fresh from the farms in Indiana, baked items made in-house, creative menus, novel approaches to meal choices, globally inspired recipes and personal stories of local restaurant teams who shared inspirations fueling their culinary journeys and the impact they've made regarding bringing people together through food.
"Whether it's a cozy café, a bustling BBQ joint or a fine dining establishment, the Around The Table series celebrated the essence of local cuisine throughout Hamilton County communities," she says, noting it was a huge passion project for her.
The video series reflected details directly from owners and chefs of regional restaurants, such as Caffé Buondí (by the way, buondi in Italian means good morning or good day), Convivio Italian Artisan Cuisine, Eggshell Bistro, Angelo's Italian Market, Big Hoffa's Smokehouse BBQ, 9th Street Bistro, Nyla's Restaurant, Yafa Golden Coffee and Freeland's.
Around The Table also included insight from Delish Conversations with founders of dining establishments, such as the Wolfpack Restaurant Group with the Italian House in Westfield, Nyla’s in Westfield and Wolfies Grill in Carmel, Fishers, Geist and Noblesville.
All of these culinary leaders had specific reasons that they decided to start restaurants, cafes, roasteries, bakeries or food markets in Hamilton County, which typically included wanting to be a part of shaping the county's future as it grows while retaining its overall community charm, strong family values and thriving business environment.
There also were cultural benefits to factor in, per details cropping up in Delish Conversations. Madeline Gordon, manager of Wine & Rind, says the goal of the group's owners, Chuck and Tom Lazzara, was "to bring a little bit of Napa, Italy, Spain and France to the heart of Carmel."
Ristorante Roma owner Raffaele D'Eusebio moved from Italy to operate a restaurant in Carmel because the area "seemed very European and a nice place to start a business and settle down."
"Food, for me, is connected to a celebration. It could be a birthday, a Sunday lunch out with the family, a date, a reunion. Usually, all the moments around a table are shared with people worth sharing," explains Raffaele.
Raffaele since went on to recently open Charred, a steakhouse and bourbon bar, at 61 W. City Center Drive.
Hotel Nickel Plate's gastronomic design pays homage to the Nickel Plate Railroad. The restaurant tries to embody different cuisines from the stops along that railroad, which stretched from Buffalo, New York to St. Louis, Missouri. So, they offer Italian Beef, inspired by Chicago; a tenderloin, inspired by the State of Indiana; and fried/toasted ravioli, inspired by St. Louis.
Allie Commons says her lifelong dream was to own a coffeeshop. She achieved that goal by launching Rivet Coffee Bar & Roastery in Westfield. They opened their second Rivet location in the Westfield Public Library, then a third location in Zionsville.
Rocky Wals explains from where the name of his family-owned small batch bakery and cafe in Noblesville, Debbie's Daughters, came: "The Debbie in our namesake is Deborah 'Debbie' Downs, who had five daughters as well as seven sons. That's right, 12 children! And as these children grew, the family expanded to include many in-laws and grandchildren. Growing up in their house meant lots of family meals."
Rocky says their baked goods combine a love for creating food from scratch and sharing with others.
No matter what type of food establishment pursued, these regional food and beverage providers have a couple of aspects in common: adoration for community, respect for people and relationships built and bolstered around eating and drinking.
Editor's Note regarding OFFER FOR FOOD ENTHUSIASTS: For Carmel City Lifestyle readers, the Hamilton County Tourism team created a landing page with a form for sharing favorite culinary experiences in Carmel, or Hamilton County, plus their contact information for the chance to receive a 'Hamilton County Foodie Package' that includes a cookbook with more recipes from local chefs, as well as other surprises. For the opportunity to receive a special Foodie package, go to URL: VisitHamiltonCounty.com/Foodie.