Welcome to the continuing diary series "Let's Read a WHEE Book Together!" This week, we're continuing with David Kessler's The End of Overeating, Chapter 15. If you're just discovering this diary series, you will find links to the previous installments at the bottom of this diary.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
The End of Overeating, by David Kessler, M.D.
Chapter 15: Cinnabon: A Lesson in Irresistibility
How do you top off a meal of beef or chicken that has been tumbled in a cement mixer or pierced by hundreds of marinating needles? How about dessert at Cinnabon?
Kessler introduces us to Jerilyn Brusseau, one-time aspiring baker and restauranteur from the state of Washington. Many years ago, Brusseau's grandmother invented a recipe for cinnamon rolls, and after Jerilyn opened her French bakery/restaurant, her relatives begged her to add grandmother's country-style cinnamon rolls to the menu. Word of mouth led to a New York Times feature on these West Coast treats - and that led to a phone call from Rich Komen, founder of Restaurants Unlimited and a man with a cinnamon-scented dream - a dream that grew into the Cinnabon chain.
Cinnabon is a portmanteau word created from the combination of "cinnamon" and "bun." Although the chain offers a number of menu items, the signature offering is the Cinnabon Classic roll.
Reading Chapter 15, I got the impression that Jerilyn Brusseau is still involved with the running of the company - or at least as involved as, say, Harlan Sanders was involved with Kentucky Fried Chicken until his death. However, Komen was not a silent partner or backoffice bean counter - he and Brusseau worked together in a test kitchen to create a version of her grandmother's cinnamon roll engineered for maximum irresistibility -- that, and being able to be cooked in a speedy convection oven instead of a slower conventional oven. Convection ovens allow Cinnabon to bake the rolls at the retail locations (rather than at a central bakery), allowing the scent of cinnamon and hot rolls to permeate the air near the stores (which are located in malls and other heavily-trafficked locations).
Kessler gives Brusseau the opportunity to describe her product, and she ably takes over the "food porn" duties that Kessler himself assumed in previous chapters:
We started from the outside in...We wanted it to be voluptuous and full and round and have many, many, many wraps...We wanted a dough that had a quality like a pillow, a dough that would be soft...And then the syrup--the cinnamon caramel in the center would be very soft and syrupy so there would be this contrast of textures...We wanted this creaminess...a cream that would actually be spooned over the top of the rolls that would just add to this indulgent quality...It melts in your mouth...The swallow is very nice.
So what's in a Cinnabon? If you've been following this series, you'll probably guess "sugar, fat, and salt." Right in one! There are THREE kinds of sugar in a Cinnabon - granulated sugar to sweeten and soften the dough, brown sugar in the cinnamon caramel filling, and powdered sugar in the frosting. Salt "brings up the flavor," according to Brusseau. And fat? There's cream cheese (which is just about pure fat, as any low-carber can tell you) in the creamy frosting, and there's fat in the dough - but what kind? Butter? Vegetable oil? Or partially hydrogenated (trans-)fats? Kessler doesn't say, and the Cinnabon Web site doesn't have a list of ingredients that I could find.
Something else I couldn't find on the Cinnabon site was any indication of how many ("many, many, many") calories there are in any of the Cinnabon treats. Presumably, if you have to ask, your diet can't afford it.
According to Kessler, Brusseau has become concerned about the rise in childhood obesity since she and Komen started Cinnabon in 1985:
If someone today asked me to create the world's greatest cinnamon roll, I'd probably think differently about it. Twenty years ago, it was a once-in-a-while indulgence...I'm very concerned that kids are growing up eating too many things like Cinnabon every day of their lives...I love to teach people about the lineage about cinnamon rolls...But I don't teach them to eat it four times a day. It's all a matter of balance.
Kessler rolls up the chapter by noting that Brusseau has had her own issues with eating - specifically, that she suffered from anorexia and bulimia as an adult in her twenties, thirties, and forties.
Previous chapters from The End of Overeating:
Part 2: The Food Industry
Chapter 14: A Visit to Chili's (written by Clio2)
Part 1: Sugar, Fat, and Salt
Chapter 13: Eating Behavior Becomes a Habit (written by me)
(there are links to Chapters 1 through 12 in my Chapter 13 review)
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
October 18
Sun AM - louisev (Turtle Diary)
Sun PM - jiffykeen
October 19
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
October 20
Tues AM - ??
Tues PM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 16)
October 21
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
October 22
Thurs AM - A DC Wonk
Thurs PM - ???
October 23
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - louisev (Be Your Own Geneticist:
Chapter 2: Experimentation and Wrong Diagnosis)
October 24
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 17)