My Sweet and Saucy

This past weekend I had the chance to hang out with some good friends of mine and celebrate my dear friend Kate’s birthday!  We thought it would be fun to try out a couple new drinks and have some appetizers, so my friend Matt was in charge of two drinks and I was in charge of one drink and the dessert.  It was my first time trying out drink recipes and I had a lot of fun!  I decided to try a recipe from Elizabeth Falkner’s book Demolition Desserts.  Once I read that this drink had passion fruit juice in it I knew I had to try it…and to make matters even more interesting the title of the drink was “Shagadelic”!  Elizabeth says that this recipe was made to match her “Shag cake” that was quite popular with her customers at Citizen Cake.  

 

As you can see from these photos this is definitely not my typical food photo shoot, but I still wanted to share these pictures and recipe with you…hope you enjoy them!  

Shagadelic

adapted from Demolition Desserts

serves two 

(I changed some things in the recipe…like the sugar rim instead of a shredded coconut rim and a strawberry instead of a maraschino cherry) 

1/2 c. bottled passion, such as Looza brand

1 T. Cointreau

1/4 c. white rum, such as 10 Cane brand

2 T. coconut rum, such as Malibu brand

Juice of 1/2 lime

Ice cubes

A couple strawberries

Sugar for the rim

Rub one of the cut limes around the edge of the glasses and then dip into sugar.

In a cocktail shaker, combine passion fruit juice, Cointreau, white and coconut rum, and lime juice.  Fill the shaker with ice, cover, and shake.

Strain into the sugar-rimmed glasses and add a sliced strawberry to the rim.  

Like I said earlier, my friend Matt made two drinks for us too…both which were a lot of fun and delicious too!  The first drink he made was a Peach Bellini.  He said you just need a good sparkling wine and a scoop of peach sorbet and presto dingdough your done!  

The other drink he made took a little preparation beforehand, but was really yummy and looked beautiful too!  He infused vodka with strawberries for 2 days or so and then drained the vodka from the jar.  (The strawberries definitely lose their beauty in the infusing process and end up looking more like little tongues, but the end result is worth it!)

 

Matt added simple syrup (equal parts of sugar and water heated until dissolved), mint, and ice to the strawberry vodka and muddled it around.  Overall, a really great drink!

 

Sadly I don’t have a great picture of the end result, but take my word for it…it’s a winner!  Thanks Matt!

To end the night off right I thought that I should try out a gift that my husband’s aunt had gotten me…a Skookie Cast Iron Skillet!!!  I had some leftover Peanut Butter M&M Monster cookie dough, so I thought it would make the perfect birthday dessert…and it did!  Here is the birthday girl with her own Skookie aka pizza cookie.

 

Hope you had a great birthday Kate!  Thanks for being such a great friend!

 

 

 

 

My husband’s side of the family has an interesting tradition for celebrating birthdays…instead of celebrating everyone’s birthday on their “actual birthday” they like to group everyone’s birthday together for a 3-4 month period and celebrate about 10 people’s birthday all together.  Now this arrangement does have its pluses, but it also has its negatives…try being 24 yrs. old and having enough money for 8 birthdays!!! Well, one benefit of being a pastry chef is using my culinary skills to make homemade gifts that make people forget that I didn’t spend the big bucks on them.  I decided to try out a new recipe for the big party extravaganza!  I took a look through my folder full of cupcake recipes that I’ve been wanting to try out and I kept flipping back to Chockylit’s recipe for Salted Caramel Frosting, so I decided to try it out.  

 

I used one of my favorite recipes for chocolate cake/cupcakes from Ina Garten.  I also had some extra chocolate rum ganache left over from another dessert that I tried out, so I decided to use it as a filling for the cupcakes.  To make this ganache just heat an equal amount of heavy cream until it begins to boil and pour it oven an equal amount of chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.  Let it sit for a few minutes and then stir in 1 Tablespoon or so of rum (depending on the amount of chocolate and cream you used…it’s all up to you).  Let the chocolate ganache completely cool until it is scoopable and then fill an pastry bag with the ganache and pipe it into the cooled cupcakes.   

 

Here are a couple photos of me making the salted caramel for the salted caramel frosting.  You can see the stages the caramel has to go through before you add it to the cream cheese frosting base.  First shot is of the amber caramel right after I took it off the stove. 

This next shot is after I added the lemon juice, butter, and heavy cream.

 

This last photo is of the caramel right before I added it to the cream cheese frosting base.

 

After I added the caramel to the cream cheese frosting base I made a couple small changes to it.  I added about 1/2 tsp. more salt to the recipe and about 1 tsp. of vanilla extract.  The little amount of caramel I had left, that I didn’t add to the frosting, I spooned over the top of the cupcakes after I frosted them.  I also had some leftover candied pecans from the last dessert I made, so I topped off the cupcakes with them.  As a finishing touch, I sprinkled a little coarse sea salt on top.  These cupcakes turned out fantastic and were a huge hit with the family!  I definitely recommend trying them out…thanks so much Chockylit for the great recipe!

 

I always think presentation is key when giving someone a gift, so I thought that I would package these cupcakes in clear boxes from Garnish.  I wish I would’ve had some all-brown M&M’s at home, but I didn’t, so I just used the normal M&M’s to add a little barrier around the base of the cupcake and add some edible decoration.  I tied a cute little green ribbon top to tie in all the colors and the gifts were finished.

 

Well, I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother’s Day today and enjoyed spending time with loved ones.  Hopefully you indulged in a couple yummy bites along the way! 

 

P.S. I get all my cute cupcake liners from Confectioneryhouse.com!

Well since I’m trying to eat a little more on the lighter side these days in preparation for one of my best friend’s wedding in two weeks, I decided to make a strawberry sorbet…they don’t have any calories right?  To add some more pazazz to the sorbet I decided to make some brown sugar meringues and candied pecans to go with it.  Overall I thought the dessert was good, nothing outrageously delicious to write home to mom about, but still yummy.  The sorbet really did taste like you were eating a strawberry, not too sweet at all, so if you like things natural then this is definitely the recipe for you.  I had a ton of fun making the meringues and choosing which designs to make with them…a perfect time to involve the kids in the kitchen.  And for those of you who think you’ll never make homemade caramelized nuts think again!  This recipe took about all of 5 minutes to whip together and only involves 3 ingredients!  Even though this dessert had three different components to it, it really was a user friendly dessert.  Each component was extremely easy and fast to make.  The only time consuming part is baking the meringues and freezing the ice cream, but you can be busy doing other things while these things take place.  Also, if you want to plan ahead each one of these could be made ahead of time and then assembled at the last minute.  As you can see by the multitude of photos I got a little excited when playing with this dessert and tried out many, many different ways to style it…hope you enjoy them!  The strawberry sorbet and caramelized pecan recipe came from Alice Merdrich’s book, Pure Dessert. (I also recommend her book, Bittersweet, for anyone interested in chocolate…well who wouldn’t be?)  This book is a winner sure for!  She has so many recipes that I am dying to try and she also takes the time to give you very informative information about everything.  The brown sugar meringue recipe came from Emily Luchetti’s book, A Passion for Dessert.  This book is fantastic also.  She breaks up her recipes into which season they go with the best.  I think this would help a lot of people out who find themselves wondering what exactly they should make and what types of food are in that particular season.  Both of these books would be great additions to any collection.    

 

Sensational Strawberry Sorbet

adapted from Pure Dessert 

1 # or 4 cups ripe, flavorful strawberries (rinsed and hulled)

1/3 cup plus 2 T. water

1/3 cup sugar, plus more to taste (I added about 1/6 cup more) 

A few drops of fresh lemon juice (only if necessary)

2 to 3 t. vodka, kirsch, or framboise (optional…I used vodka)

Add 1 cup of berries to a small saucepan with a good lid and add 2 T. of water.  Bring to a simmer over high heat and then reduce to medium and cover.  Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until berries are fork tender…do not over cook.  

Scrape berries and their juices into a food processor or blender and add the remaining berries and sugar.  Puree until smooth.  Stir in the remaining 1/3 cup water and transfer puree to a bowl and chill.  Taste the puree and adjust with more sugar or lemon if needed.  Stir in liquor if using.  For an extra cold start, freeze puree for 20 minutes before putting in the ice cream machine.  Freeze puree according to the instructions of your ice cream machine.

Put sorbet in an airtight container and freeze until hard enough to scoop, 3 to 4 hours.

 

Caramelized Pecan Garnish

adapted from Pure Dessert

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 t. fleur de sel or sea salt (I also sprinkled some on top too)

1/2 cup of nuts (I chose pecans)

Have a baking sheet near by lined with a silpat, parchment paper, or foil.  

Mix the sugar and salt and then spread in a dry skillet.  Set pan over medium-high heat without stirring until the sugar around the edges begins to melt.  Shake the pan to redistribute the liquid.  When the syrup begins to color, stir it with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, mixing and spreading until all the sugar is melted and evenly colored.  If it starts to color too fast turn down the heat and/or take it off the heat for a little while.  When the syrup looks pale amber add the nuts and stir gently to coat.  You can drop a bead of the syrup on a white plate to judge the color.  When the color turns to medium-dark honey take it off the heat and scrap the mixture onto your silpat.  Spread it as thin as possible, but don’t touch it…it’s extremely hot!  Let cool and then break into chunks.  Place pieces in a seal bag until needed.

Here are some photos of the caramelization process.

 

 

I also took some of the hardened caramelized nuts and put them in my mini food processor and gave it a whirl to create a more delicate caramelized nut topping.

 

 

Brown Sugar Meringues

adapted from A Passion for Desserts

1/4 cup plus 1 T. firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large egg whites

Large pinch of cream of tarter

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  

Sift or push brown sugar through a fine mesh sieve onto parchment paper to remove any lumps.

Using a stand mixer with a whip attachment, whip the egg whites until foamy.  Add the cream of tarter.  Increase to high speed and add the brown sugar, one tablespoon at a time.  Whip the egg whites until very thick and satiny, about 2 minutes.  

 

You can either pipe the meringue onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet or you can spoon it on too.  Use whatever piping tip you want…I used a #804.  If you want to create room for the ice cream to sit in the meringue then dip a spoon in water and then use it to push down on the meringue and create a hole.   

 

 

Bake meringues for about 2 hours, until they easily come off of the parchment paper.  To test if they are done, remove them from the oven and let sit for a couple of minutes.  Then, using a metal spatula, try to lift them off the parchment, if they don’t come off easily, return to them to the oven.

Place cooled meringues in a airtight container.  The meringues can be made several days in advance if store in a airtight container, otherwise they will become soggy.

Here is a photo of the finished meringues. 

 

Like I said…I got a little photo crazy, so here they are!

 

I would love for you to leave me a comment and let me know which way you prefer the dessert plated! 

 

 

 

 

   

Flipping through the pages of Bon Appetit a while back I found a recipe that intrigued me, so as always I ripped the page out of magazine and placed it on my ever growing pile of “must-try recipes”.  Since I have been on my passion fruit craze lately I decided to try it out, but I wanted to make it my own and change up the recipe.  I love macadamia nuts and graham cracker crusts so I thought I would swap out their regular sugar tart crust for this combo…let me tell you that I am glad that I did!  That was not the only change I made to the recipe…they wanted shredded coconut in the coconut cream filling, but something in my head kept telling me that the mouth feel just wouldn’t be right (at least for me) with pieces of coconut in it, so I decided to just have the smooth coconut cream filling.  I also always like trying my desserts out in different forms so that I can see if they would work as a mini dessert or just an individual dessert size.  I love minis and always try to find recipes that can turn into mini delights.  This recipe performed beautifully with both sizes.  The flavors were amazing and definitely a keeper for future uses! 

 

Coconut Macadamia Nut Tart with Passion Fruit Cream

Crust:

1 cup macadamia nuts

3 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 30 crackers)

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Toast macadamia nuts a baking sheet for 7-9 minutes or until golden brown and aromatic.  Let cool and then coarsely chop.  

In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the crust until evenly combined.  Spray tart pan with non-stick spray.  Press the dough evenly into the bottom and all the way up the sides of your tart pan (Whatever size you choose).  The crust should be 1/4″-1/2″ thick.  To make minis you can bake the tart in a larger rectangle or circle tart pan and then use a small circle cutter to cut the mini tarts once they have baked and cooled.    

Filling:

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 t. grated lime peel

1 cup + 1/3 cup whipping cream

1 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)

6 T. fresh lime juice

Whisk first 4 ingredients in a large bowl for 1 minute.  Stir in whipping cream, cream of coconut, and lime juice.  Transfer to prepared crust.  Bake until set in the center (baking time depends on your size of tart shell…check mini’s after 5 minutes, individual size after 12 minutes, but could take up to 20 minutes).  I didn’t try to make the tart in a large 9″ size, but I think it would turn out just fine…the only thing that worried me was that the crust might be too cooked, so I just made individual sizes and cut mini’s out of them…let me know if anyone tries the larger size tart and how it turns out.  Just a note: the larger tart would need to cook for 30-40 minutes probably.  Let cool and refrigerate until needed.

Passion Fruit Cream:

1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup sour cream

10 T. passion fruit pulp or puree

Whisk the cream, sugar, and sour cream until thickened.  Add passion fruit pulp or puree and whisk until peaks form.  Pipe or dollop on cream onto the top of the tarts.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

This is definitely a recipe must for everyone!  I am not a drinker by any means…the only kind of drinks I like are girly, fruity ones and I still find those hard to drink since they have calories (and loads of them) and I figure that I could have a dessert instead, BUT this drink/dessert is the perfect combo for me!  This recipe is from David Lebovitz’s book, The Perfect Scoop, a book soley devoted to ice creams, sorbets, granitas, and sweet accompaniments.  He describes granita as “a shaved ice, made from a lightly sweetened fruit puree or another liquid.”  Even though I have drooled over many recipes so far this was the first one I’ve tried.  The simplicity of the recipe is amazing, which lends itself to the pure and simple fact that you have no reason not to try it.  Well, if I haven’t convinced you already hopefully the photos will!

Mojito Granita

adapted by David Lebovitz’s, The Perfect Scoop

Makes about 1 quart

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

2 limes, preferably unsprayed

1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 6 limes)

3 Tablespoons white or light rum

Add the water and sugar to a small, non reactive saucepan and then grate the zest from the two limes directly into the saucepan.  Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, so that the sugar completely dissolves.  Reserve 5 mint leaves and then add the rest to the saucepan and take it off of the heat.  Cover the pan for 8 minutes so that the mint infuses the liquid.  Then uncover and let liquid come to room temperature.

Once liquid is cool, strain the mixture into a flat container that is approximately 8 to 12 inches across, with a 2 quart capacity.  Make sure to squeeze all the yummy liquid out of the leaves and then discard them.  Stir in the lime juice and rum and then finely chop the remaining 5 leaves and add them to the liquid (I choose just to use them as garnish).  Place the container in the freezer and freeze for one hour.  Once the edges begin to freeze, take a fork and break up the frozen parts and rack them toward the center.  Return to the freezer and then check the mixture every 30 minutes and continue breaking up the ice particles until the mixture almost completely frozen or completely frozen (depending on your preference).

Here are some photos of the process…infusing the mint and then the stages of ice formation.

David suggests that you can serve it over any ice cream or sorbet (maybe mint ice cream), top it off with whipped cream, or simply pile the granita high in its own dish and enjoy it by itself…that is what I did!

I have to confess that my husband and I were so addicted to this delicious granita that almost every cup ended up like this one!