Tag Archives: syrup

by

Honeydew Mint Ice Pops

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
15

Guys! This weekend I’m heading to sunny Orlando for the Food Blog Forum conference with my good pal, Megan. As a girl that is usually awkward, at best, in social situations involving crowds and small talk, I’m a bit nervous…but! my horoscope for the weekend says that I’ll be inspired by people I admire and I’ll be a social butterfly of sorts, so I’m gonna take that and run with it. Who am I to argue with the cosmos?!

But, let’s get to the matter at hand…ice pops! Tis the season and I have plans to crank them out all spring and summer…maybe into the fall. Watch out!

When I was a kid I always thought cantaloupe was honeydew because it’s more the color of honey — kid brains are so interesting. My kid brain would have loved these pops because they’re a real treat and fruit was the main dessert around our house…as I’m pretty sure my mom is part fruit bat.

I’m a huge fan of mint, but as a child I don’t recall ever having it in any other form than mint-chip ice cream or gum. I’m an adult these days, or so they say, and I LOVE fresh mint — especially with fruit, it’s just such a winner! These ice pops really couldn’t be any easier or more refreshing. They’re cool from the mint (and the freezing, duh), sweet from the honeydew, yet bright from a squeeze of fresh lime. And because I can’t help myself, I know that these would be excellent with a little booze mixed in (I love the idea of herbal gin or straight-up vodka). With or without booze, these ice pops are super refreshing, dead-simple, and sure to impress.

[/donotprint]

Honeydew Mint Ice Pops

Makes 10 ice pops. 

Instead of pulsing the sugar and mint in a processor, you can just chop the mint and rub it into the sugar until fragrant. I made a REALLY minty syrup ’cause I like that, you can use half the amount for a more subtle flavor. Depending on how sweet your melon is, you may not need to use all of the mint syrup — taste the melon and add whatever amount of syrup you prefer.  If you aren’t a fan of honeydew, use whatever melon you’d like, cantaloupe or watermelon would be excellent! 

1/2 cup sugar

1 loosely packed cup of mint leaves

1/2 cup water

4 cups diced honey dew

juice of 1 lime

In a mini food processor, pulse the sugar and the mint leaves until the mint is finely chopped and the sugar is fragrant. Place the mint sugar into a saucepan with the water and bring to a boil to dissolve. Boil the syrup for 60 seconds, remove from heat, and strain through a fine mesh sieve.

Place the honeydew in a large bowl (or a blender, you may want to do this in batches if using a blender), along with the lime juice and mint syrup. Pulse with an immersion blender until smooth and no chunks of honeydew remain. Divide the mixture between popsicle molds, freeze 30-60 minutes, insert sticks, and continue to freeze until solid (8 hours is best).

 

by

Blueberry Maple Ice Cream Soda

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
34

One summer during high school, I spent a week with a family friend, Bobby, while her daughter and family were out of town. Bobby was a totally fascinating lady–she attended Berkeley in the 30′s where she studied micro-biology (a lady! in the 30′s! micro-biology!)…and, she introduced me to the ice cream soda, for which I will be forever thankful.

Before, the world of ice cream sodas consisted of the standard root beer float. After, I knew that the possibilities were endless. An ice cream soda is a super simple, old fashioned, soda fountain treat. It’s a simple mixture of ice cream, flavored syrup, and soda water. Here, I’ve paired super maple-y ice cream with a fruity blueberry syrup…because if we’re talking blueberry sans lemon, then I want it with maple. It just is. Adding soda water makes this drink effervescent and mixes the ingredients to create a creamy lavender color with streaks of pale maple ice cream and bright punches of deep purple.

This Blueberry Maple Ice Cream Soda is SO PRETTY and….it tastes like pancakes…enough said.

Blueberry Maple Ice Cream Soda

There will be enough ingredients to make several ice cream sodas…so, have one today, tomorrow, and the next day, OR share! 

Makes 1 ice cream soda.

2-3 medium scoops of maple ice cream (recipe below)

several tablespoons blueberry syrup (recipe below)

soda water

whipped cream (optional)

In a tall glass layer the ice cream scoops with spoonfuls of syrup. Pour on the soda water to cover, garnish with whipped cream and more syrup. Serve with a straw.

Maple Ice Cream

Adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup

2 cups milk

1 cup cream

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons cream cheese, softened

In a medium saucepan, heat maple syrup and bring to a boil. Cook, turning the heat down as needed if the syrup bubbles too much, until reduced by about half, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream.

Pour 1/4 cup of the milk into a bowl and whisk in the cornstarch to combine. Set cornstarch slurry aside.  Whisk in the remaining milk and salt with the cream and maple mixture. Return to heat and bring the maple and dairy mixture to a low boil. Quickly whisk in the cornstarch slurry to combine, bring to a boil and cook, whisking until thickened–about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl (preferably with a spout for easy pouring), and mix lightly with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the hot ice cream base until combined well.

Prepare and ice bath in a clean sink or large bowl. Pour the hot maple ice cream base into a gallon-size zip top bag, seal, and chill in the ice bath until cooled completely. Process the ice cream base in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Scrape into a freezer container and seal, freeze for several hours until firm.

Blueberry Syrup

1 heaping cup of blueberries, rinsed and dried

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

In a small saucepan, over medium-high, heat blueberries with sugar and lemon until berries burst and release their juices and the sugar is dissolve  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and press the blueberry syrup through a fine mesh sieve, discard solids. Pour syrup into a heatproof jar, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

by

Walnut Caramels w/ Hawaiian Black Salt

Tags: , , , , , , ,
22

Hey! I have yet another salty-sweet combo for you today. This time in the form of nutty, chewy, caramels.

I pretty much make a batch of these caramels every year–with or without nuts–for certain friends and family members around the holidays. These caramels ship well AND can be made several days in advance AND you won’t even have to rush the shipping…plus, they won’t get damaged by rough handling. I love a treat that doesn’t cause me stress when it comes to shipping and sharing.

These walnut caramels start out by cooking sugar with a bit of water and some syrup (golden, corn, and honey all work nicely). The syrup helps the sugar from re-crystalizing and keeps the caramel smooth and free of gritty granules. Once the sugar becomes deeply golden–as dark as you dare, I shoot for a rich bourbon/whisky color–warm cream, butter, vanilla, and sea salt are added. There’s a lot of hissing and steaming and fuss at this point, but everything mellows out and comes together. The caramel is then cooked a little longer until it comes to temperature–key for a set caramel–it’s then mixed with plenty of toasty walnuts, scraped into a pan, and liberally sprinkled with black salt. The caramels are chewy, nutty, crunchy, and salty-sweet. I think they are really pretty wrapped in gold candy foils–like little gold nuggets–but parchment or wax paper is nice, too.

Walnut Caramels with Hawaiian Black Salt

adapted from this recipe

I love the black salt on these because it’s super -dark color makes for a dramatic piece of candy, but don’t feel like you have to go out and hunt for fancy salts. I have a variety of salts on hand, mainly because whenever I travel (or friends/fam travel) my favorite souvenirs are edibles–specifically specialty/locally harvested salts and honeys. Every time I use one of my fancy salts, I remember the trip or the people or the place–it’s a nice, edible reminder. This black salt–also called Hawaiian Black Lava Salt–was a gift from one of my brothers-in-law. It’s dramatically black, a bit mineral-y, and super crunchy–which is a great contrast with the sweet and chewy caramel. 

1 1/4 cups granualated sugar

1/4 cup golden or corn syrup, or honey (honey will impart a distinct flavor)

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (a touch less if using table or kosher) plus more for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 generous cup toasted walnut pieces (I like halves and large pieces)

Prepare a standard loaf pan by lining with parchment, leaving an overhang on the two long sides, securing parchment with binder clips, and spraying the parchment and pan lightly with canola oil.

In a small sauce pan, gently heat the heavy cream, butter, salt, and vanilla. Bring to a bare simmer and remove from heat, set aside.

In a heavy bottomed, medium saucepan gently mix sugar, syrup, and water until everything is well moistened. Heat the sugar mixture over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and a clear syrup forms. At this point, it is important to not stir the sugar syrup–or it will re-crystalize and you will have to start over…if you must, you can swirl the pan, but mostly leave it alone. Continue to cook the sugar syrup, without stirring, until it becomes deep golden brown–it will start off a light honey color, but try to take it to a whiskey colored golden-brown. Remove the sugar syrup from the heat and add the cream/butter mixture and stir to combine well. The caramel will hiss and steam violently–I recommend using a long wooden spoon and covering your stirring hand with an oven mitt.

Clip on your candy thermometer and continue to cook the caramel over medium heat, without stirring, until the thermometer reads 260*F (I found that at higher elevations, above 4,000 ft, the caramel becomes too hard–when I lived in Nevada, I always cooked to about 250-255*F). Remove the caramel from the heat, quickly stir in the nuts, and scrape into the prepared pan. Allow to cool about 5 minutes before sprinkling with salt–this keeps the salt from sinking into the caramel, but still allows it to stick nicely to the top. Allow caramels to cool before cutting into squares and wrapping. Can be stored in an airtight container for 2 weeks.

by

Recipe: Strawberry Balsamic Conserve

Tags: , , , , , , ,
11

Tiny strawberries are so enchanting, I can’t even resist them. I always go a little crazy for perfect summer berries at the farmer’s market…I just want to buy them all. They are perfect for snacking on out of hand, but since I do tend to go crazy, we can’t always get to them all.

I’m a big fan of berry pies and crumbles, jams and frozen treats, but since these particular berries were petite gems, I really wanted to preserve their shape. I came across this conserve–whole berries suspended in syrup. This conserve has a bit of balsamic in the syrup–making it not only an appropriate topper for yogurt or ice cream, but equally as welcome on  a cheese plate. Think about it, cracker + goat cheese + syrupy strawberry gems. I imagine it’s a perfect bite and one that is definitely in my future. It’s a preserve that goes sweet or savory, it’s ready to party…no discrimination here.

Strawberry Balsamic Conserve

adapted from Orangette

I adapted the recipe a bit, allowing one to make this stellar, fruity condiment in a little less time.

4 cups strawberries–stemmed, rinsed and halved if large

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons balsamic, divided

Fashion a double boiler, using a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. In the bowl, gently toss the berries with the sugar and 1 teaspoon of the balsamic. Set the bowl over the pan of water and cook for 20-30 minutes (check the pan and make sure there is still water about halfway through, add more water as needed), the berries will release all of their juices, become just soft, and combine with the sugar to create a syrup. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the berries into a jar. Pour the water out of the saucepan and pour in the syrup. Set the syrup pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, about 1-2 minutes to thicken slightly, stir in remaining vinegar and pour the syrup over the berries. Cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate for up to 1 month. You can also process the jars according to proper canning guidelines for longer shelf life.

by

So, this is the New Year…

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
21

Dear 2011,

It’s been fun, strange, and terrifying, but most of all, exciting.

It’s been a year of change and discovery.

Thanks for everything.

Dear 2012,

I’m not big on resolutions, I feel like they’re just a set-up for failure. So, I’m keeping my goals for the year simple:

patience, patience, patience. learn some. 

eat a few new vegetables

be nicer to my body

get back into arts/crafts

learn to temper chocolate

try to remember that comparison kills joy

I’m looking forward to this new year. Let’s get into it.

Dear Friends,

I can’t even begin to get into how much your comments, and the fact that this little blog is even on your radar, mean to me. It’s a big, bad world of blogging and there’s a ton of things to look at, read, and be inspired by. Your support means the world.

I thank you from the deepest reaches of my little, ol’ heart. Truly.

So, to cap of 2011, I say we have a drink. I know many of us will be popping the corks off of some bubbly tonight and toasting to a brand new year with the ones we love the most.

My favorite guy and I will be staying in, after a long and much needed trip back home for the holidays. We’ll be lounging and sipping these cocktails with our pups. Soda water makes it bubbly, rosemary + ginger syrup bring aromatic, herbal sweetness, there’s a little squeeze of lime for some tang, and gin makes it all boozey and right.

Cheers!!

XO Cindy

Rosemary-Ginger Gin Cocktail

makes 1 drink

ice

2 ounces gin

1 tablespoon rosemary-ginger syrup

1 lime wedge

soda water to fill

Fill a rocks glass with ice and pour in the gin, syrup, squeeze the lime over the top, fill the glass with soda water and stir to combine. Toast and drink.

Rosemary-Ginger Syrup

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

2 inches ginger root, peeled and sliced

2-3 sprigs rosemary

Add sugar and water to a small saucepan and stir to combine. Add ginger and rosemary, heat to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Allow ginger and rosemary to steep in the syrup as it cools to room temperature. Once cooled, remove ginger and rosemary (strain if needed) and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.