Tag: Raspberry

Raspberry Pocket Cookies (Himbeerdasche)

Note: I was sent a review copy of Dutch Treats: Heirloom Recipes from Farmhouse Kitchens

I live in Philadelphia, and a one of the largest influences on our local food is definitely Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. Despite growing up here, I haven’t cooked many traditional Pennsylvania Dutch recipes, although I certainly have been known to eat them!

Raspberry Pocket Cookies

Internationally known food historian William Woys Weaver has compiled over 100 heritage recipes, and the stories behind them, into one wonderful cookbook – Dutch Treats: Heirloom Recipes from Farmhouse Kitchens.

ST LYNN'S PRESS - Dutch Treats Cover

Recipes include Shoofly Cake, New Year’s Pretzels and the original recipe for Snickerdoodles. Dutch Treats
 explores the vast diversity of authentic baked goods, festive breads and pastries that we call Pennsylvania Dutch (named for the German-speaking immigrants who settled there starting in the late 1600s).

I enjoyed reading the back stories to all of these delicious baked goods as I paged through the book. From learning about traditional holiday treats, to why pretzels are considered good luck, the cookbook was an interesting read as well as a great source of yummy recipes.

I decided to make Raspberry Pockets, using a recipe for Almond Pastry Dough that dates back to a late 18th century recipe. I edited the recipe just a bit to use Orange Blossom Water instead of Rose Water, because that was what I had on hand. I also made the cookies a bit larger than suggested.

Ingredients:

For Almond Pastry Dough

  • 5 cups pastry flour
  • 1 cup superfine (caster) sugar
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter
  • 2 egg yolks (reserve the egg whites for the raspberry pockets)
  • 6 to 9 tablespoons dry white wine

For Raspberry Pockets

  • 1 cup fresh red raspberries
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Orange Blossom Water or to taste
  • 1 batch almond pastry dough
  • 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
  • crystal (coarse) sugar, to taste

Continue reading Raspberry Pocket Cookies (Himbeerdasche)

Mini Berry Trifles

I’m so ready for spring. I am trying to will the warmer weather to be here ASAP by making a bunch of spring-themed posts. Sara Lee must have read my mind because they contacted me about using their yummy pound cake in a recipe — what better way to show off Sara Lee Pound Cake than with a trifle?

These mini berry trifles use fresh berries, pound cake, and fresh whipped cream with lemon curd, making a yummy and bright spring dessert. I made them in mini trifle bowls but you can adapt this recipe to go in a traditional trifle bowl.

Ingredients (makes 4 mini trifles):

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 jar ( roughly 11 oz) lemon curd
  • 1 Sara Lee pound cake, defrosted
  • strawberry jam
  • 1 pint blueberries
  • 1 pint raspberries
  • 2 strawberries, halved

 

 #spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between our site and Sara Lee. This could include the Sara Lee providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.

Continue reading Mini Berry Trifles

Lemon Tart with Raspberry Shortbread Crust

Almost every citrusy post I have on my blog is dedicated to my mom. She is obsessed with orange, lemon, bergamot, etc. So in honor of Mother’s Day, here’s another one!

As a Walkers Official Blogger Ambassador, Walkers Shortbread sent me an awesome assortment of treats my way to make a spring/Mother’s Day themed post. Walkers Rapsberry Thins was in the mix, my mom also loves raspberries, so I decided to use the rapsberry thins to make a shortbread crust for a lemon tart. To make it even more citrusy, I topped the tart with candied orange peel.

 

Ingredients:

Candied Orange Peel:
  • 2 oranges
  • Water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
Crust:
  • 1/2 cup finely ground Walkers raspberry shortbread thins cookies (about 6 cookies)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup salted butter (cold cut into small chunks)

Lemon filling:

  • 3 meyer lemons
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup meyer lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

White Wine Sangria Pops

I was at a restaurant on Long Island that had a drink they called a “lushee” which was basically a frozen sangria. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Pure brilliance. I told a friend about this and we knew we had to make our own, what could possibly be more refreshing on a hot summer day? I was recently sent a cookbook that actually one-upped the concept of the lushee: a White Wine Sangria Popsicle.
The book, Poptails, by Erin Nichols of Erin Cooks, is filled with sixty pops inspired by your favorite alcoholic beverages. Recipes range from classics like a gin and tonic to fancy favorites like a cosmopolitan.  There are even some awesome dessert pops like cherry cheesecake and banana split.  
 
 
I was in love with this book before I even received it. What an amazing idea! Who wouldn’t want their favorite drink in iced pop form? The recipes had me imagining all of the lovely get-togethers I could have: a brunch with iced coffee and bloody Mary pops, a pool party with strawberry basil martini pops, or Christmas in July with spiked eggnog, mulled wine, and Christmas cheer pops. Sigh.
Anyways, I kept thinking back to those lushes and knew I had to try the white wine sangria pops.
I tweaked the recipe within the book a bit. For the original recipe, pick up a copy of this fun book!
Ingredients:
1 bottle white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
1 liter flattened seltzer water
1/4-1/3 cup cranberry juice (I used cranberry hibiscus)
1 tablespoon simple syrup, or to taste
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint blueberries                                
Note: You’ll need ice pop molds and Popsicle sticks to make these.

I wanted to start this post with the definition of seltzer, club soda, tonic water, and sparkling water. Because I always manage to mess these drinks up. And no wonder: club soda, seltzer and sparkling water are all water infused with carbonation.  These can all be interchanged. Tonic water is something a bit different, it is still a carbonated water, but quinine is dissolved into the water as well. It’s quite a bit more bitter so be sure to use club soda/seltzer/sparkling water in this recipe. Or for a bit more sweetness, a lemon-lime soda would work.
Make sure to allow your seltzer water to flatten. Don’t forget this step! Unflattened carbonated beverages will explode when frozen. And that sounds like an awful waste of white wine sangria if you ask me. The book suggests opening your seltzer 8 hours prior and popping it into your fridge in a place it won’t spill.
Combine the wine, flattened seltzer water, cranberry juice, and simple syrup. I used lemon simple syrup to give a touch more flavor. Feel free to add some lemon zest to add a little extra.  Add whatever mixture of berries you’d like to the pop molds. I went for one raspberry, one blackberry, and a few blueberries per pop.  Fill each mold ¾ of the way full with the mixture; you need to leave a small amount at the top to allow the liquid to expand.
Note: you’ll have some extra sangria that won’t fit in the pop molds. This is so you can enjoy your creation before waiting 24 hours 🙂
Add popsicle sticks, cover, and freeze for approximately 24 hours.
To remove from the molds, fill a bowl larger than your pop molds with warm (not hot) water. Add the mold to the bowl for 15 seconds then gently pull on the top of the ice pop stock. If the pop does not release, add the mold back to the water for another 15 seconds, repeat this process until the pops come out of the molds.
These pops were refreshing and a little bit tangy. I wanted a bit more sweetness though, I might add more simple syrup next time I make them. I also would add a bit more cranberry juice so that the pops turn a very light pink color, which would probably look really nice.
What’s nice about this recipe is how adaptable it is. You can add or subtract whatever fruit makes you happy. You could use a sweeter wine, or even a (flattened) champagne. My friend made this recipe using white grape juice instead of cranberry.
There are plenty of other creative pop recipes within the pages of this book. I love the element of fun that the popsicles add and can’t wait to try more of these yummy recipes!
Print
White Wine Sangria Pops

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 24 hours, 15 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
  • 1 liter flattened seltzer water
  • 1/4-1/3 cup cranberry juice (I used cranberry hibiscus)
  • 1 tablespoon simple syrup, or to taste
  • 1 pint raspberries
  • 1 pint blackberries
  • 1 pint blueberries

Instructions

  1. Make sure to allow your seltzer water to flatten. Don’t forget this step! Unflattened carbonated beverages will explode when frozen. And that sounds like an awful waste of white wine sangria if you ask me. The book suggests opening your seltzer 8 hours prior and popping it into your fridge in a place it won’t spill.
  2. Combine the wine, flattened seltzer water, cranberry juice, and simple syrup. I used lemon simple syrup to give a touch more flavor. Feel free to add some lemon zest to add a little extra. Add whatever mixture of berries you’d like to the pop molds. I went for one raspberry, one blackberry, and a few blueberries per pop. Fill each mold ¾ of the way full with the mixture; you need to leave a small amount at the top to allow the liquid to expand.
  3. Note: you’ll have some extra sangria that won’t fit in the pop molds.
  4. Add popsicle sticks, cover, and freeze for approximately 24 hours.
  5. To remove from the molds, fill a bowl larger than your pop molds with warm (not hot) water. Add the mold to the bowl for 15 seconds then gently pull on the top of the ice pop stock. If the pop does not release, add the mold back to the water for another 15 seconds, repeat this process until the pops come out of the molds.
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Raspberry Creme Brulee

Last week, I was contacted by Walkers Shortbread about a recipe photo challenge they are hosting. Walkers asked a bunch of bloggers to make one of the recipes off their site and photograph the end result. They even offered to send me the Walkers ingredient needed to make the recipe. I came across their Raspberry Creme Brulee recipe and I knew I had to make it. It’s a traditional creme brulee, with a Walkers Shortbread crust and raspberries. How fantastic does that sound?

 

Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 pint Raspberries (fresh)
1 pkg. (5.3 oz) Walkers Shortbread Fingers
light brown sugar, to taste

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Add the milk to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. While waiting for the milk to boil, add the egg yolks, sugar and heavy cream to a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add 3/4 cup of the boiled milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. This tempers the eggs so that they don’t cook when you add the rest of the milk. Once incorporated, add the rest of the milk in a steady stream.
Take a box of Walkers Shortbread Fingers. Using a metal spoon, break the shortbread (while still in the plastic package) into fine crumbs.
Add the shortbread crumbs to the bottom of four ramekins. Add the raspberries to the ramekins.
Pour the custard (the egg and milk mixture) into the ramekins. Be sure to leave some room at the top.
Bake for 40 minutes at 300 degrees, or until a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean.
Transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature. Chill the custard for at least two hours (I chilled mine overnight).
When ready to caramelize preheat your broiler to high. Sprinkle a thin coating of light brown sugar on each chilled custard. Place under the broiler for 2 minutes or until the sugar is melted and golden brown. (Check on the custard after 1 minute, the broiler works quickly!)
Remove and serve.
So.  I hated it.
Hehe. Of course I’m kidding. This dessert was absolutely awesome. I can’t stop thinking about it. Plus look how pretty it is!
This has everything that attracts you to a traditional creme brulee: creamy, sweet, and a nice crunch from the crust and the broiled top.
But it also has little delicious bursts of raspberry. Yum!
I loved the incorporation of the Walkers shortbread crust. I think every creme brulee needs to have one of these delicious cookie crusts.
This could easily be changed to incorporate other berries as well. What a great recipe!

Note: I was provided no compensation other than samples of Walkers Shortbread fingers. All opinions are my own.

Review of Routin 1883 Gourmet Syrups & Cocktails

One of my favorite parts of blogging is when I’m given the opportunity to sample products and give my honest review of them. I love the chance to try something new and to incorporate it into recipes. So when Routin 1883 contacted me to sample some of their gourmet syrups, I was excited to dust off my bartending kit and concoct some tasty beverages. The company produces gourmet flavors for use in cocktails, specialty coffees, Italian sodas, etc. The syrups, manufactured in the French Alps, have no preservatives, GMO’s, or high fructose corn syrup (they are even gluten free). Routin 1883 was kind enough to send me a bunch of different samples so I tried to highlight each of them to review.
 

To try the vanilla, I added the syrup to a traditional White Russian (I thought it sounded like it would be delicious, I was right!)
Ingredients:
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce Kahlua
1/2 ounce vanilla syrup
Top with cream
To make, add ice cubes to a glass. Pour vodka and Kahlua over the ice. Add the vanilla syrup and stir. Fill with light cream and serve.
The vanilla syrup held up nicely to the strong coffee flavor of Kahlua and was an awesome complement to this already delicious drink. After a sniff of the syrup I decided to go with a 1/2 ounce instead of an ounce because it seems to be quite strong.
The coconut syrup meant I could pretend it is summer. I added it to rum and pineapple juice for a taste of the islands.
Ingredients:
2 ounces light rum
1 ounce coconut syrup
fresh pineapple juice
Add ice cubes to a tall glass. Pour rum and syrup over the ice. Fill with pineapple juice and serve.
This is so refreshing. It’s a perfect escape from the winter weather and would also be perfect as a pitcher in the summer months. Coconut and pineapple just go so well together.
I decided to use the raspberry syrup to make a raspberry rickey: a gin rickey with raspberry flavoring.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounce gin
the juice of 1/2 a lime
club soda
1 ounce raspberry syrup
Add ice to a short glass. Add gin, lime juice , and raspberry syrup and top with club soda.
This was another really refreshing drink. The syrup wasn’t sugary so it didn’t take away from the bite you’d normally get in the original version of this drink. You could also serve it straight up (no ice) if you’d like. Just mix it in a shaker and pour into a glass.
For the caramel syrup, I thought it might be fun to try a flavored martini. I happened to have sour apple liqueur in my apartment (I have no idea why) so a Caramel Apple Martini immediately popped into my mind.
Ingredients:
2 ounces sour apple liqueur
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce caramel syrup
Add ice to a shaker. Pour in apple liqueur, vodka, and caramel syrup and shake. Strain into a martini glass rimmed with a cinnamon-sugar mixture.
This tasted exactly like a candied apple. The caramel’s sweetness really helped tone down the sour apple flavor of the liqueur.
Next up, a frozen strawberry-champagne daiquiri. I had some champagne left over from New Years Eve that I just put into an ice cube tray. I thought this would be a perfect use of those champagne ice cubes.
Ingredients:
2 ounces light rum
1/2 ounce triple sec
1 ounce strawberry syrup
6 strawberries
juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon sugar
5 champagne ice cubes
5 normal ice cubes
You’ll need normal ice in there too because champagne doesn’t freeze entirely. Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until frothy. The champagne might bubble a bit. Pour into a glass and serve.
I think champagne should be the base of every strawberry daiquiri from now on. The strawberry syrup added a much bolder flavor to the daiquiri than strawberries alone would without adding a typically syrupy, sugary taste to it. It really enhanced the daiquiri!
Last but not least, I made what I’ve dubbed a Toasted Martini.
Ingredients:
2 ounces chocolate liqueur
1 ounce espresso (cooled)
1 ounce roasted hazelnut syrup
Add ice to a shaker. Add the chocolate liqueur, espresso, and syrup and shake. Strain into a martini glass rimmed with cocoa powder.
Do I even have to mention how amazing this was? I could drink this all day. It was like a grown up chocolate milk, definitely my favorite. The hazelnut flavor was amazing!
Overall I think I gravitated more to the syrups that would go nicely in coffees (which is next on my list to try): Roasted Hazelnut, Vanilla, Caramel, and Coconut. But the fruit flavors were really nice as well! They are actually flavored with real fruit juice which is very noticeable. They don’t have that normal “syrupy” taste at all. Routin 1883 has tons of different flavors on their site so be sure to check them all out. They also have plenty of recipes if you’re looking for inspiration!

Chilled Raspberry Shooters

I fell in love with this recipe for Chilled Raspberry Shooters initially just on the photo; they are so pretty! The original recipe from Taste of Home is actually more of a savory dish but one of the comments mentioned using vanilla yogurt instead of sour cream so I decided to take their suggestion. This take some preparation, so if you plan on using this to impress guests with a slightly different but amazing dessert, be sure to give yourself a few hours before the event.
Ingredients (makes 6):
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cranberry juice
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3 pints plus 6 fresh raspberries, divided
  • 2/3 cups french vanilla yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon whipped topping, divided

Continue reading Chilled Raspberry Shooters

Berry Sangria

I have a bunch of fruit left over from my Berries with Lemon Mint Syrup. It’s a lovely warm weekend in Philadelphia which immediately made me think of sangria. What a perfect way to use more of these berries!

Ingredients:

  • A bowl full of mixed berries (strawberries, hulled, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries)
  • 1 1/2 cups of triple sec
  • 1 1/2 cups cranberry juice (I used cran-raspberry juice)
  • 1/2 cup simple syrup (left over from my Mojitos)
  • 1 bottle of white wine
  • 1-2 cups ginger ale or club soda, to taste
  • Ice cubes
  • Mint, optional

Continue reading Berry Sangria

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