Showing posts with label raspberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raspberry. Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2015
Ring In the New Year with Mia Sparkling Moscato Featuring My Raspberry Limoncello Moscato Fizz
Raspberry-Limoncello Moscato Fizz
a Weekend Gourmet Original
Ingredients:
- 12-ounce bag frozen strawberries, thawed
- 1/3 cup limoncello (lemon liqueur)
- 2 tbs. honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 bottle Mia Fruity & Sweet Moscato, very well chilled
- Optional: coarse sparkling sanding sugar to rim the glasses
Directions:
Step 1: Add the thawed raspberries to a large mesh sieve thats placed over a large measuring cup. Use a wooden spoon to thoroughly press the raspberries through the sieve, leaving the majority of the seeds behind. Discard the seeds. Add the limoncello, honey, and vanilla extract to the raspberry puree in the measuring cup. Whisk until the honey is completely incorporated into the puree.
Step 2: Rub the rim of 4 margarita glasses (or large wine glasses) with a slice of lemon. Place each glass in a shallow bowl of the coarse sanding sugar. Let the glasses sit for a minute or two to set the sugar before making the cocktails. Add 2 tbs. of the raspberry-limoncello puree to the bottom of each glass.
Step 3: Slowly pour the chilled Mia Fruity & Sweet Moscato over the raspberry-limoncello puree. The drink will mix itself perfectly as you pour in the fizzy Moscato. Let each cocktail rest for a minute or two before serving -- until the bubbles on top die down a bit. Sit back and enjoy a glass of fruity, fizzy goodness!
Sigh...this is a perfect celebration cocktail. Its fruity, fizzy, and totally fun! We especially loved its bright color and the tartness from the raspberries and limoncello. The Mia provided the perfect amount of bubbles -- and the addition of honey and the sugared rim provided just enough sweetness. I hope youll give this fantastic Raspberry-Limoncello Moscato Fizz a try for your New Years Eve celebration! Make sure to come back tomorrow for a simple and flavorful shrimp dip thats ready in minutes and tastes even better the second day!
Disclosure: I received samples of Mia Fruity & Sweet Moscato to facilitate this feature. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Mini Chocolate Raspberry Cakes Featuring Top Hat Premium Dessert Sauces
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| Me with my Daddy and Mama (on my left)... and my Uncle Gerry and Aunt Therese (on my right). Anybody from Austin will recognize where we ate! |
Mini Chocolate-Raspberry Cakes
adapted from Better Homes & Gardens
Step 1: Make the filling for the cakes by combining the following ingredients in a mixing bowl: 1/4 cup Philly White Chocolate Indulgence cream cheese, 1/4 cup raspberry jam, and 1/4 cup Top Hat Raspberry Fudge dessert sauce. Whisk well to combine and set aside until youre ready to assemble the cakes.
Step 2: Make the frosting by combining the following ingredients with a mixer: 3/4 cup Philly White Chocolate Indulgence cream cheese and 6 tbs. softened butter. Cream on high until fluffy...about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add 1/2 cup Top Hat Raspberry Fudge sauce, 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste, and 1.5 cups powdered sugar. Whip until thoroughly combined and fluffy.
Step 3: Assemble the cakes as follows. Place three store-bought mini sponge cakes well side up on a baking sheet topped with parchment. Spoon some of the filling mixture into each of the wells...and top with four fresh raspberries. Top with the remaining three sponge cakes well side down. Ice the mini cakes with some the frosting and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Step 4: Just before youre ready to serve, remove the cakes from the fridge for about 15-20 minutes to come to room temperature. Top with three more fresh raspberries on top...and ice cream is nice on the side as well!
These little cakes have a TON of raspberry flavor...to intensify it even more, you could brush a bit of chambord liqueur on the cakes before frosting if you have some onhand. The chocolate filling and raspberries in the middle are a really fun surprise when the cakes are cut into. Dessert should be fun...yes?
Ahem...you may notice fewer pictures in this post...and not up to my usual quality. My camera is giving me some issues downloading to my computer, so I had to grab my iPhone to snap these pictures just so I could post. Until I can figure out whats up and get it taken care of, please bear with me...hopefully this is a temporary issue! How about I make it up to you with a giveaway?
Top Hat is going to give one of you two jars of their yummy dessert sauces. To enter, all you have to do is visit the Top Hat website and check out all their yummy dessert toppings. Then come back here and leave a comment telling me which two flavors you most want to try. The winner will reserve two jars of these toppings to use in their own kitchen. Have fun...and good luck. I will accept entries until Wednesday, May 16th at 1159 p.m. Good luck!
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Raspberry Liqueur
When I was in high school, a friend of my fathers introduced us to the previously-unknown world of Spanish cooking. She brought us paella and sangria, and strange as it may seem in these days of global cuisine, I dont think Id even heard of them before. But of course, regardless of your level of familiarity, these foods are pretty easy to love.
After we enjoyed the feast (Exciting! Exotic!), there followed a few days of leftovers. A tupperware container of boozy fruit sat in the fridge, and I would pull it out after school. Now mind you, I was a seriously lightweight teenager. After a day or so, my mother figured out why I was giggling through the house, and cut me off. "Deena!" she admonished, "This is not a snack!"
I have a similar problem when it comes to this raspberry liqueur. Its so delicious, so sweet and full of deep berry flavor, that I just want to sip it all day. Which would have the unfortunate results of
a) depleting my raspberry liqueur stash
b) leave me ready for bed by around 7pm
And so, I have to constantly check myself. Deena, this is not a snack!
But oh, is it lovely. Like rhubarb liqueur, this is ridiculously easy to make. Easier, arguably: you dont even have to chop the fruit. Just give the berries a quick rinse, toss them in a jar with grain alcohol, and let sit for a few weeks. Strain, sweeten and dilute, and youre ready to go. When youre as busy as I am catching up on the local arts, you appreciate the ease. Perhaps someday I can find another (preferably non-boozy) snack I like half as well.
Raspberry Liqueur
as with my rhubarb liqueur, this is more a loose template than a recipe, easily adapted to whatever quantity of raspberries you have
raspberries
grain alcohol
sugar
water
Rinse the raspberries and place them in a glass jar. Pour in enough grain alcohol to cover by a few inches, screw the lid on, and allow to steep 3-4 weeks. Over this time, the flavor and color will leach out of the raspberries, leaving the alcohol a deep ruby color, and the raspberries a weird ghostly pink.
When the raspberries have finished steeping, strain them from the alcohol, discard, and filter the solution through several layers of cheesecloth or, preferably, coffee filters. Measure the final amount of alcohol -- this is your base number. In a saucepan, heat 1.5 times that amount of water, and 1/4-1/2 that amount of sugar, depending on how sweet you like things (note that this is less sugar than required for the puckery rhubarb). To give an example: 4 cups raspberry alcohol would need 6 cups of water and 1-2 cups sugar. Let the sugar syrup cool, then add it to your filtered alcohol. Taste (the flavors will be a bit harsh), and add more sugar if desired. Let age for at least a month before enjoying. Raspberry liqueur keeps at any temperature, but is especially delicious straight from the freezer.
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