Sunday, November 23, 2014

Leftover White Wine Syrup


Sweet vanilla orange syrup with a tart finish from the dry white wine is beautiful drizzled over ice cream, soaked into a pound cake or stirred into an after dinner coffee.

Leftover wine? 
I can hear you now because I have said similar, “What is this leftover wine of which you speak?” Does. Not. Compute. But if you are having a dinner party, and guests bring wine, chances are that several bottles will get opened because one person prefers un-oaked Chardonnay and another likes a sweeter Riesling, while a third guest’s tipple of choice with turkey is a crispy Sauvignon Blanc. Put me in that last category, unless you are offering a quality red, which I will take over any white, any day, even with poultry. The fact of the matter is that sometimes, when the guests go home in a timely fashion, you can tidy the kitchen and put your feet up with the last glass of your preferred wine, but you might still have leftovers in the bottles you aren’t crazy about.

Here’s the solution: a white wine syrup with sugar and vanilla and orange peel that can be served over ice cream or used to drench a pound cake or can even be bottled up as a hostess gift for the next round of parties. And that’s what I call thinking ahead!

Today our Sunday Supper group is looking ahead to Thanksgiving leftovers and making them into more fabulousness. Many thanks Jennie of The Messy Baker for hosting this event. Make sure you scroll down to see the whole link list.

This recipe is adapted from Real Simple.

Ingredients
1 vanilla bean
3 1/8 cups or 750ml assorted white wines
1 cup or 225g golden caster sugar (White sugar can be substituted but the unrefined stuff adds more flavor.)
Zest of 1 orange
Pinch sea salt

Method
Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.



Peel just the orange part off of the orange peel, making sure to leave the bitter white pith behind.

In a large saucepan, combine the wine, sugar, orange zest and vanilla seeds and pod.



Bring to a boil.



Then reduce heat and simmer until the wine mixture is slightly thickened and reduced to about 1 cup or 240ml, 35 to 45 minutes.




Put a heatproof strainer over the pot and use tongs to remove the vanilla pod and the pieces of orange zest and put them in the strainer. Allow them to drain completely. You don't want to waste even a drop of this precious syrup.



If you want to save them for a further purpose, the vanilla bean and orange zest can be placed on parchment paper and allowed to dry completely. Add the vanilla bean to sugar in a closed container to flavor the sugar. The orange zest can be used for cake or cupcake decoration.


Pour the syrup into a sterilized jar and screw the lid on tight. It will thicken even more as it cools.

This is beautiful syrup, speckled with vanilla seeds and shimmering with delicious flavor. Drizzle it over ice cream or mascarpone with fruit for an elegant dessert.

Enjoy!

Are you already anticipating those Thanksgiving leftovers? Frankly, the leftovers are almost my favorite part. Have a look at these great recipes that turn your leftovers into something special!

Breakfast
Main Dish

Side Dishes

Sandwiches

Condiments & Sauces

Dessert

Cocktails & Drinks



Posted by at 12:15:00 AM 0 comments
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Thursday, November 20, 2014

London Porter Cake with Lemon Glaze #BundtBakers

Lovely, rich and fruity, made with porter beer, raisins and candied peel, then dressed up with lemon glaze, this Bundt cake is perfect for dessert or teatime. 

Baking with Booze
A couple of weeks back I was reviewing a beautiful cookbook called Food Truck Road Trip – A Cookbook. I mixed a morning pick-me-up cocktail made with porter beer, coffee and ginger that was absolutely delicious. Since this month’s Bundt Bakers’ theme is boozy cakes I decided to use porter in a cake as well. It has such a wonderful rich flavor that I knew it make a great cake. An internet search revealed that porter is commonly used in cakes in Ireland so what I thought was a great idea was hardly novel. Sometimes it’s best to leave some things to the experts so this recipe comes from Rachel Allen, queen of Irish cooking and baking and is slighted adapted for a Bundt pan. I’ve also added a lemon glaze because I was taking this as my dessert contribution to a champagne tasting dinner and, while the plain cake was tasty, I felt it needed a shiny glaze for such a nice evening affair. I am pleased to say that the cake was well received and enjoyed by all.

If you like baking with liquor, you are going to love this month’s Bundt Bakers round up of cakes, hosted by Lauren from From Gate to Plate. Scroll down to see the whole fabulous list of boozy Bundts.

Ingredients
For the cake batter:
3 1/2 cups or 450g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 225g butter, chilled
1 cup packed or 225g light brown sugar
1 pound or 450g golden or black raisins or a mixture of both
3 ounces or 75g chopped candied peel, store-bought or homemade
2 eggs
12 oz or 330ml porter or stout

For the lemon glaze:
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1/4 cup or 60ml warm water
1/4 cup or 60ml lemon Juice
Pinch salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by spraying it liberally with non-stick spray for baking.

Measure the flour, nutmeg, mixed spice, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk it well to aerate and combine.



Cut the butter in small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Use the end of the whisk or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until you get a sandy texture.



Stir in the brown sugar, raisins and candied peel.



Whisk the eggs in another bowl and add the porter.


Pour the egg/porter mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour into the prepared pan.



Bake for about 65-75 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or toothpick poked into the middle comes out clean. If the cake is browned before it’s done, cover it with foil.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the Bundt pan for about 10 minutes.

Turn it out and set to cool on a wire rack.



Meanwhile, make the lemon glaze. Combine all ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves.

Brush over top and sides of cake a little at a time, allowing the glaze to soak in. Keep applying the glaze until you’ve used it all or until it’s time to take it off to the dinner party.



Enjoy!



Boozy Bundts are perfect for the holidays! Hope you find some inspiration here:


BundtBakers


#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.




Posted by at 4:04:00 AM 0 comments
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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Séches aux Gingembre #CreativeCookie Exchange

These light cookies are perfect for dunking in a cup of tea or for serving after dinner with a coffee. They are just sweet enough with a little heat from crystallized ginger and a sprinkle of ginger sugar. 

This month’s Creative Cookie Exchange ingredient is ginger so I did something I’ve been wanting to do since a year ago April. I added some crystallized ginger to my friend, Jamie’s traditional French séches recipe, from over at Life’s A Feast and then, for good measure, sprinkled some ginger sugar on top. Divine! Perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit.

If you are ready for some gingerful baking, make sure you scroll on down to the bottom to see what the rest of the Creative Cookie Exchange bakers have for you, along with our fearless leader, Laura from The Spiced Life.

Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
Scant 1 cup sifted flour (sifted before measuring) or 120g plus extra for kneading and rolling
1/4 cup or 50g sugar
25g or a small handful of crystallized ginger pieces
2 3/4 tablespoons or 40g chilled unsalted butter (by which I mean straight from the refrigerator)
Pinch salt
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons or 100ml heavy cream

For the ginger-sugar:
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C.

In a small bowl, mix together your ginger and sugar to make the ginger-sugar. Set aside.

Mince your crystallized ginger with a sharp knife or put it in a food processor to chop it up finely. The ginger gets really sticky when cut so the food processor is easier, if you have one.



Combine your flour and sugar for the dough in a mixing bowl and add in the cold butter, cut into cubes. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour, working quickly, until you have a sandy texture. You might still see some small bits of butter and that’s fine. That where the flakiness will come from when they bake, kind of like rough puff pastry.



Add the crystallized ginger bits to the flour mixture and use your fingers or the pastry blender to separate the sticky bits from each other and coat them with flour.



Add in the salt and the egg yolk and mix thoroughly with a fork.



Add in the cream and mix until you have a soft dough.



Scrape the dough out onto a clean surface sprinkled with flour and knead it for a few turns, until it is smooth and homogeneous.


Flour your rolling pin and a large piece of baking parchment and place your dough ball in the center with another light sprinkling of flour.



Roll the dough out into a large circle, about a 1/4 inch or 7mm thick.



Slide your parchment with the dough onto a cookie sheet and dust the circle liberally with ginger-sugar.



Gently cut the circle of dough into triangles with a knife.



Sprinkle on any remaining ginger-sugar.

Bake your cookies in your preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes or until puffed and set.



Remove from the oven and allow to cool for just a few minutes. While they are still warm, use your knife to separate the triangles again. Allow to cool completely.



Enjoy!




Bake some ginger cookies and your whole house will smell like Christmas is coming, I promise! I hope this wonderful link list will inspire you.



If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts. You can find all of them here at The Spiced Life. You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!



Posted by at 3:41:00 AM 1 comments
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