I attended a very special wedding this past weekend. Let me stand you to a mint julep and tell you all about it.

During college I was notorious for getting floormates and friends addicted to my favorite television shows. Buffy, LOST, Firefly. Only one person joined me in my addiction to a 1980′s TV miniseries about pre- and post-Civil War America, and that was my best friend and roommate Rach. We were addicted to North and South and watched it every time we moved into a new room. Every time we moved out. On weekends. On sick days. We loved Orry and George, their friendship, the ridiculous accents, the costumes. Everything.

We even made a trek out to Charleston, SC to visit the houses where they filmed it and had one of the best vacations ever.

So when Rach got engaged to a fellow North & South fan (the only other person we ever met at Cornell who a) knew what North & South was and b) loved it – obviously a match made in heaven!), she asked me to make cupcakes with a perfect little nod to their favorite miniseries. Mint julep cupcakes.

I was honored to be asked to make the “wedding cake” for them, and I wanted to do it right. Knob Creek in the batter, silver cupcake liners (to represent those gorgeous silver glasses the drink is normally served in), and fresh mint leaves on top. Both the batter and frosting were a gorgeous pale green due to copious amounts of créme de menthe, but the balance was there. They were rich but refreshing, and had that bite of liquor without the aftereffects. I was incredibly proud to serve them and even prouder that they were served at an unconventional wedding done the bride and groom’s way – which is what every wedding should be.

So congrats to Rach & Brandon! May your love be as everlasting as Orry and George’s Madeline’s.

—

Mint Julep Cupcakes 

Makes 4 dozen.

Ingredients 

For the cake: 

• 4 sticks (2 cups) butter at room temperature
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• 8 eggs
• 5½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup bourbon
• 1 cup crème de menthe

Directions

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: cocktail, cupcake, dessert, sweet

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

The last time I visited home my mom gave me this recipe torn out of a magazine (along with a pile of newspaper articles and miscellaneous bits of reading materials she thought I’d be interested in), so it seemed only fitting I would make it on Mother’s Day.

A fool is a British dessert traditional using layered whipped cream and egg whites with fruit puree, but this healthier pseudo-breakfast version is just as tasty. Instead of whipped cream you use thick Greek yogurt and the fruit is a quick rhubarb preserve with that perfect sweet-tart tang. This is one of those dishes that can’t decide if it’s dessert or breakfast and is deceivingly “healthy” (trust me, with all the sugar, it’s not), yet it’s still easy and delicious — two things everyone can love.

—

Rhubarb Fool

Serves 4.

Based on the recipe from Parade magazine.

Ingredients

• 12 oz. trimmed rhubarb, cut into ½-inch slices
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups Greek yogurt (I always use 0% Fage)

Directions

1.) Combine rhubarb, sugar, and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Cover and cook 4 minutes. Remove lid and turn heat up to medium-high. Boil 6-8 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

2.) Transfer to a heat-proof container (not plastic!) and chill at least 30 minutes.

3.) When ready to serve, layer yogurt and rhubarb in parfait glasses or dishes of your choice.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dessert, fruit, rhubarb, sweet

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

I confess –  this post was written (and made) a week in advance, with the knowledge of where I would be yesterday. That place was sunny Orlando, FL, where I spent the day squealing and fangirling my heart out at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I have no shame in saying I am a huge Harry Potter geek, but nothing compared to my sister V. So for her 30th birthday my other sister D and I surprised V with an all-expense covered trip to Orlando to visit the coolest attraction I’ve ever been to. This was a surprise 8 months in the making and we were so happy we could just combust. To celebrate, the weekend prior I decided to whip up one of the most mentioned treats in the HP universe: pumpkin pasties (that’s past-ees not paste-ees).

Pasties are a traditionally English baked good usually savory filled with meat and vegetables. Sort of like a high-end Hot Pocket. I ate them quite often while I studied abroad there (they were cheap, everywhere, and filling) and always have a special place in my heart. Since the pasties in HP are often sold on the Hogwarts Express with candy and other treats, we can assume J.K. Rowling’s would be sweet, not savory. So think of these as pumpkin handpies: buttery crust, sweet pumpkin filling, and lots of good spices. Just magical.

Enjoying a brew at the Hog’s Head! It was seriously the best trip ever.

—

Pumpkin Pasties

Makes about a dozen medium-sized pasties.

Based on the recipe from Britta Blvd.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs, beaten
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin
• ½ tsp. table salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. ground allspice
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves
• 1 15-ounce can evaporated milk
• 1 package store-bought prepared pie dough (or 2 homemade rounds)
• Flour

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 425° F. Butter a large casserole dish and set aside. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment and also set aside.

2.) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and evaporated milk. Beat until blended. Pour filling into prepared casserole dish and bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F and bake an additional 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let filling cool completely and turn oven back up to 400° F.

3.) Lightly flour a large surface. Roll out prepared pie dough to a 14-inch circle. Using a glass, pastry cutter, cut-out, etc, cut 5-inch rounds out of pastry. Re-roll pastry only once to cut out more rounds.

4.) When ready, place a large spoonful (about 2 Tbsp.) filling slightly off center of pastry. Fold over crust into a half-moon shape and crimp outside edge with a fork. Prick top either with fork or paring knife (to allow steam to escape). Place pasties on prepared baking sheets and bake until crust is a light golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Serve with chocolate frogs, fizzing whisbees, and ice-cold pumpkin juice.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dessert, pumpkin, sweet, vegetarian

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Few things excite me more than my friends getting enthusiastic about cooking, so when my friend Sara mentioned she tried (and succeded!) making caramel for the first time recently, I definitely got candy making on the brain.

Naturally that led me to something salty-sweet and although salted caramels are featured in the latest Saveur, I’ve had this recipe bookmarked in Christie Matheson’s Salty Sweets for ages. I’ve loved every single thing I’ve made from her book so far and this is just another treat on the list of winners. I added a bit of salt at the end (sprinkled on top for visuals more than anything) but it turned out to be the best decision ever since the caramel itself is just barely salty. Those few extra grains on top make all the difference.

Making caramel can be pretty intimidating since it’s a temperature-sensitive thing, but my best piece of advice to beginners is this: go to your local kitchen store and drop $10 on a candy thermometer. It’s such a small investment for perfect peace of mind when you approach projects like this. You don’t have to guess if the color is right – the temperature will tell you if it’s time to move on to the next step. Plus you can use it for deep fat frying which I’m always going to encourage.

—

Salted Caramels

From Salty Sweets.

Makes about 50 caramels.

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1½ tsp. fine sea salt, divided
• 1½ cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tsp. fleur de sel or similar flaky sea salt
• Special tools needed: a candy thermometer (must-have), pastry brush, and wax paper (for wrapping).

Directions

1.) Butter a 8×8 baking dish (glass or metal), line with parchment, and brush with butter again. In a small saucepan, combine cream, butter, vanilla, and 1 tsp. fine sea salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

2.) In a larger saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, and water (I actually like to use a small stock pot or something with very high sides because the caramel with boil up like crazy when you add the cream). Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved. If sugar crystals form on the side of the pan just use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush them down. Once the sugar has dissolved, boil until it’s a medium amber color and a candy thermometer reads 340° F. This will take anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes. Don’t stir the caramel with any kind of tool – swirl the pan with both hands to move the sugar around.

3.) Turn the heat down to medium-low and carefully stir in the cream mixture (it will boil like crazy). Simmer, stirring often, until caramel reaches 246° F on the candy thermometer. This should take about 5 minutes so don’t walk away – keep your eye on the temperature because it will go over your goal temp super fast.

4.) Kill the heat, stir in the 1 tsp. fleur de sel and pour into the prepared baking dish. Let cool at least 3 hours. After about an hour, sprinkle the top with the remaining ½ tsp. fine sea salt (so you can actually see the granules on top).

5.) Once set, remove the entire block of caramel from the dish. Spray a large kitchen knife with non-stick cooking spray and cut the caramels into about 1-inch pieces. Wrap each caramel in wax paper and twist the sides.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: candy, dessert, indulge, salty, sweet

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This past Christmas I spent every evening working my way through a Terry’s Dark Chocolate Orange. I love the ritual of it. The initial thwack!, peeling back the shiny foil, and eating a few slices at a time. The flavor and texture of the chocolate is just delicious and got me craving orange and chocolate hardcore.

Since citrus is at its finest right now, I figured I’d flip the orange-to-chocolate ratio and make one of my favorite French treats at home: orangettes. Candied sliced orange peels dipped in chocolate (dark for me) and a great way to sate that sweet tooth without feeling too guilty. Yes, they’re a bit labor intensive and lengthy but in the end you only use one pot and most of the time is unattended cooking, so it balances out!

—

Orangettes

Based on the recipe from Food Network.

Makes about 50 orangettes.

Ingredients

• 4 large oranges
• 8 oz. sugar
• 8 oz. water
• 11-12 oz. bittersweet or dark chocolate (morsels or chopped)

Direction

1.) Bring a medium-sized saucepan of water to boil. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set a cooling rack on top. Slice the ends off the oranges, and score them from end to end (vertically) making an X over the entire orange. Carefully remove the peel and slice into thin strips. Trim the pointed edges so they’re squared off.

2.) Blanch the orange peels in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. Rinse the peels under cold running water, put on a fresh pot of water and reblanch for 5 more minutes. Rinse again. (This makes the peels far less bitter).

3.) Rinse out the blanching saucepan and combine the 8 oz. sugar and 8 oz. water in it. Bring the syrup to a simmer, add the peels, and simmer over low, covered, for about 1 hour. Once cooked, remove the peels and place on prepared cooling rack. Let drain, cool, and harden at least 30 minutes. Rinse out the pan once again and fill with a small amount of water. Line a baking sheet with fresh parchment or wax paper.

4.) Set a metal bowl over the pan of boiling water (aka make a double boiler) and melt the chocolate in the bowl. Dip the orange peels (I like doing them halfway) and lay them out on prepared lined baking sheet. Let set in the fridge at least 5 minutes and store in an airtight container on layers of parchment or wax paper. I like to keep mine in the fridge (I love cold chocolate) but you can keep them at cool room temp.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, dessert, fruit, treats

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh