Recipe: Cranberry Gin + Ginger Cocktail
Ah, the holidays. The time of year when booze flows like water, and rightfully so. There's nothing like a little buzz to make all the family gatherings better (or you can just rely on Adele to fix everything). Luckily, I don't have any crazy relatives to dodge, so a good holiday cocktail is more of a pleasure than a remedy.
I tend to be a wine-with-dinner kind of girl, but starting off a party with a festive cocktail makes everything feel more special. This little drink has a pretty presentation that really says Christmas, and would look beautiful set up on a bar cart for a night of entertaining. I love the addition of the sugared cranberries – they look snow-covered and totally holiday ready. They are also really tasty on their own, so you can set out any extras in a little dish for people to snack on. This recipe is super easy and you can scale up the recipe depending on your number of guests (or if it's just you...ain't no shame in that game).
INGREDIENTS: (YIELDS ONE COCKTAIL)
4 oz cranberry juice
2 oz ginger ale
Splash of apple juice
1 oz gin of choice (I use Bombay)
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Sugared cranberries for garnish (recipe below)
DIRECTIONS:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in cranberry juice, apple juice, and gin and shake to mix. Pour into rocks glass with ice, and add your ginger ale. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and sugared cranberries – you can place them loose into the drink, or line them up on a toothpick or cocktail pick.
SUGARED CRANBERRIES:
1 cup cranberries
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
In a small saucepan, combine cranberries, water, and 1 cup of the sugar. Heat on high until the water begins to boil, then remove from the heat. Let them stand for about 5 minutes – you want the cranberries to be whole, and not split open (a few of mine did anyway).
Once they're ready, drain the liquid and transfer the cranberries to a plate to cool for a few minutes. On another small plate, place the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and roll the cranberries in the sugar, a few at a time. Place them on another plate or prep board to cool and dry for 10-15 minutes before inserting cocktail picks for garnish.
And that's it! You're on your way to holiday cocktail party bliss.
Recipe: Toasted S'mores Brownies
As if the leftover Halloween candy wasn't enough, I made these brownies this past weekend while craving the toasty flavor of s'mores. I love making s'mores in the summer, but there's something about this warm fall weather that's keeping me in the mood for bonfires and toasting marshmallows. This is hardly a recipe (which is why it's awesome) but it's a super tasty way to upgrade a batch of brownies.
YOU'LL NEED:
A box of brownie mix (my fave is Ghirardelli Double Chocolate, or you can make from scratch)
1/2 bag of mini marshmallows
4 graham crackers, broken into pieces
3 Hersey's chocolate bars, broken into pieces
Prepare and bake your brownies according to the instructions on the box. As soon as you remove them from the oven, sprinkle the mini marshmallows evenly on top, allowing them to warm a bit when they make contact with the brownie pan.
Turn on the broiler in your oven to the high setting.
Sprinkle the graham pieces on top of the marshmallows. Once the broiler is ready, pop the pan back into the oven (with the rack positioned a notch or two from the broiler) and allow the marshmallows to toast for about 30-60 seconds. The timing depends on the heat from the broiler – keep an eye on them to make sure the graham crackers don't start to burn. You'll want to leave the pan in until the marshmallows are golden brown and melty, so it could take longer than 60 seconds.
Remove the pan from the oven, and carefully place the chocolate pieces on top of the marshmallows. Allow the chocolate to melt a bit, and cool the brownies entirely before serving (mine usually take a few hours, my stoneware pan retains heat for a while). Cut and serve once cool. Campfire stories and plaid shirts not included ;)
Recipe: The Perfect Carrot Cake
Well, another week has begun – I hope you guys had a great Easter! It was so nice to have Friday off, it was a much-needed long weekend and I spent the day tying up loose ends with wedding stuff and working on the new website, which is coming soon! On Easter Sunday we had a little brunch at our house, just the two of us, then visited family for dinner. One of my favorite cakes EVER is carrot cake, so it felt appropriate to bring along for the Easter Bunny feast.
I prefer nuts and raisins in my carrot cake, but I left them out in case those weren't crowd pleasers. The cake was still awesome and didn't feel lacking, so it's just personal preference! I've adapted this from various recipes, and this is what works for me. I hope you try it and enjoy...it's delicious!
THE CAKE:
1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
6 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose instead, this is just my variation)
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 lb. finely-grated fresh carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional but YES)
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional but also YES)
THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 Tbsp. clear vanilla extract (regular will yield more ivory frosting)
6 cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine flour and dry ingredients (spices, baking powder, baking soda, salt) and set aside.
Mix oil, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla slowly and continue mixing. Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed until combined.
Fold carrots into batter with a spatula just until combined, then add in nuts and raisins. Be careful not to over work the batter, just fold until combined.
Grease and flour two 9" cake pans, and pour batter evenly between the two. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Place pans on a wire rack and cool completely – this usually takes a couple hours, so now's the time to make your frosting. Before I frost the cake, though, I like to pop it in the fridge to chill down – a cold cake will be much easier to frost.
TO MAKE THE FROSTING:
In your stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding or subtracting based on desired thickness. You can add milk to thin the frosting, or add more powdered sugar to thicken it up.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
Carefully run a table knife between the cake and the pan to loosen the cake, then flip the pans upside down to release the cake. Using a sharp serrated bread knife, level off the rounded tops of the cake layers. Place your first layer on the plate or cake stand, followed with a big dollop of frosting in the center. Spread the frosting thickly and evenly across the layer – don't worry about it being perfectly smooth, just try to get it even. Spread from the middle of the layer out to the edges and slightly down the side.
Add your second layer, centered on top of the first. Repeat the frosting process by starting with a large dollop on the top and work your way down the sides, filling and smoothing with an offset spatula.
Check out this helpful video with instructions on how to achieve a smooth finish with your frosting. Carrot cake doesn't demand a lot of embellishment with the icing, so I made a few calligraphy flags to jazz up the cake for the holiday.
You can serve the cake right away or pop it in the fridge to cool down and set, which I like to do with cream cheese frosting. You'll want to store your cake in the fridge when you're not devouring it. And that's it! Pure carrot bliss.
Friday Links + Sephora Giveaway Winner
Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you're all staying warm in these arctic temperatures. It's bitter cold outside so we definitely don't have any major plans this weekend (although Cleveland Restaurant Week starts today, so I might be tempted into attending)!
Most importantly, I'd like to announce the results from the Sephora gift card giveaway—the winner is Kayla Kelsey (@kaylaincle)! You'll be receiving an email from me shortly with the details of your prize. And it appears she's also a bride-to-be, so double congrats to you, Kayla!
Thank you all for entering and commenting about your skincare routines—I am such a product junkie and loved all of your recommendations. I've had a few questions about daily-use products, so I plan to do a follow-up post on that as well. In the meantime, I rounded up some tasty detox water recipes for anyone who's looking to spice up their water game. Enjoy!
1 | Raspberry Lemon water (Eat Drink Love)
2 | Lime Raspberry Mint water (Sammy and Bella) - I'd love to try this with basil!
3 | Cucumber Lemon Mint water (Sweet and Savory)
4 | Pineapple Sugarcane Spa water (A Spicy Perspective)
5 | Cranberry Juice Detox drinks (Bembu)
Friday Links: Sangria Recipe Roundup
When it comes to summer, there are few drinks I like better than sangria. It's the perfect refresher that packs a mean alcoholic punch (well, at least when I make it).
I am a repeat offender when it comes to making peach sangria, so wanted to dig up some other recipes to inspire some interesting combinations. We have a bunch of mint growing in our garden, so I'm anxious to use some up with the apple mint white sangria pictured at #4. I love the idea of mixing in some herbs or veggies, like cucumbers or even sweet peppers, for a twist on this classic. Now that the nights are long and warm, sangria makes for an ideal patio companion. Time to get that pitcher out!
1 | Light and tropical pineapple sangria (Erin's Food Files)
2 | A beautifully styled watermelon sangria bar (A Fabulous Fete)
3 | White peach sangria – love the addition of the grapes (Cooking ala Mel)
4 | Apple mint white sangria (The Clever Carrot)
5 | Another great use of herbs – strawberry rosemary sangria (A Cozy Kitchen)
Recipe: Homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies
It's been years since I had one and the craving hit me while grocery shopping this week. I resisted buying a box and instead found this recipe to make my own. These were actually very easy to make and have all of the soft, chewy goodness of the original. I followed the recipe exactly and was sure to slightly underbake the cookies to keep them really soft. Head over to Cooking Classy to find out how to make them yourself!
Do you have a childhood snack you just can't resist?
Friday Links
Between the freezing weather and catching the flu, this week's been a bit of a doozy. I'm looking forward to recharging this weekend and starting fresh next week. I'll have some fun Valentine's DIYs and printables coming up — I can't believe February is around the corner! Enjoy this week's links and have a cozy weekend!
1 | This recipe for make-ahead steel cut oats has been getting me through the morning. (The Kitchn)
2 | True that. (They All Hate Us)
3 | What I wish winter fashion actually looked like...it's zero degree here right now. (Print by Garance Doré)
4 | Love this uber cool side-diamond ring. (Free People)
5 | My second macaron attempt will be these vanilla bean and dulce de leche buttercream ones. It better go well because they sound damn good! (The Culinary Chronicles)
Recipe: Funfetti Birthday Cake Cookies
There are few things I like more than birthdays and cookies. And since my favorite dessert (cookies) usually take a backseat to my other buddy (cake) on birthdays, I was extra thrilled when I could find a way to bring the cookie back to the party.
When I spotted this recipe over on Sally's Baking Addiction I knew it was L-O-V-E. These are perfectly colorful, chocolatey, and packed with cake batter flavor. She has tweaked and tweaked this recipe to make the perfect pillowy-soft cookie, so I'll lay it all out for you so that these babies can get into your mouth ASAP.
I N G R E D I E N T S :
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c yellow or white boxed cake mix
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 sticks softened butter
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1.5 tsp vanilla
1/2 c white chocolate chips
1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c sprinkles
D I R E C T I O N S :
1) Sift flour, cake mix, and baking soda together in large bowl.
2) In a stand mixer (or separate bowl), cream together butter and sugars. Add in egg and vanilla and mix to combine.
3) Slowly add in dry ingredients to mixer; mix only to combine. You don't ever want to over-mix your batter at this point! Use a spatula to fold in the chocolate chips and sprinkles. Let your dough chill for at least an hour before baking.
4) Preheat oven to 350ºF. Roll dough into tall balls (trick from Sally) - this will keep your cookies from spreading too much. Bake for 10-12 minutes - mine took 13 because I use insulated cookie sheets. You'll want the edges to be golden brown but the centers will still look slightly underdone — never fear, they will settle as they cool. This will keep them chewy and soft!
5) Cool and serve with some milk. And maybe a slice of cake.
These are definitely in the running to replace my next birthday cake. Enjoy!
Recipe: Summer Cherry Pie
There's a history to my love of pie-making. Ready for a quick story?
My second year of college, I was working as an Intern at an agency in Cleveland that frequently had cook-offs, bake-offs, and contests. That summer, they were having a pie-baking contest and even though I was the intern, I wasn't off the hook. I had never baked a pie before in my life and thought I was in for some tough competition, so I chose an unconventional pie recipe to make up for inexperience — a gingerbread linzertorte with raspberry filling. Looking back at this recipe, this is obviously a holiday pie and I probably shouldn't have made one in the middle of the summer {remember this, college kids: you are not at your intellectual peak}! I made a practice pie, messed it up, and made another one. The second one looked great, and everyone loved it at the tasting. I ended up winning the contest, and it was love at first pie.
We got a huge haul of local cherries in our Fresh Fork bag last week, and they were a bit sour for casual eating, which makes them perfect for baking. I made this cherry pie after scouring the internet for the right recipe, and I think I've found the perfect one. A little touch of almond extract enhances the filling, while boiling the cherries with sugar creates that gooey filling I was going after. It was pretty easy, not too time consuming, and {most importantly} tasted great!
I didn't have a pitter, so we followed the toothpick method to pit the cherries—but I've also heard that a paperclip or bobby pin work well. So interesting!
What's your favorite type of pie? Fruit? Pecan? Pumpkin...! I'm thinking about pumpkin pie without trying to rush into fall—but I can't help myself!
Recipe: Cucumber Dill Salad
In the spirit of all things summer, I wanted to share one of my favorite refreshing recipes. This is a perfect side dish for grilling – the dill pairs especially well with a good salmon burger or barbecue chicken. I am also obsessed with dill pickles, so this salad is an easy favorite (although it doesn't taste exactly like a pickle – it's better)!
INGREDIENTS:
1 English cucumber, cut in half lengthwise and sliced 1/4" or thinner
1/4 cup Greek yogurt (the original recipe calls for sour cream, but either tastes the same)
1/2 a lemon
3 Tbsp fresh dill, torn
Salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1) Cut and slice your cucumber, and place slices in a colander. You're going to sweat the moisture out of the cucumbers before you put the salad together. Sprinkle kosher salt over the dukes (be generous) and let the colander sit where it can drain (in the sink, for example) for 30-40 minutes. Give them a good shake about halfway through to redistribute the salt.
2) Rinse the salt off the cukes, remove from colander and lay out on paper towels. Pat them dry, then transfer to a large bowl.
3) Add in the yogurt (start with a small amount, depending on how creamy you want it) and the dill. Stir to combine. Juice the lemon half into a separate bowl, remove the seeds, then add the juice a little at a time to the salad. Depending on how much moisture your cucumbers contain, you don't want to add too much lemon juice and have the salad get watery. Season with salt and pepper, and you're good to go! Keep refrigerated until serving.
I typically don't make this too far in advance to prevent the yogurt and lemon mixture from breaking down, but it can sit nicely in the fridge for an hour or so, allowing the flavors to meld.
Aren't summer salads the best? I'd love to hear some of your favorites!
