recipes

Recipe Box | Earl Grey Ice Cream

03/15/2014 by Jennifer 3 Comments

It’s been a long time coming, but I finally made Earl Grey ice cream! I’m super excited to share the recipe with you. But first, a little history lesson: Earl Grey is a blend of black China teas that is flavored with the oils of the Bergamot citrus fruit. It was supposedly given as a gift to Prime Minister, Charles Grey (who was an Earl) in the early 1800s. Lady Grey continued to use the tea while hosting guests in London. Eventually, she was asked if the tea could be sold to others and Twinings decided to market it as a brand. Sometimes people see that my blog is called Earl Grey Blog and they say, “You can’t be Earl Grey because its trademarked or a proper noun, etc.” It is always so awkward and it ends in me being paranoid and doing tons of research. In the end, I always come to the same conclusion: It’s a flavor. It’s tasty. It is 200 years old. And I love it. :)

Earl Grey Ice Cream (adapted from this recipe) Ingredients: 1 1/2 c whole milk (I used 1% and it turned out fine) 1 1/2 c heavy whipping cream 3/4 c sugar 3 tsp loose leaf Earl Grey tea (or 5-6 teabags) 1 tsp orange zest 2 large eggs 3 large egg yolks (I have this Cuisinart ice cream maker which yields 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream. Feel free to adjust the recipe according to the size of your ice cream maker.)

First, make sure to freeze the freezer bowl overnight. Combine the milk, cream, and tea leaves over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, combine the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in a medium bowl until you have a thick, pale yellow mixture. Remove the simmering milk/cream from the stove and strain out the loose leaves (or take out the teabags). Little by little, add the milk/cream mixture to the egg/sugar mix until it is thoroughly blended. Next, pour the mixture back into the pan and add some orange zest. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Place it in a bowl covered in plastic wrap, and keep it in the refrigerator until it has chilled completely. When it’s ready, turn the ice cream machine on (with the freezer bowl inside and everything else in place – refer to your ice cream maker manual for instructions) and add the chilled custard. Keep it on for 25-30 minutes until the ice cream has thickened. It may have more of a soft serve/milkshake consistency. That’s okay! Just keep it in the freezer for a few hours.

I looovvee how my Earl Grey ice cream turned out! It reminded me of a London Fog. Floral and sweet, but not too sweet. The orange zest didn’t make much of a difference, but I wanted to add a citrusy flair anyway. It’s looking like my future holds many more tea-flavored ice cream recipes. Let me know if you decide to make this!

8 Recipes Inspired by Girl Scout Cookies

02/26/2014 by Jennifer 5 Comments

Girl Scout Cookie season is officially among us! On Sunday, I bought a box of “Caramel DeLites” (Samoas) and a box of Thin Mints. Samoas are pretty magical because I am not a coconut fan at all. I can’t stand it. But I love Samoas! Maybe a little too much (the box is, umm, already empty…). I’m not crazy about Thin Mints though, so I have many left still. If you were already planning to buy a bunch of GS cookies, here are eight Girl Scout Cookie-inspired recipes to tempt you even further.

1. Trefoil Cookie Pops – Coupon Clipping Cook (These are caramel-filled, candy-coated and covered in sprinkles. Omg.)
2. Tagalong Peanut Butter Parfaits – My Baking Addiction
3. Spiked Do-si-do Milkshake – Yummly
4. Thin Mint Puppy Chow – Erica’s Sweet Tooth
5. Savannah Smiles Lemon Blueberry Parfait – Little Brownie Bakers
6. Seven-Layer Samoa Bars – Cookie Crazed Mama
7. Chocolate, Caramel, & Coconut Covered Samoa Pretzels – Love From the Oven
8. Homemade Tagalong Cookies – Bakers Royale

Selling Girl Scout Cookies, or being a Daisy/Brownie Scout in general was not for me. I tried it, but I felt awkwardly older than everyone else and never wanted to participate. I did however take a couple skills away from being a Girl Scout, including making friendship bracelets and reciting the Girl Scout Law, which I actually recite pretty often. :) What’s your favorite GS cookie? Are you participating in cookie-buying this spring?

Eat Something Green

02/10/2014 by Jennifer 3 Comments

Last month I shared some of my New Year’s goals and resolutions. There was one little goal that I kept secret though! Eating something green every day. I didn’t share it because I honestly didn’t think I would follow through. I don’t like to cook very much, so some days it’s hard to get in enough green food even if I really do enjoy eating it. Also, as much as I love green smoothies, it just doesn’t feel right during the winter sometimes.

one, two, three, four

Well, it turns out that this is actually one of the only goals I’ve been consistent with! It feels wonderful. Mostly I just eat a lot of broccoli, but I plan to get more creative eventually. Unfortunately, my “cook something new every month” goal is going nowhere. Maybe my green food challenge can help out my cooking challenge.

Do you have any favorite meals that include lots of green foods?

Cranberry Pomegranate Spiced Apple Cider

01/12/2014 by Jennifer 3 Comments

Ladies and gentleman, meet my new favorite wintery beverage! The other morning, I made a small serving of this by heating one cup of apple juice over the stove. I added half a cup of pomegranate juice and a splash of cranberry juice, along with a cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves. Not a lot of measuring went on, but I think it’s hard to mess up cider. The result was heavenly.

I love how the cranberry juice makes it a little less sweet. Adding bourbon is also a great idea if you’re into that.

Yum! Do you guys have any other favorite ways to drink cider?

Six Hot Drinks to Try This Winter

01/06/2014 by Jennifer 5 Comments

Throughout each fall and winter, I spend a concentrated amount of time on each hot drink I love until I can’t stand it anymore. Hot cocoa was first this season – more specifically Beekman 1802 Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa. Right now I’m really loving spiced apple cider with bourbon. Tea is a consistent beverage for me as well since I stopped drinking coffee. I have to have black tea every single morning. Still definitely addicted to caffeine. :)

I may be resolving to cook just one (kinda) fancy meal a month, but putting recipes together for hot drinks doesn’t stress me out at all. They’re perfect for any wintery occasion and there is not as much room for mistakes.

1. The Bourbon Bomber – The Boys Club
2. Chamomile Hot Toddy – HonestlyYUM
3. Chocolate Chai Tea Latte – Virtually Homemade
4. Lemonade with Honey & Cinnamon – Country Living
5. Lavender Hot Chocolate – A La Mode
6. Mulled Wine – Flourishing Foodie

YUM! I can’t even decide what’s at the top of my list to try. Maybe the lavender hot chocolate. It has been a long time coming.

What are your favorite hot drinks? Have you tried anything new lately?

Recipe Box | Lavender Bark

12/14/2013 by Jennifer 10 Comments

The other day while I was walking through a very busy and festive Target store, I started thinking about lavender bark. I looked it up and found out that it is kind of a thing already but I didn’t see any recipes for the exact idea I had in my mind.

This recipe is largely adapted from Cathie Fillian’s peppermint bark recipe but I made a few changes to make sure it would taste like lavender. When it comes to baking and cooking, I have little to no skills so this is a really big deal! I am obsessed with this stuff. Is it Christmasy? I don’t know. But it is definitely delicious and giftable. :)

Lavender Bark Ingredients
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
12 oz white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1-2 teaspoons lavender buds

First, line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper. Then pour the 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream into a pan with 1 teaspoon of lavender. Let it steep for 5-10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Next, fill a glass or metal bowl with the semisweet chocolate chips. Place the bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. This is a homemade double boiler (you can see a good picture of one here), but if you have a real double boiler, definitely use that! If you’re using the “homemade” version, make sure you keep a utensil like a knife between the bowl and the pot of boiling water. This will let the steam out.

Strain the lavender buds from the heavy whipping cream and pour the whipping cream into the bowl of semisweet chocolate chips. Stir them until they are melted. Then pour the chocolate onto the lined cookie sheet, using a spatulate to make it into a smooth layer. Sprinkle some lavender buds on top and refrigerate for 20 minutes or so.

Then melt the white chocolate chips in a similar way to how you melted the semisweet chips. It is not a good idea to add lavender-flavored heavy whipping cream to the white chocolate chips. I learned the hard way and had to run to the store for more white chocolate chips to start all over. White chocolate is difficult to melt if it has contact with any sort of moisture. It’ll just harden and crumble or become translucent looking. I ended up melting the white chocolate in the microwave which worked like a charm. Microwave for 20 seconds, stir, and repeat. Anyway, you choose your method: double boiler or microwave. It will still turn out delicious.

When the white chocolate chips are melted, pour the mixture onto the semisweet chocolate and use a spatula to make it even. Sprinkle some lavender buds on top and refrigerate for a half an hour or so. Then break the lavender apart and you’re good to go! I think it would be cute to make shapes out of the bark with cookie cutters or to cut them into perfect squares. Next time I’ll try that.

Do you like lavender as a flavor? A lot of people don’t like the smell but love the taste.

If you’re baking anything exciting for the holidays, please share! :)