Posts for February 8th 2013

Cocktails

Celebrate Mardi Gras With a King Cake Bevvy

Combine two Mardi Gras traditions into one cup: king cake and bourbon.


Combine two Mardi Gras traditions into one cup: king cake and bourbon. This bevvy, or alcoholic beverage, is essentially a bourbon-vanilla milkshake. Cinnamon, almond, orange, and creamy vanilla are the main flavors, inspired by king cakes, or a ring-shaped cake eaten during Mardi Gras that is covered in white glaze and garnished with purple, yellow, and green sprinkles. Can you see the resemblance in this cocktail?


If you're wondering what's the deal with the little plastic baby garnish, it's a Southern/Gulf Coast tradition that a tiny plastic baby is inserted into the king cake for tasters to find it. Whoever does has good luck for the year and must host the next party.

Here's an inspired idea: if you plan to make a large batch of this cocktail for friends, say, using one gallon of ice cream, then pour the cocktail in a large pitcher and stir the plastic baby into the pitcher, so one lucky imbiber will end up with the baby in his or her glass. Just be sure to warn friends beforehand that there might be a plastic object in the glass, and encourage them to use straws to prevent any accidental swallowing!

Inspired by Bourbon House's King Cake Bevvy

Bourbon King Cake Bevvy

Bourbon Vanilla Milkshake

Ingredients

1 pint vanilla ice cream
1-3/4 ounce bourbon
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 ounce orange juice
Purple, yellow, and green sugar sprinkles, for garnish
Tiny plastic baby, for garnish

Directions

  1. Blend ice cream, bourbon, cinnamon, almond extract, and orange juice in a blender until smooth. Pour in a glass and garnish with sprinkles and plastic baby.

Makes 1 cocktail.

recipes

Happy Hour: Ramos Gin Fizz

As we head into the weekend, it's time to turn our attention to the very important topic of brunch cocktails.

As we head into the weekend, it's time to turn our attention to the very important topic of brunch cocktails. Though a bloody mary or mimosa is the obvious choice, I find that a Ramos gin fizz functions as an excellent morning drink.

If you're a fan of fizzes, you'll find plenty of the gin-infused variety. This classic version, invented by New Orleans barkeep Harry Ramos in the late 1800s, uses orange flower water as a French twist. Though it sounds heavy, it's surprisingly refreshing and frothy. To get the recipe, read more

Chocolate

9 Editor-Approved Chocolate Boxes For Valentine's Day

It was a tough task at hand, but the food editors sat down with a stack of chocolate boxes and we tried them all to bring you the best of the bunch.
Chocolate Gift Boxes

It was a tough task at hand, but the food editors sat down with a stack of chocolate boxes and we tried them all to bring you the best of the bunch. Chocolate does not run cheap, so it's important that you guarantee your Valentine (or, let's admit, we like to treat ourselves too!) a delicious, decadent box of chocolates. We found these nine that we feel particularly passionate about. As you click through, be sure to zoom in on the pictures so you can see every detail, down to each sugar granule.

party planning

Savor Our Top Picks From an Italian Slow Wine Tasting

Looking to bolster our Italian wine knowledge, we recently attended a tasting put on by Slow Wine (part of Slow Food) where we sampled offerings from Italy's many storied wine regions.

Looking to bolster our Italian wine knowledge, we recently attended a tasting put on by Slow Wine (part of Slow Food) where we sampled offerings from Italy's many storied wine regions. While many pleased our palates, some stood out more than others. Click through for our top picks, and get inspired to savor a bottle or two yourself.

— Additional reporting by Susannah Chen and Anna Monette Roberts

Food News

Link Time: Best-Kept Secrets For Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

Best-kept secrets for tender, gooey cinnamon rolls — America's Test Kitchen Check out these beds made from beer barrels — HuffPost Taste Girl Scouts are modernizing cookie sales with a food truck — Delish The history and future of flair bartending — Grub Street New York It's down to three on Top Chef — Zagat Check out the cover of the latest Lucky Peach — Eater A lighter, faster eggplant parmesan — Tasting Table

cooking tips

Dish Out Perfectly Portioned Cookies and Cupcakes

Ever wonder how professional bakers turn out perfectly portioned cookies, cupcakes, and muffins time and time again?

Ever wonder how professional bakers turn out perfectly portioned cookies, cupcakes, and muffins time and time again? It's not magic, nor does it require years of professional training. Rather, many rely on a simple tool: a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, otherwise known as a disher. Think of a disher as a measuring cup or spoon and silicone spatula in one handy package. All one needs to do is utilize an appropriately sized disher for the task at hand, fill it to the brim, and use it's spring-loaded metal band to scrape out the contents into a waiting muffin tin (for cupcakes and muffins) or onto a baking sheet (for cookies).

Why you should care: Not only do evenly sized baked goods look more appealing, but they'll bake up evenly as they'll all be the same size and cook at the same rate.

Our top pick: Norpro's set of small, medium, and large dishers ($50).

recipes

Do the Twist With Herbed Cheese Straws

I try to avoid overarching statements, but I'm confident that if you make these easy yet impressive cheese straws for your next soirée, you will fall hard for store-bought puff pastry.

I try to avoid overarching statements, but I'm confident that if you make these easy yet impressive cheese straws for your next soirée, you will fall hard for store-bought puff pastry. That is, if you're not already on best-friend terms with the genius ingredient. These gloriously flaky cheese straws might seem complex to construct, but really, it's just the butter-filled layers of puff pastry and a kiss of heat from the oven at work.

Little more than a brush of egg wash, a sprinkling of cheese and herbs, and a few deft (but easy) twirls of the puff pastry strips are required, all in all making for a very low effort-to-reward ratio. So what are you waiting for? Bake a handful of these treats, and your friends will be begging for the recipe!

history

Do You Have an Appetite For New Orleans Food?

Even if you don't hail from The Pelican State, there's no better excuse to party before the Lenten season than with Mardi Gras — after all, the purple, green, and gold only come out once a year!

Even if you don't hail from The Pelican State, there's no better excuse to party before the Lenten season than with Mardi Gras — after all, the purple, green, and gold only come out once a year! Live music and Krewe parades are but a few reasons why the debaucherous Carnival scene in New Orleans brings hundreds of thousands of visitors each early Spring, but undoubtedly, the biggest draw is the city's rich culinary history and unique perspective on food and drink. What do you know about the cuisine of New Orleans and Louisiana? To find out, keep clicking.

Take the Quiz
savory sights

Savory Sight: Sweet Potato Hash

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but you can get ahead of the game by prepping it the night before, as dmash shows us.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but you can get ahead of the game by prepping it the night before, as dmash shows us.


What's that? You don't have time to make breakfast ever? Me neither. I'm the queen of running out the door and eating dry brown rice cakes while simultaneously trying to answer work emails on my morning commute. All. While. Driving. But the good news is that you can whip this sweet potato hash up the night before and then throw a poached, fried, or blanched egg on top to finish it off.

For more — and the recipe — check out her blog, and then be sure to share your food photos on POPSUGAR Social or by starting your own blog. If you're on Instagram, then chime in on the conversation with the hashtag #savorysight.