CEIMB: Lemon-Ginger Iced Tea with Berry Cubes

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was supposed to be the Peach Pie Smoothies. However, once again, I found myself not really wanting to make this one since it contains my nemesis, yogurt. I feel bad that I haven't been participating with the correct recipes for two weeks now, especially because next week and the week after I will be on vacation, and therefore unable to participate!

So, I decided to go ahead and make next week's recipe a bit early and post about it today. Next week's recipe is the Lemon-Ginger Iced Tea with Berry Cubes, chosen by Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet. This one was such a great, refreshing beverage to make for springtime! And we enjoy both iced tea and lemonade around these parts, so I figured this one would go over pretty well.

As usual with Ellie's recipes, this one is easy to make. You allow a saucepan of water, honey, and chopped ginger to boil, and them simmer briefly. Once that is finished, you add in 6 tea bags and steep it for a while. Strain out the solids, and then add a bunch more water, along with 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice. Then you chill it out in the fridge for a few hours. To accompany the iced tea, Ellie instructs you to plop some fresh raspberries in an ice cube tray, fill the tray with water, and freeze it until you have these adorable little berry cubes. Since my kids and my husband just did some strawberry picking over the weekend, I decided to slice those and use them in my cubes.

The tea turned out delicious! Not too sweet, just the right amount of lemon, and the berry cubes were definitely the highlight. I didn't have time to run out and get fresh mint and extra lemon for garnish, but I feel like the cubes do the job of a garnish nicely, so we didn't really miss the other stuff too much. Thanks to Mary for the pick, and my apologies to Chaya of Comfy Cook's Kosher Kitchen for skipping out on the Peach Pie Smoothie! Do head over to her blog to see how it turned out.

Sangria

Next up in our week full of Cinco de Mayo recipes: Sangria! I haven't had that much Sangria in my life; in fact, I only just tried it recently for the very first time. However, I loved it at first sip. It's a red wine that has been steeping pretty much all day in fruit juices and sugar and, I am sure, a variety of other things depending on how it is made. Certainly, there are endless possibilities with Sangria.

I found a pretty basic, standard (I think!) recipe that I wanted to try out. I did not let it sit for 24 hours before serving, as the instructions indicated. I gave it over 8 hours, though, and there is still some left in the fridge, so we'll have to see if the extra day really makes a difference!

For our purposes, my husband and I bought both ginger ale and club soda as the carbonated portion of the beverage. I prefer to drink diet sodas normally, but I don't think that would have been very good in there. So, it was ginger ale for hubby, and club soda for me. I have to tell you, I really did not miss the sweetened ginger ale at all. The club soda worked out very well; it gave it fizz, and I thought the Sangria was just sweet enough. One final note, though; I do very much apologize for my lackluster photos! I really need to practice my beverage picture-taking; I just can't seem to figure out the best camera angles when it comes to drinks. Oh, well. Here's the recipe!

Sangria
adapted from about.com
makes about 12 or so cups (not including ice)

Ingredients
1 bottle red wine (any will work but I used a Garnacha)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 grapefruit, cut into wedges
2 Tbsp. sugar
Splash of lemonade (I used a mango lemonade, about 2 oz.)
2 shots of gin or triple sec (I used gin)
1 cup strawberries, sliced (thawed or frozen works; mine were fresh)
1 small can diced pineapples with juice
4 cups ginger ale or club soda

Directions
1. Pour the wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juices of the lemon, lime, and grapefruit into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges, leaving out the seeds if possible.

2. Add the pineapple, the sugar, lemonade, and gin. At this point, I also added my strawberries, then read that you're supposed to add them in at the end. I think my way was fine, but do whatever works!

3. Chill up to 8 hours or overnight (the longer this sits, the better it gets). Just before serving, add in ice and either ginger ale or club soda. We served ours with both (I used the club soda, and my husband used the ginger ale). So, I filled up each glass halfway with the sangria (I strained it first, since it does get gritty), then threw in the soda and the ice, and stirred well before serving.

Adult Hot Chocolate...and My Very First Cheesecake Creation!

I don't think I have ever tasted a beverage quite like this one before now. We tried this Adult Hot Chocolate recipe from my wonderful Baked: New Frontiers in Baking cookbook on Christmas Day, and I have to say it knocked our socks right off. It's craaazy good.

Since it is "adult," you can be sure that this recipe calls for some liquor. The Baked guys used amaretto, but we went with creme de menthe because it just seemed Christmas-y to us (plus, it was what we had!). Then, you chop up 7 oz. of chocolate (some milk, but mostly dark) and add enough boiling water to melt it. Boil some milk, heavy cream, and a touch of maple syrup, then add the melted chocolate and the liquor. Garnish with whipped cream if you like, and you are ready for the ultimate chocolate experience!



At first sip, you might actually think you are drinking pure, liquid chocolate. I mean, it is just that potent. Then, as you sip again, you can taste the creme de menthe, present but not hardly overpowering. This hot chocolate is definitely not for the faint of heart, and only the most serious of chocolate lovers should try it. After about 5 sips, I had about reached my limit, and I can usually overdose on chocolate with the best of them. It's just so rich. That said, it sure made the perfect holiday beverage, because it was just 100% indulgence. Yum.

Alongside this, I served a white chocolate cranberry cheesecake that I kinda invented myself. I posted about those cloned Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars a couple weeks back, and I had wanted to tinker with those bars a bit. Since we love those bars so much and we also adore cheesecake, I thought why not make a Cranberry Bliss Cheesecake? I have to say, I kinda love this idea. I made a shortbread cookie recipe, studded with dried cranberries and small chunks of white chocolate, and ground it to crumbs in my food processor. I pressed these crumbs down into my springform pan to form the crust. Then, I made a cheesecake layer that contained fresh lemon zest, ground ginger, melted white chocolate, and dried cranberries. To finish it all off, I garnished the cheesecake with more dried cranberries, and a drizzle of melted white chocolate. It was sooo good, and I am not just saying that because I created it myself! Everyone that tried it agreed that it was a winner. I would love for this cheesecake to become a new Christmas tradition for us!

Since my cheesecake recipe is something that I just had fun playing around with, I am not going to post the full, detailed instructions here. But if you email me, I'd be happy to share what I did, step-by-step! And here is the Adult Hot Chocolate, posted below. You were warned.




Adult Hot Chocolate
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
makes 2 (very generous) servings

Ingredients
2 oz. good-quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
5 oz. good-quality dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup boiling water
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. creme de menthe liquor
Whipped cream, optional

Directions
1. Put the chocolates in a small heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate, and make sure most of the chocolate is submerged. Let the chocolate sit for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, bring the milk, cream, and maple syrup just to a simmer. Pour the chocolate mixture into the milk mixture and whisk until combined.

3. Turn the heat up to medium and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is just about to boil. Add the creme de menthe, stir one more time, and ladle into mugs. Top with whipped cream if desired, and serve immediately.

CEIMB: Mango Lassi

My Craving Ellie in My Belly post this week is going to be short and sweet. This week we were to make Mango Lassi, selected by Leslie of Lethally Delicious. We have actually made Ellie's Mango Lassi in the past. It's very simple and only takes moments to put together.

Simply combine 2 mangos, 1 1/2 cups nonfat yogurt, 2 Tbsp. honey, and some ice cubes in a blender, and puree. Easy, refreshing, and good for you!

Unfortunately, this is one beverage that not many people in my household will consume. In fact, my hubby was the only one to drink the Mango Lassi. On the bright side, he did enjoy it! As for me, I just strongly dislike yogurt. I've tried it before in various incarnations, but the only way I can really enjoy it is if it's hiding out as one of the ingredients in a baked good. I think if we made this again, but substituted lowfat vanilla ice cream for the yogurt, I would drink it and love it. I've recently developed an appreciation for the taste of mango, and I would like to be able to enjoy it. I just didn't think to do the ice cream thing this time around until it was too late.

Thank you to Leslie for this week's selection! The official recipe for the Mango Lassi can be found here, on Food Network's website. You can also check out the CEIMB blogroll to see what the other members thought about this one.

Strawberry "Julius"

We love that store in the mall, Orange Julius, that sells all those yummy, fruity shakes and smoothies. It's one of the few ways I can get fruit into the kids. Xander requests a "julius" nearly every time we hit the mall, and he loves them so much he doesn't even care that he's drinking something that isn't completely bad for him!

I still have all these strawberries to use (sorry if you're getting sick of all these strawberry-centric blog posts, but that's just what I've been using a lot of lately). This time, when thinking of new ways to use them, I remembered that I had: 1) been nagged by Xander recently to make some "julius" at home, and 2) seen a nifty recipe on Recipezaar for a strawberry variation on the original orange drink. I love that this recipe uses real berries, rather than using a fruit juice concentrate. I'd done that several times in the past to duplicate these beverages at home, and while it works, it's not entirely feasible all the time.

First things first: I wanted to strain out the seeds from the berries. I whirled them up in the blender with a bit of water, and pushed the puree through a sieve.

After all the straining was done, I had this lovely, bubblegum-pink, frothy liquid that was both gorgeous and seed-free! I threw this back into the blender, along with some milk, sugar, and a bit of vanilla extract. I tossed in about 5 ice cubes, let it rip, and just like that I had Strawberry "Julius!"

Seriously, this is about as simple as it gets. The only way I could have made it simpler would have been to save myself the trouble of straining out those pesky seeds. Most people would probably leave them in, but I'm just strange and happen to hate them. Plus, I figured the kids would probably appreciate the effort, and the silky-smooth consistency.

I think you can probably tell, these little smoothies were a huge hit with my kids! Above is Evan, relishing the last few drops of his glass.

Below is Xander, enjoying the remains of his serving. He posed especially for this picture; he wanted an action shot of him drinking. Very cute!

These went over so well, in fact, that there was none left for Daddy when he got home from work. Oops. No worries, though. I do believe I see more of these Strawberry "Julius"-es (how do you pluralize that? Who knows?) in our near future. Next time, there may even be enough for all of us!

Strawberry "Julius"

from Recipezaar

makes 2 (6-ounce) glasses

Ingredients

1 cup strawberries, sliced (can use fresh or frozen; it's also equivalent to 100-125 g on a kitchen scale)

1/2 cup milk (any kind is ok)

1/2 cup water (or use half water, half ice, as I did)

1/4 cup superfine sugar (since I did not have this, I used 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

1. Place strawberries in blender. If you wish to strain seeds, add about 2-4 Tbsp. water to the blender, puree, and then pass the puree through a mesh sieve to collect the seeds. Place strawberry puree back into the blender. Proceed with step 2.

2. Add all the remaining ingredients to the blender. (If you've already strained the seeds, you need only add water until the total you have used, both before and after step 1, equals 1/2 cup. Otherwise, I found that 1/4 cup total water, plus 5 ice cubes, was perfect for an icy, frothy consistency.)

3. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.