It’s getting hot here in California, so while it’s technically spring, it feeling more like summer. Here are a couple more syrups that I developed last year: blackberry with honey and vanilla, and passion fruit with ginger. We tend to use fruit syrups for sodas and other drinks, but these could also work nicely on […]
Tag Archives: drinks
Lime and mint syrup
Thursday, 14 June 2018
I had an accumulation of limes sitting on our counter, and rather than squeezing them one or two at a time to make citrus water or soda chanh, I made lime-mint syrup. It’s easy: make a concentrated simple syrup, add flavorings, infuse, filter, then store. I’d imagine that this syrup would also work in cocktails […]
Mint lassi
Friday, 1 May 2015
It started with an avocado lassi: smooth, minty, and refreshing on a hot day with spicy food. The problem with avocados is that their season is limited—they peak in winter here in CA—and dishes made with them quickly go brown, also muddying the flavor. Slightly brown avocado lassi tastes icky. But I learned it was […]
Roasted hazelnut liqueur
Friday, 27 March 2015
For the longest time, the only hazelnut liqueur I had access to was Frangelico’s. It’s okay, but the almond and herbal components interfered with the toasty, rich hazelnuttiness I desire. There are others, but I hadn’t been able to find them in stores. With a large bag of skinned hazelnuts in the freezer, and some […]
Satsuma liqueur
Thursday, 18 December 2014
The satsumas were late this year, with fruit ripening through March. The sad thing is that now as winter approaches, there are hardly any fruit for the upcoming winter season. Perhaps the rains will help with next year’s harvest. In any case, earlier in the year I experimented with making satsuma liqueur, and found that […]
Bing cherry wishniak
Thursday, 12 June 2014
It’s cherry season! This recipe is a slight variation from Homemade Liqueurs, by Dona and Mel Meilach (1979). The trick is to find sweet, flavorful cherries in the prime of their season—which for me are Bing cherries. Note that this particular liqueur might take a while to mature. I made a batch in 2013, and […]
Apricot brandy with orange and vanilla
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
It’s strange given my love of apricots that I had not made apricot liqueur. Last summer I finally did, using an inexpensive brandy from Trader Joe’s, an orange, and some vanilla sugar. I filtered out the fruit solids after steeping for 4 months—using a double layer of fine butter muslin over a fine sieve. The […]
Meyer lemon, ginger and vanilla liqueur
Saturday, 18 August 2012
It’s been many years since I’ve made my own alcoholic fruit infusions, and this being a boom Meyer lemon year encouraged me to get back into the habit. Sure, there are many recipes around for limoncello, but I wanted something different. Something with a bit more kick (ginger!), yet a bit more floral (vanilla!). I’ve […]
Honey fromage blanc ice cream, plus a drink
Thursday, 5 July 2012
One of my strongest food memories from France was stopping at a roadside shack in Provence, run by an grizzled, bearded man with a Harley-Davidson out front. It was a warm summer day, and we were hungry and thirsty. Maybe try this fromage-miel-something-something? Out comes a nearly overflowing parfait glass (a.k.a., sundae glass) filled with […]
Chai, version 2.0
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Okay, I think this is an improvement over version 1.0 of my chai recipe. While the spices still need optimization (i.e., to attain southern Indian resto quality), it is better. Part of what greatly helps is the use of evaporated milk (but not sweetened condensed). You might ask, “Why not use fresh whole milk, rather […]