Tag Archives: Cinnamon

Real Butterbeer

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Ashley| 8 Comments

Butterbeer

So maybe you’re tired of hearing about this everywhere, but I’m one of those kids that wished and waited for an owl acceptance to Hogwarts and broke off many tree branches in order to find the perfect wand.  I had Harry Potter shirts, backpacks, and bookends, and couldn’t wait for each new book release.  When I was eighteen years old (and thought of myself as pretty mature and cool), I left a rockin’ party in order to hang out at Borders at midnight to get the FINAL book.  And then I proceeded to stay up into the wee hours of the morning reading.

So you’re probably not surprised that I went to the midnight showing of the movie.  And then decided that I had to make something Harry Potter themed.

 

Mix

I’ve seen a lot of fabulous Potter-themed treats out there in the food blog world.  Everything from chocolate frogs to acid pops.  And then, of course, there’s butterbeer.

Butterbeer always fascinated me in the HP books.  House elves got drunk off of it, yet these kids got to drink it?? Cool!  I always likened it to a kind of low-alcohol cider-like draaank.  But then I saw that all of the recipes basically just make a butterscotchy cream soda.  And that just doesn’t seem true to form.  Butterbeer’s supposed to be a little bit illicit, right?  Does cream soda really capture the coolness that is butterbeer?

I don’t think so.

Foam

So then I saw (on the almighty wikipedia, of course.  what a great use of legitimate resources…) that a real butterbeer drink used to exist!  And yes, it had beer in it.  So I located this great youtube video, and this random message board thread and decided to check it out for myself.

I don’t know if you’ve checked out the ingredient list yet, but it is a little bit scary.  Egg yolks, sugar, beer, and butter…  This is definitely not going to turn into an everyday drink.  But, hey, you only get to celebrate the official end of Harry Potter once.  It’s super rich, but if you get a few non-calorie-counting Harry Potter fans together I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.

So, without further ado, I give you (the real, non-wussy, alcoholic) BUTTERBEER!

Beer

Recipe: Real Butterbeer

Summary: This ain’t cream soda… this is rich, creamy, and a little boozy.

Ingredients

  • About 17 oz. beer (About 1 1/2 beers)
  • 2 whisked egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • dash of nutmeg or cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Heat a pan on medium heat. Once it’s heated add the beer.
  2. SLOWLY add the whisked yolks. You don’t want them to turn into scrambled eggs, so stir continuously.
  3. Add sugar and butter and stir into mixture.
  4. Finally, add your nutmeg or cinnamon.
  5. You can either let it cool or serve heated.

Quick notes

I used a sweet, malty beer, which helped the rich taste. Experiment with other kinds!
Because this is so very rich, I suggest that you get some people together to share.  This recipe could serve four small glasses.  And that amount would be more than enough for everybody.
Enjoy!

Drank

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Love the Happy Mistake

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Ashley| 2 Comments

Mixing
Sorry it’s been a few days folks, I now have the use of a point-and-shoot Nikon, but no cord! So I have pictures from some stuff I’ve been making, but no way of putting them on my computer! I’ve been really wanting to upgrade the level of my photos… but without any fancy camera we’ll see when that happens… For now I’ve got some Iphone photos to share of a surprising recipe from last night.

Honey

If you recall, I have a bunch of cinnamon chips in my pantry. Well, last night I got a hankering for something sweet, so I decided to make use of them. I didn’t want to make blondies again, but also wanted an easy recipe. I decided to go into the cookie realm. For whatever reason, I decided to just look for a basic cookie recipe and then add my cinnamon chips and maybe some other flavors. So through a google search I found a “Basic Cookie Dough” recipe on Delish.com.

Butter

Well, I think I should have gone the foodblog/Foodgawker route because my “cookies” ended up being really crumbly and more bread-ish than cookie-ish. Definitely weird!
I’ve grown really fond of them, though, so I decided to share the recipe with you. I don’t really know what to call them… crumble cookies? Bread-ish cookies? Wannabe cookies?

Dough

Crumbly Cookies
Adapted from Delish.com
Ingredients:
-1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
-3/4 cup sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tbsp honey
-2 3/4 cup flour
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4-1/2 cup cinnamon chips
-1/4 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 cup walnuts

Make it Happen:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. With a mixer, cream softened butter and sugar.
3. Mix in egg, followed by vanilla and honey.
4. Then, slowly mix in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Mix in cinnamon chips and walnuts.
6. Either use hands and spoons to make small rounds and drop on cookie sheet, or spread the dough in a pan to cook as a sheet cookie (I suggest the pan because they don’t spread out much as cookies)

Cookie

So although this was an accidental recipe that turned out differently than I expected, I wouldn’t share it with you unless I thought that it tasted good. And these cookies definitely taste good! These cookie bars are not cloyingly sweet, so if you’re the kind of person that wants a little sugar fix, but doesn’t want to feel the cavities forming as you eat a cookie, these would be just up your alley. They’re perfect as a breakfast out-the-door snack. And who doesn’t love an excuse to eat cookies for breakfast?

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Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Ashley| 4 Comments

Sugar Hand

I usually don’t buy sweets or junk food.  If I’m going to have a party I load up on Trader Joe’s snacks (I definitely have no qualms about that), but other than those times I generally keep my foodmoney focused on the essentials.

Plus, I’ve found that I’m a really lazy person.  So if my choices are, A) don’t eat a late night chip snack and B) drive to the store to get a late night chip snack, I’m almost always going to cuddle up in bed and forgo the drive.  It’s the best way for me to curb cravings.  I just don’t keep sweets and salty snacks around.  And then, if I’m superdupergonnadiewithoutit craving something, badly enough to go to the store for it, then I know it’s worth it.  Easy solution.

But having said all that, sometimes my inner baker comes out as a result of cravingtime.  Instead of reaching for the keys I reach for the sugar and flour.

Whisking

Now, full disclosure, I’m not really much of a baker.  Baking requires many more precise measurements than I’m usually willing to muster.  With cooking, I can substitute with ease and throw in ingredients willy-nilly.  Whenever I try that with baking, though, I find myself with rock-salt brownies or completely flattened cookies.
However, when I find a fairly straightforward recipe (and make sure to follow it!) I can usually make it work.

For whatever reason, I was craving blondies.  I have no idea why.  I’ve never made blondies before, I’m usually a brownie girl all the way.  But the idea of making blondies got into my head and, of course, I had to make them.  I thought I had a bunch of butterscotch chips in my cabinet and figured that blondies would be a good excuse to use some of the chips up.

When I went to grab the bag, however, it turned out that they weren’t butterscotch, but rather cinnamon.  Who knew those even existed?  I had also bought a dark chocolate bar at the store, so thus the Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies were born!

Blondies Bites

The recipe was inspired by Simply Recipes’ Blondies recipe, but I made a few adaptations (I know, I know, I can never just leave well enough alone!).

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup melted butter
-1 cup packed brown sugar
-1 lightly beaten egg
-1 tablespoon honey
-(at least) 1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/8 teaspoon baking soda
-pinch of salt
-1 and 1/4 cup flour
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/3 cup cinnamon chips (or to your liking)
-1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate bar (or chips)

Make it Happen:
1.  Butter your 8×8 pan (this is what was suggested, I used a larger pan and thus got flatter Blondies… again, making changes…).  And set oven to 350°F to preheat.
2.   Mix melted butter and sugar.
3.  Beat egg and then add to butter/sugar mixture along with honey, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, cinnamon.  Mix well.
4.  Add cinnamon chips and dark chocolate.
5.  Spoon mixture into pan, then bake for 20-25 minutes.  If you’re like me and always forget to set a timer, keep your nose alert and check the center with a fork or toothpick for doneness.
6.  You know the drill: cool, cut, eat.

Blondies

Anyways, this scheisse is seriously delicious.  I think the combo of cinnamon, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla made my tastebuds deliriously happy.  Even my friend, a self-proclaimed non-blondies fan, loved them!  And, can you believe it, they actually turned out despite my self-destructive desire to make changes left and right!

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