Category: Drinks

Tahini Frappuccino

Living in New York, I feel like we spend all winter counting down the weeks till summer. The bone-chilling days seem to stretch on way past their intended season, and by the time the spring comes, we’re ready to rid our closets of all those layers. Except when spring comes, it’s not quite warm enough to do that. So we spend the season wearing our summer clothes, shivering in the chilly mornings, and then again in the almost-winter-again evenings. By the time summer comes, we’re so happy to let the hot sun warm our bones – for a day. Or two. And then we’re kvetching again, wishing winter would come cool us off!

OK maybe it’s not all New Yorkers, but it’s definitely ME. I cannot tolerate the heat. This week of 90+ degrees has been torture for me – I thought I’d melt onto the sidewalk! My only reprieve from the torturous weather is a giant cup of iced coffee. Iced coffee literally saves my sanity all summer long and it’s not even about the caffeine – I only drink decaf!

My biggest obstacle in my iced coffee making is the sweetener (and the fact that I suck at making coffee, but that’s another story!). I obviously don’t want to sweeten it with real sugar, ‘cuz calories :) And I don’t like using Splenda, because, chemicals. I’m not a fan of the natural stuff like Stevia, and I recently gave Monk fruit sugar a try, but also, gross. So what’s left?

When I did my Whole30 a while back (actually it was three rounds so make that Whole90), I used to sweeten my coffee with a single medjool date. I’d add coffee ice cubes, so they wouldn’t water my coffee down, and creamy full fat coconut milk because the cleanse is dairy-free (otherwise I’m all for half and half!). It was some of the best coffee I’ve ever had and it was Paleo approved.

My date-sweetened coffee got me thinking of how I could turn my favorite summer drink into a healthy frappuccino and of course I went in the tahini direction. I love using tahini in sweet applications – with the addition of silan, cinnamon and vanilla, it tastes like halva without all the added sugar. The result is a smooth and creamy coffee shake that’s refreshing and oh. so. delicious. Perfect for every season – but especially summer.

Stay cool out there!

Tahini Frappuccino

2 heaping tsp coffee
1/2 c half and half
2 tbsp tahini
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla
Pinch of sea salt
3 plump medjool dates, pitted
1-2 cups ice
Toppings: silan, whipped cream, halva, cinnamon

Method:

Dissolve the coffee in 1/2 cup of hot water and place in a blender with half and half, tahini, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt and dates. Blend until smooth. Add ice and blend until crushed. Drizzle silan on the inside of a glass and pour the shake into it. Top with whipped cream, halva and cinnamon.

Related Recipes:

tahini date smoothie
banana date milk & honey smoothie

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Donut Milkshakes

OMG OMG OMG OMG!! Should I even talk right now or do these insane milk shakes just do it for you?! Chanukah is coming and on Chanukah we DONT. COUNT. CALORIES. Ok????? And because we don’t count calories, I had to put a holiday spin on one of the huge food trends right now – over the top milkshakes! I don’t know if you’ve seen these gazillion-calorie monstrosities but they are insane. Milkshakes topped with pieces of cake and candy, with more candy glued to the glass and just tons of junk everywhere.

It says a lot about the state of our health when restaurants are actually serving that stuff, and when people are actually ordering it, but for these 8 DAYS, we are going to have some crazy fun, donut milkshakes included. Believe me, I would never make this stuff on a regular day. Not even my birthday. But my birthday is on Chanukah so YAAAAYYYY!! I’ve put together two variations, based on the two most popular Chanukah donuts – custard donuts with chocolate glaze and jelly filled donuts with powdered sugar. Of course nowadays you can find a bunch of other flavors, but these are the classics we grew up on. Milkshakes are about nostalgia too, especially for me, as we had a real milkshake machine growing up. Not a blender. A milkshake machine. It came with a stainless steel cup that you hooked onto this machine. A stick with a blade would break up the mixture and you had a real frothy milkshake! My brother would take it out on Saturday nights and make himself a huge shake with his pizza. Memories! And who can forget being young and biting into a huge jelly or custard donut and licking out the filling with your tongue? These shakes mix the best of both worlds and I hope they bring up some fun childhood memories for you too!

 

Jelly Donut Milkshake

1 cup ice
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup milk
splash of vanilla
2 heaping spoonfuls of raspberry jam
powdered donuts, licorice and white chocolate covered pretzels, for topping

Method:

Place the ice, ice cream, milk and vanilla in a blender and blend until creamy. Add the raspberry jam to a glass and pour the milkshake over it. Top with whipped cream, powdered donuts, licorice and pretzels. Enjoy!

Chocolate Custard Milkshake

1 cup ice
1/2 cup chocolate ice cream
2 tbsp chocolate syrup
1/2 cup milk
2 heaping spoonfuls of custard
whipped cream
chocolate donuts, chocolate chanukah gelt and chocolate bars for topping

Method:

Place the ice, ice cream, chocolate syrup and milk in a blender and blend until creamy. Add the custard to your serving cup and drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside. Top with whipped cream, chocolate donuts, chocolate gelt and chocolate bars. Enjoy!

for custard:

3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
5 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla

Place the milk and sugar into a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves and milk is scalded. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks until fluffy and add in the cornstarch. Continue to whisk until all the starch is incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Slowly pour the milk into the eggs, whisking continuously as you warm the egg mixture with the milk. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and continue to whisk over medium heat until the cream begins thicken and boil. Whisk in vanilla and set the cream aside to cool. Refrigerate until set.

VARIATION: use store-bought vanilla pudding.

 

Related Recipes:

jelly ring donuts
deconstructed jelly donut pancakes

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Maple Lemonade

I’ve got a budding entrepreneur on my hands! My oldest daughter has been dreaming up business ideas since she was four. At nine, she’s already lined up her classmates to work in her salon (which she named, “Make It Up”) and she’s been saving up her Chanukah gelt for years! Entrepreneurial spirit is definitely in the genes, so it’s no surprise that she’s so business-minded.

When the weather starts to warm up, my little businesswoman starts dreaming up her lemonade-stand strategy. This year, she decided to sell brownies and saltwater taffy in addition to watermelon lemonade. Pink lemonade is always a good seller with the kids, and it’s so much fun to watch their faces when they take their first sip. We’ve done watermelon limeade before, so we went with lemonade this time. I made some chewy brownies with colored sprinkles and we headed to the Bay Parkway waterfront to set up our stand. It was such fun to watch my daughter in action! She would light up with every customer, and she took each sale so seriously. The passersby were so impressed! She netted $30.75 profit, which she put aside with all her savings, after tipping her sister $5 for helping.

My kids are huge lemonade fans, and not just for selling. Our absolute favorite recipe is one that I tasted at one of Levana Kirschenbaum’s cooking demo’s. She actually made it for my kid’s camp last year and I’ve been making it ever since. Traditionally, lemonade is made by making a syrup out of sugar and water, but with Levana’s maple version, there’s no need for that! I also love that the maple syrup is a natural sweetener, so it’s healthier than the traditional. Thanks to Levana for allowing me to share this recipe with you all!

Maple Lemonade
reprinted with permission from The WholeFoods Kosher Kitchen
More lemonade variations on LevanaCooks

3 cups water
1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup maple syrup

Place all the ingredients in a jar or pitcher and stir well. Mix again before serving as the maple syrup tends to settle at the bottom.


Related Recipes:

strawberry limonana
watermelon limeade
cherry basil limonana

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Gelt Hot Chocolate

I’m super excited for this Chanukah blog post because WE’RE HAVIN’ A PARTY! Albeit a virtual one, but we can still have fun, right?! And all parties have to have prizes, so there’s a great GIVEAWAY too!

I got together with a few other bloggers to create a virtual menu and I was assigned the drinks. Now when I think of Chanukah, I imagine sitting by the lights of the Menorah, snuggled up under a warm blanket, sipping hot chocolate and singing Chanukah songs. The kids are around me playing draidel (ok, fighting over draidel), and my husband is frying latkes in the kitchen. Yes, Chanukah is just about the only time I let him take over and make a mess! He learned to make perfect crispy fried latkes when he was in Yeshiva in Israel and I don’t mind getting a little break from cooking so the kitchen’s all his (for at least a night..or two).

While hubby hosts a fryfest, I like to mix up a warm drink – some mulled wine, spiced apple cider, or gelt hot chocolate, obviously. I came up with this fun Chanukah version of hot chocolate based on a drink that my friends and I used to order at a place called Cafe K, back in the old days. Cafe K is still around, and they might still serve it! It was called “Torino Hot Chocolate”, after the chocolate bar that was used to make it. They’d take a whole bar of this chocolate and pour hot milk over it, and that was it! It was a dreamy confection and we’d save up our calories to splurge on it in the winter. It would warm us up from the inside out and we’d relish each and every sip!

I thought it would be fun to do the same with some chocolate Chanukah gelt! It makes a great party drink – just put out a vase filled with chocolate gelt, an urn of hot milk, and an endless selection of toppings and you’ve got yourself an amazing hot chocolate bar that will be the talk of  your Chanukah party!

And now for the rest of our virtual party menu, check out the mouthwatering dishes from these talented bloggers:

Appetizer:  Turkish Lentil Soup by Samantha from The Little Ferraro Kitchen
Main: Roasted Jalapeno and Cheddar Strata by Melinda from Kitchen Tested
Side: Mac and Cheese Latkes by Miriam from OvertimeCook
Dessert: Deep Fried Rugelach by Amy from What Jew Wanna Eat

Gelt Hot Chocolate

3 bags (3 oz.) good quality chocolate coins (I use Belgian chocolate gelt)
1 cup whole milk (or half cream, half milk)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
whipped cream, for topping
cinnamon stick, for serving
additional chocolate gelt, for serving

Method:

Unwrap the chocolate gelt and place on the bottom of a glass. Bring the milk up to a boil and pour over the chocolate. Add sugar and cinnamon and stir until chocolate is fully melted and incorporated. Top with whipped cream and serve with a cinnamon stick and chocolate gelt.

VARIATIONS:

For coffee hot chocolate, omit cinnamon and add 1 tsp coffee and an extra tsp of sugar
For vanilla hot chocolate, omit cinnamon and add 1 tsp vanilla extract or heat up milk with 1 vanilla pod, scraped

TOPPING IDEAS:

whipped cream, marshmallows, crushed cookies, crushed graham crackers, brownies, coconut, candied nuts, candied citrus rind, crushed peppermint candy, sprinkles, fresh mint.

And now for the exciting part – the prizes! We’re giving away 2 separate packages – a cookbook package sponsored by Artscroll and a Gourmet Kosher Foodie Package sponsored by Nomoo cookies and California Gourmet. Enter to win below. Happy Chanukah!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Other Festive Hot Drinks: Mulled Wine
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Passion Fruit Cream Cornucopias + a Coolada

Being a food blogger has awarded me such amazing possibilities! Getting a chance to work with some amazing kosher products is one of them!

When I was approached about working with Morad’s amazing Danue line of fruit flavored wines, I was all over it! We’re talking sweet fruity flavors like pomegranate, lychee and passion fruit – oh my! Have I ever told you how much I adore passion fruit?

Passion fruit is not exactly readily attainable in New York. Case in point: I actually forked out a whopping $3.99 for ONE little round one to make the blessing of a new fruit (Shehechiyanu) on the Jewish New Year. I think that puts me at about $1.00 per seed. Still, I wanted to splurge on my favorite exotic fruit for the holiday – so I went all out. I’m thinking it’s time for another trip to Aussie, where they sell passion fruits like apples, to hoard up on the sweet and tangy delicate fruit.

When I heard that Morad had a passion fruit flavored wine in their collection – I was beyond excited to work with it! I wasn’t surprised to learn that it’s Morad’s best seller – who wouldn’t want alcohol that’s infused with the fruity goodness of passion fruits, hello?!

I set out to make the most of my passion fruit wine with both a cocktail and a dessert that would celebrate it’s exotic appeal. First…the dessert. To highlight the holiday of Succot – a time when we celebrate the overflowing harvest – I decided to go with a twist on the classic cream horn. The cream horn resembles a cornucopia; horn of plenty, that is a symbol of abundance. You’ll find cornucopia’s pouring forth with produce – especially around Thanksgiving time, making this dessert all the more appropriate.

Now I doubt you’ve ever seen a cornucopia filled with passion fruit cream – that is thanks to Morad’s amazing wine that I reduced down into a syrup which I used to spike the pastry cream. And not just any pastry cream. To keep it dairy free, I made the classic french custard with coconut milk, to highlight the tropical feel. My husband is a huge fan of custard-based desserts, so I couldn’t wait for him to be my taste tester when he got home from work. The man sure knows his pastry cream! Well let me tell you guys…one lick of the stuff and he said it was the best custard he’d ever had! I used the leftovers to make him a classic napoleon and he licked his fingers down to the last crumb. I’d call that a success! :)

As for the cornucopia’s themselves? Don’t be overwhelmed by their cuteness – these babies are such a breeze to make! All you need are some cream horn molds and frozen puff pastry and they’re done in under 15 minutes. Let me tell you – I’m not one for these involved pastry type of things, but they were truly super easy! Just MAKE SURE you lightly grease you molds before applying the puff pastry. Ask me how I know.

And don’t worry, if you can’t get your hands on the pastry molds in time for Succot, you can always wrap some sugar cones in foil and use those instead. They’ll be larger than traditional horns – but that just means more passion fruit cream for you!

To get the recipe for these passion fruit cream cornucopias, head on over to Joy of Kosher!

Now that we have our dessert all set, we’re onto the cocktail! I mean, you gotta have a cocktail right? Especially on Succot! To highlight the exotic passion fruit in this spiked smoothie, I decided to do a riff on the classic Pina Colada by using Morad Passion Fruit wine instead of rum. You can add the ice for a delicious slushy, or keep things light with a cocktail, sans ice. Either way, this fruity, creamy and lets face it – dreamy – cocktail is a winner!

To get the recipe for the Passion Fruit Colada, head on over to Joy of Kosher! 

Thanks to Morad Wineries for the opportunity to work with their delicious fruity wine, and for sponsoring this post! I’m off to finish the bottle!

Other Fruity Cocktails:

The Hamantini
Whiskey Cider
Sangria

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