Crazy About ... Dessert

As I've said before, I don't do a lot for Valentine's Day (although I'm getting the hang of it from watching Karen June), but I often do make a special dessert to surprise my husband on the 14th. When I mentioned this to Karen, she immediately thought of using a raspberry sauce in some way.  It's got that traditional red color going for it, but it can also make you look sophisticated and highly cultured.  I mean, I'm pretty sure that pouring sauces over stuff is how the French make all of us think they are exceptionally good cooks.  

So Karen June came up with a truly delicious recipe for raspberry sauce that only contains four ingredients, one of which is Grand Marnier, so you already know it's going to be worth it.  But what will the sauce be garnishing?  We decided on vanilla ice cream in dark chocolate bowls, which look a lot harder than they are.  If you can blow up a balloon, you can make these bowls. And if you can't blow up a balloon, try dark chocolate chips instead.  No one will know.  Unless they read this blog.  Which we hope they do.  So just distract them today.  

Grand Marnier Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

12 oz. Package of Frozen Raspberries
3/4 c. Turbinado Raw Sugar
1/4 c. Grand Marnier
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries and turbinado sugar. 
2. Set stovetop to medium heat.
3. In a small bowl, combine Grand Marnier and cornstarch and stir until dissolved.
4. Add mixture to your saucepan.
5. Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 5 - 7 minutes until sauce thickens and begins boiling.  
6. Allow sauce to cool and refrigerate in a sealed container.  

How To Make Chocolate Bowls

You just need dark chocolate candy melts and small balloons (water balloon size).  Melt the chocolates in the microwave, dip a blown-up balloon in the chocolate to the depth that you want the bowl to be.  Let the chocolate dipped balloon set for a bit by placing it on a tray lined with waxed paper.  Pop the balloon and then peel it away from the chocolate, leaving behind a perfectly round bowl!  Ta da!

Crazy About ... Cocktails - Sochi Mule

At Little Yellow Couch, we are busy being" Crazy About ... "a lot of things this month - including cocktails!  We set my mixologist husband, Jason, to the task of creating a cocktail that would be fitting of our theme.  Inspired by the Olympics, he created the Sochi Mule - a handcrafted take on the Moscow Mule.  This cocktail features a mint ginger simple syrup that in our opinion will take the Gold!  In fact, we are "Crazy About ..." it!  

Cheers!
Karen June & Jason

Mint Ginger Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. Fresh Ginger (sliced thin)
• 1 oz. Package Fresh Mint (leaves removed from stems)
• 2 c. Turbinado Raw Sugar
• 8 c. Water

Directions:

1. Bring water to boil in a large saucepan.  
2. Add ginger and mint.
3. Simmer for 40 minutes.  
4. Strain and return liquid to saucepan.  
5. Add sugar and return to a simmer stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved.  
6. Once dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. 
7. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.  

Sochi Mule 

4 oz. Mint Ginger Simple Syrup
2 oz. Vodka
2 oz. Club Soda

Pour over ice in copper mug.  Cheers!  

Homemade Vanilla Fig Old-Fashioned

No cocktail party is complete without a signature drink!  About a month and a half before our party I put my mixologist husband Jason to the task.  Before I knew it, boxes of imported figs, vanilla and other esoteric ingredients were arriving on our doorstep.  

Soon glass jars of vanilla bean and fig infused bourbon were lining our shelves as well as bitters waiting to infuse into a complex flavor with a strong vanilla essence.  We snuck a few tastes over the month as the flavors developed ... this is a good idea to monitor your infusions ... but seriously it would be impossible to wait anyway!  

When the evening of our Little Yellow Couch Cocktail Party finally arrived, it was thrilling to mix a handcrafted Vanilla Fig Old-Fashioned for our guests and enjoy a few ourselves!

Cheers, 

Karen June & Jason

Vanilla Fig Infused Bourbon

2 Liters Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey**

1 lb. Black Mission Figs (quartered)

1 lb. Turkish Figs (quartered)

1 lb. Calimyrna Figs (quartered)

9 Madagascar Vanilla Beans Soaked in Bourbon

Mix together in an airtight glass container(s).  Allow to infuse for 1 month, agitating daily. 
After 1 month, strain through both coarse and fine strainers.  Bottle in decorative decanters. 

** We wanted to make a larger amount for our party guests, but this recipe can be reduced proportionally for smaller batches.  

Vanilla Bitters

750 ml bottle Booker's 130.4 proof Bourbon***
2 Tbsp Blackstrap Molasses
1 Tbsp Gentian Root
1 Tbsp Cacao Nibs
1 Tbsp Black Cardamom
1 Tbsp Coffee Beans
9 Madagascar Vanilla Beans Soaked in Bourbon
1 Tsp Black Peppercorns

*** High proof bourbon is necessary for extracting the complex flavors in bitters.

Mix together in an airtight glass container(s).  Allow to infuse for 1 month, agitating daily.  After 1 month, strain through both coarse and fine strainers.  Bottle in dark amber glass.

Vanilla Fig Old-Fashioned 

3-6 Dashes of Vanilla Bitters
3 Parts Vanilla Fig Infused Bourbon
1 Part Club Soda

Add ice to a glass.  Add bitters, then club soda and finally bourbon.  Stir and serve.