London Fog Tea Latte

London Fog Tea Latte.

As a coffee drinker, I’m not up to date with the new tea trends, so this one hit me this year, and its not a new trend - far from. But better late than never. As a teenager I drank a lot of tea, and often I had it with milk and sugar. Slowly I skipped the milk and sugar, and only had it in my tea as a special treat, and we called it Sunday Tea - Søndagste.

The London Fog Tea Latte is what I would call Sunday Tea. A sweet tea with milk, but a gourmet version. And it is highly addictive.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon loose leaf earl grey tea or 1-2 bags earl grey tea (depending on how strong you like your tea!)

• ⅛ teaspoon dried lavender buds

• 240 ml steamed milk (about 1cup)

• ½ -1 teaspoon vanilla flavored sugar* or ½ teaspoon sugar + ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Directions:

Brew earl grey tea with lavender buds, letting it steep for about 5 minutes. I use a loose leaf tea filter, so I don’t have to strain the tea. Remove tea filter. Heat the milk until scalding. If you want milk foam on your latte use a frother or immersion blender to make the foam.

Pour the tea into a cup, add the vanilla flavored sugar, and stir. Pour the hot milk from underneath the foam into the cup, and top with the milk foam. You can add more sugar if you like your tea sweeter. Serve immediately.

Vanilla flavored sugar.

Enjoy!

* - I have a little jar with sugar in my pantry. Every time I scrape the seeeds from a vanilla bean pod, I cut the bean up and put it in the sugar. This flavors the sugar with vanilla, and are perfect for oatmeal, tea.

Limoncello

Limoncello.

Limoncello is an Italian liqueur made from hard alcohol, lemon zest and sugar. It’s like bringing the sent of the lemon zest into a drink. Could you imaging anything better? - Not really, right? My first encounter with limoncello was with a store bought version. And I was really disappointed. The synthetic lemon flavor were really off-putting.

Fast-forward 5-8 years. Our lemon tree was booming with fruits. I wanted to give homemade limoncello a try. Trying to preserve the fantastic lemon flavor, without getting the bitterness. Especially the latter have been the pittfall for others, or so I was told. So I was a bit nervous when it was time to taste my own batch. I tasted the lemon-infused vodka, and it was strong, very STRONG. Tasting the final result, finally calmed me. I had been able to create what limoncello should taste like. A sweet lemon taste, without the bitterness. And served over a lot of ice, it was just perfect.

You can serve the lemoncello over ice, mixed with sparkling water or in cocktails. Or you can pour it over ice cream or in this delicious Limoncello/Liquorice Tiramisu.

Makes 8 x 475 ml bottles.

Ingredients:

• 25 organic lemons

• 1.75 liter 100 proof vodka (I used a blue Smirnoff)

• 1300 g sugar

• 1.75 liter water

Directions:

Wash the lemons with a brush and hot water to remove any reside of pesticides or wax, pat the lemons dry.

Steeping the lemon zest.

Peel the lemons with a sharp knife or a potato peeler. Be careful to only get the yellow zest, cutting away any of the white part, otherwise the limocello gets too bitter. Place the lemon zest in a large, glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Pour the vodka over the lemon peel, tighten the lid of the jar. Give the jar a gentle swirl, to make sure you get the best extraction of flavors.  Store in a cool, dark place for 15-40 days, swirling the jar daily. I’m not sure if the swirling is totally necessary, but I did it anyway. The longer the mixture rests, the better the end taste will be. I had mine in a cool hallway closet.

When the now lemon-infused vodka is ready, strain out the bulk of the lemon peel, set aside.  Bring sugar and water to a boil in a large pan over high heat.  When boiling, remove pan from heat and stir in the lemon peel. Let the mixture sit and cool to room temperature. Strain out and discard the lemon peel.  Carefully mix the syrup with the lemon-infused vodka, and filter the entire mixture through a funnel into clean bottles. I have a fine mesh strainer for my funnel, so I won’t get any small lemon particles in my limoncello.

As soon as the limoncello is chilled, it is ready to drink. The flavor and texture will be best ice-cold. I store my limoncello in the freezer, but it freezes solid. I guess the alcohol content is too low to stay liquid.

Serve the limoncello over ice, perfect for sipping on a hot day.

Enjoy!

Coffee Baileys Float

Coffee Baileys Float

Having made the Cupid Float the other day, I needed a not so sweet option, a more adult option. I do love coffee and Baileys. So why not combine the two into a cold coffee Baileys with some ice cream or a cold affogato. 
So if you need an easy dessert, not having to slave in the kitchen, this is the perfect option. If you do not like coffee, you can substitute the coffee with your favorite chocolate milk, and even switch out the Baileys with a splash of cognac. The possibilities are endless. 

Adult floats makes great desserts.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 scoops vanilla ice cream 
• 2 espresso, cold, or strong brewed coffee
• Baileys Irish cream, just a little splash
• whipped cream
• chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

Scoop ice cream into a tall glass, pour the cold espresso over the ice cream, add a splash of Baileys. Top the drink with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Cupid Float

Cupid Floats

Floats are a big thing here in the US. We had floats in Denmark too. I remember having raspberry soda floats at birthday parties, growing up. We might not have had a name for it, but they were a part of our life.

We rarely celebrate Valentines Day, because my husbands birthday is the day before, and how much celebration can one muster 😉 

Ingredients:

• Vanilla ice cream
• Cherry 7-Up
• Whipped cream
• Sprinkles

Directions:

Scoop the ice cream into a tall glass, slowly pour 7-Up over ice cream and top with whipped cream and sprinkles.
Enjoy the cupid float with your special somebody!

December 1st.

Mulled Cider - Krydret Varm Cider.

Somehow December always creeps up on me, somehow I get surprised that Christmas comes right after all the festivity at Thanksgiving. This Year I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner, so my Christmas preparations was somewhat delayed. 

I do intend to post 12 christmasy posts, for the 12 Days of Christmas. It will be a mix of food, sweets, cakes and cookies. So please stay tuned.

I start with a re-post of a hot mulled cider, mostly because I'm down with a cold, and the best thing to drink are warm drinks. And I really love hot mulled cider. 

I have never had it in Denmark, but it should be a Christmas stable as the mulled wine is.

Hot mulled cider, this lovely drink was all new to me 6 years ago. I thought that mulled wine aka glögg/gløgg/glühwein was a German/scandinavian thing. And adding warm spices to a non-alcholic drink, that was new to me, I'm sad to say. 😳

First time I had it was at a William-Sonoma store, and boy they got me hooked on that stuff. I love this when when winter approaches, and you need at hot strong drink to keep you warm. 

It has become a tradition to make hot mulled cider when we are having ebelskiver the weeks up to christmas. And to bee honest, I have the cider simmering on my stove almost every day. This fills my house with the sweet smell of christmas and it makes me very happy. 

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts good apple cider 

• 1 orange, zest of half

• 2 sticks of cinnamon

• 5-10 whole cloves

• 5-10 whole allspice berries

• 1-2 star anis 

• 3 green cardamom capsules

You could also buy a mulling spice mix, but I prefer mixing my own.

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat the cider to a simmer. Turn down the heat, and let the spices steep in the cider for 5-10 minutes. Reheat the cider. Pour the cider through a sift into cups and serve immediately.

The Danish Version:

Varm Krydret Cider

Ingredienser:

• 2 liter god æblecider 

• ½ appelsin, skallen fra

• 2 kanelstænger

• 5-10 hele nelliker

• 5-10 hele allehånde

• 1-2 stjerneanis 

• 3 grønne kardemomme

Fremgangsmåde:

Kom alle ingredienserne i en gryde og varm det op til kogepunktet. Skru ned for varmen og lad krydderierne trække i cideren i 5-10 minutter. Varm cideren op og si krydderierne fra. Server cideren med det samme.