Easy Bake Heart Do you remember the kids easy bake ovens? Inspired by childhood nostalgia, meet my easy bake heart garnish for my « clear intentions » cocktail. Or any cocktail really. I had a recipe in mind when preparing this garnish. Clearly, not really. You can make any shape you want to make though. The heart cookie cutter is what I have and was the inspiration here. You don’t need a cookie cutter either. In pastry school I did some free form stuffs on the silpat. Have fun. Be creative. Cheers to making a successful sugar garnish for your drinks! Ingredients and Tools Caullet Glucose Syrup – 2.2 lbs by Banshee Heart shaped Wilton cookie cutter Pam cooking spray Kitchen scissors Baking tray and silpat silicone mat Method Add syrup inside a free form and inside cookie cutter/mold Preheat the oven. Place a silpat in a baking sheet. Oh and a silpat is a silicone baking mat used to line a baking tray making the stickiest of the stickiest sugary treats easy to remove. Spray the inside of your heart cookie cutter with a non stick baking spray. Set on top of the silicone mat. Pour glucose syrup into the mold. If using a spoon or spatula, spray that too so the glucose syrup doesn’t stick. Some may ooze outside. Don’t worry, this is normal. I didn’t measure. I eyeballed. Not too thick not too thin. How is that for professional measuring. Bake 356 degrees Fahrenheit until bubbles. About 25-35 minutes. Let it cool slightly. Not too much as the shape will break. Use scissors to trim the excess hardened baked sugar. Carefully. Side note: dash of vanilla and food coloring flavorful and fun ways to elevate your easy bake garnish Carefully remove the cookie cutter and trim around the edges using kitchen scissors Where to buy some of the goods seen in this post? Uhm, Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront of course. * I may receive compensation for eligible purchases. Wash sil Pat and leave to dry..
feta stuffed black olives Several months ago I was thinking about creative was to garnish my martinis. This, a way. Black pitted olives from a can stuffed with feta cheese. You will find yourself saying Spanish queen green pimento stuffed olives who? Feta Stuffed Black Olives Ingredients 1 can of pitted black olives Feta cheese of choice Method Open the can and drain the olive juice. Reserve for a dirty martini or not. Slice or break feta cheese apart and stuff olives. Try not to eat them all before making the martini.
For consistency: Jalapeño Bitters Jalapeño peppers are fickle ones. Some spicy hot some spicy mild and some are more green in taste. Consistency is key when creating spicy cocktails. Mother Nature does what she does and that isn’t always the most agreeable to when selecting ingredients for year round menu cocktails. How do we create the desired consistency for our year round cocktails? Bitters is one way. What is needed? A high proof grain spirit and jalapeños and some time. That’s it. Easy as that. Jalapeño Bitters 4-10 jalapeños 10 oz of Everclear 190 grain spirit (it’s a whopping 95% alcohol by volume) Method Slice each jalapeño. Using a muddler, mash some of the slices extracting juice and crushing the seeds. Add all slices and muddle pieces to a container. Then add the alcohol to the same container. Cover with an airtight lid. Leave a room temperature for about a week. 7 days. Taste test for spice. Remove peppers once you have your bitters. Store in the refrigerator or at room temperature in a dropper bottle or sealed jar. Label and date. making jalapeño bitters So, wanna spicy margarita? Make it the same as you would and add your jalapeño bitters float at the end. Just like that.
Iced Chocolate Garnish Almost ready. This is a fun one. Ok, I tested using semi-sweet chips with dark chocolate chunks (1:1) and I tested using a Belgium dark chocolate bar from the 99Cents stores. Both melting techniques using a Bain-Marie. Microwave a great second if you have one and don’t want to go through the extra steps. For the ice, I tested two ways. The first piping the chocolate into a bowl of water with ice cubes. The second filling a large ziplock plastic bag with water then freeze to have the now ice in a bag. Both work. Some of these chocolates came out a bit clunky. All are usable, even if only for the snacking while you watch the others set. Ingredients Chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, chocolate bars Water Ice Method For the ice both method 1. Over medium beat, place a heat safe bowl on top a pot of water on the stove. This technique is Bain-Marie. The bowl should be large enough as not to touch the water or fall into the pot. Water should not touch the chocolate. Example of Bain-Marie 2. Add chocolate to the bowl and let it sit. As it starts to melt stir slightly with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula intermittently until smooth. 3. Once chocolate is melted, remove from the bowl from heat. Set aside. Let the chocolate cool slightly. Once cooled add to a zip locked bag for the piping. 5. Add ice and water to a bowl. If the zip locked bag method is the choice, roll the sides of the bag down over the ice or remove and float in water. 6. Snip the tip of your piping bag and swirl the chocolate. Make any shape you like. I practiced writing my name. 7. Once chocolate starts to lift from the ice, remove using an offset spatula or dinner knife. Place your chocolate shapes onto a chilled plate and refrigerate until ready to use. Remove using any knife. I call this one a butter knife. It’s not a butter knife but it does the trick. Place the bag into a glass making it easier to fill with melted chocolate. All the chocolate should settle into nicer of the bag. Once filled snip the tip Where to buy? Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront *** I may receive commissions from eligible purchases
Cucumber Ribbons and the G&T G&T There is an elegance in simplicity. Cucumber ribbons are an easy example of this. May I present my cucumber ribbons in the G&T. Cucumber Ribbons and the G&T Ingredients 1 medium size cucumber 2 oz of gin of choice 1 bottle of Fever Tree tonic water Method For the cucumber Using a (paring) knife, slice off the bottom pointy end of the cucumber making it easier (and safer) to use the vegetable peeler. Then stand the cucumber on diagonal securing its stance at the top with one hand. The hand you won’t be using to hold the peeler. Starting from top to bottom carefully pressing the vegetable peeler away from you peeling along the length of the cucumber. Make several thins of cucumbers. Trim to tidy any jagged or unclean edges and line your glass. Add ice. Add gin and top with tonic. For the drink: 2 oz Hendrick’s gin. Add ice. Top with tonic water. Glass: bucket glass Garnish: cucumbers (obviously) Cucumber ribbons garnish Please drink responsibly. Yes, the skins look great and can be used as ribbons too. Remember the videos above? Where to buy the OXO peeler and a bucket glass? Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront. ** * I may receive commissions from eligible purchases
Chocolate Campari Soaking cocoa nibs in Campari is a method of infusion rather than flavoring, providing an enhancement to the alcohol’s flavors, that Campari needs it. Chocolate Campari Ingredients: 1 cup of cocoa nibs 12 ounces of Campari Method: Add ingredients to a jar. Pour with your heart but if you need a recipe. Cover the jar with a lid or plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature or refrigerate. Wait two days to two weeks, depending on the desired chocolate taste. Add to your favorite cocktail or drink over ice. An orange twist is optional but certainly recommended. Where can you buy the goods? Cocoa nibs, glass jars, jiggers, photo equipment, and other items? Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront, of course! Please note that I may receive commissions from eligible purchases. Thank you so much. Please be of the legal drinking age and enjoy responsibly.
Lavender Syrup 1 cup of cane sugar 1 cup of water 2 tablespoons of dried lavender 1. In a small pan bring equal parts water and sugar to a boil. Let the water boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat for 3 minutes. Stir to make sure all sugar is dissolved. The water will look slightly opaque. 2. Remove from heat and add dried lavender. 3. Let it steep for 30 minutes. 4. Strain your lavender pieces using a mesh strainer cheese cloth or coffee filter into a bowl. 5. Using a funnel, add syrup to bottle and refrigerate before use. Make sure syrup is cool before refrigerating. If syrup isn’t cool enough it could potentially disturb the temperature of your other cold items already refrigerated.
Eagle Design Ice Stamp Make an impression and send off summer with customized ice cubes for cocktails and mocktails using a custom ice stamp. This eagle ice stamp, my choice. Feel free to play using heat sources to deepen and clarify your impression. Isn’t it cool? Maybe make your own clear ice while you’re at it. The history of clear ice and how to make can be found in Dave Arnold’s book Liquid Intelligence. Both the book and ice stamp can be found on my Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront. FYI, I may earn commissions on eligible purchases.
Rosemary Smokes Did you know that smoking dried rosemary can add incredible uniqueness to cocktails? Smoking dried herbs, like rosemary, can enhance the flavors of mezcal, tequila, bourbon, rye, Campari (yes, I am forever on a Campari kick), and gin cocktails. This technique, known as glass smoking, not only adds depth of flavor but also creates a visually captivating experience for onlookers. After preparing your cocktail, relight the dried rosemary, blow out the flames, then place the smoking herb stick in the glass as a garnish. Make sure the sprig is long enough to continue smoking once inserted into the cocktail for an added effect. It also smells really great! What you will need: Fire safe surface Dried Rosemary BIC lighter gas stove top or butane torch Chilled bucket glass for your cocktail. A chilled glass provides a sticky surface for the smoke from the condensation. Method Place your chilled glass on the fire safe surface, up right. Light the dried rosemary. Blow out the flame. Once it starts to smoke place dried rosemary sprig on the fire safe surface and let it smoke. Then turn the glass upside down and catch the smoke by placing the glass drinking side down on top of it. Leave for a few minutes. Turn the glass upright again and build your cocktail. Voilà . Where to buy the goods? You know, bucket glasses, lighters, and other supplies? Blonde Behind the Bucket Storefront, of course *please know I may receive compensation from eligible purchases, thank you
Simple Orange Peel Garnish 1 For the orange peel garnish 1 Orange(s) Pairing knif Fruit Vegetable peeler Cutting board / nonslip surface or pad Paper towel Use a fruit vegetable peeler (I use OXO) to remove the outer layer of the orange which will be your garnish. This method helps avoiding the pif. Best if the orange is at room temperature and slightly firm. Condensation and softer skin may cause the peeler to slip and perhaps catch a finger. Peeler should be in great condition. Once you have several orange peels, place your cutting board on a non-slip surface. Use your pairing knife to trim the edges. What to do should you prepare more than you need? No biggie. Wrap your orange pieces in a damp paper towel and store in the refrigerator. Paper towel shouldn’t be too wet as the peels will become slimy. Peels will keep for a day or two. Same day use is recommended. Wash your tools after each use with soap and water. Citrus will cause the knife and peeler to become dull faster. Uniformity is best. These are the creative version. Keep the orange and use for juice.