Christmas 2 Interlude: The Search for the Golden Cocktail

     I have been searching for the perfect combination of mixed drinks to serve at Thanksgiving 2 and other events I hold for over 2 years now. It has been a mild issue for me because I do not want to have a cocktail station with a person permanently fixed there, but I want to offer mixed drinks to the non-beer/wine drinking guests. Thankfully, I've discovered 2 very popular and tasty drinks over the last few years, the "Happily Ever After" and the "Saltwater Cowboy". I am hoping that this year's Christmas 2: Christmas in July will finally fix the 3rd and final drink slot. I will be offering the 2 known and appreciated drinks, and 2 out of the 4 experimental drinks below.
   
     The previous 2 drinks that worked last year were:

Happily Ever After (the red drink)-

• peach schnapps
• cranberry juice
• ginger ale

and the Saltwater Cowboy (the green drink)-

• 6 parts rum
• 6 parts melon liqueur
• orange juice 
• ginger ale

     I have asked a question of my Christmas 2: Christmas in July guests. I've asked them to vote on the 4 drinks below and whichever 2 get the most votes are the cocktails I will offer to guests at this years event. 

Apple Gingerbread Cocktail

• 2 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur (or the homemade version I know have)
• 1 oz vanilla vodka
• 2-1/2 oz apple cider
• 3 drops lemon juice
• agave syrup

     The ginger liqueur in this one caught my eye. In preparation to try this one I found several make-at-home recipes for ginger liqueur. I was happily surprised when I saw that a few of the recipes for very similar to one another. I picked the one that claimed to taste like the Domaine de Canton. I have since made it and tasted it. It has an incredible smell and a nice ginger bite at the end. I think it would be just fine over ice all by itself. Also, since I already own some homemade vanilla vodka, it made choosing this cocktail recipe even easier.

Drink of the Gods

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz blueberry schnapps

     I was drawn to the blueberry schnapps in this one. I can't recall ever tasting it before. Also, I'm pretty sure that this one will not be yellow/gold because of the schnapps, but it is currently the most popular one that I have mentioned to everyone. If it is tasty I will find a way to make it golden looking or just live with whatever color it ends up.   

Goombay Smash

• 3/4 oz dark rum
• 1/2 oz coconut liqueur
• 3 oz pineapple juice
• 2 dashes lemon juice

     This is a very tropical drink, most likely created in the Bahamas. It's semi mysterious origin doesn't particularly matter to me. This is the third year that I have been searching for a set of cocktails to offer, and I am getting desperate. If Thanksgiving 2.7 has a tiny bit of a tropical taste to it, I can live with it. 

Gorky Park Cooler

• 1-1/2 oz strawberry vodka
• 1/2 oz coconut rum
• 1/2 oz spiced rum
• 4 oz pineapple juice

    I have a bottle of homemade strawberry infused vodka at
my home right now, and it is by far my favorite of the infused vodkas that I've made. It's always nice to find new uses for such an unusual liquor. I like that this one uses mostly vodka and just a bit of rum.

     There they are, 4 fairly different cocktails. 3 of which are yellow/gold in color and one probably not. I am not thrilled with the use of rum in 3 of the 4, but from what I have observed at other events (mine and others) rum is particularly popular. On an intellectual level, I'd prefer 4 different cocktails based on 4 different alcohols, but this is real life, so I want to serve what will be enjoyed. Also, if the 2 cocktails that are chosen are popular enough then perhaps I will offer 4 drinks at Thanksgiving 2. 

Scandinavian Recipe #7: Icelandic Vinarterta (Striped Lady Cake)

     When I started looking for Scandinavian desserts I knew I wanted to try this one. It looks fancy and the recipe is fairly straightforward. I didn't realize it had such an unusual legacy.

First attempt at the Vinarterta.

     The Vinarterta has an unusual history. The recipe is from around 1860 and was similar to the English fruit cake while highlighting the then rare . . prune. Apparently, if you were to go to Iceland right now you would be hard pressed to find a native that has made it, or even knows what it is. The tradition of the Vinaterta has migrated very successfully to North America and mainly in Canada. I didn't realize this has become more of an Icelandic/Canadian dish then an actual Icelandic dessert. It is too late now, and it does originate in the appropriate area.

    The recipe I found increases the number of layers from its usual/traditional four or five layers into a giant 8 layer petit four-like tower. The recipe has ingredients listed for a frosting, but I am still unsure of whether you should frost it or not. With 7 sweet layers of filling, it's could be too rich for some people. If you choose to frost, it would be best to do it lightly.
Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 10 minutes per sheet pan

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

The Ingredients.

For the Cake:
1 cup European-style butter (Plugra) (I found this at Wegmans and Acme)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla or cardamom extract
6 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. freshly ground cardamom
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk
.
For the Filling:
3 cups prune filling (or substitute rhubarb jam) (I used Raspberry Preserves)
.
For the Frosting (optional):
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. European-style butter (Plugra), melted
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla or cardamom extract
1/2 tsp. lemon zest

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together in a heavy mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla or cardamom extract.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients and the milk to the cake batter, stirring until it's all combined into a very stiff, almost bread-like dough.

Divide dough evenly into 4 portions. Line a 10" x 15" jelly roll pan with a silicone baking mat or buttered parchment paper. Press the first portion of dough evenly across the pan (as you would pizza dough). Try to fill as much of the pan as possible and keep the 4 portions to roughly the same overall size. Then place the layers into the oven, and bake just until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool on a cake rack; repeat for the remaining 3 layers. (You are building it on the sheet because you will not be able to transport the dough when you have flattened it.)

The dough divided.

Once the layers have cooled, slice each in half lengthwise so that you have a total of 8 even layers.

To assemble, place the least attractive layer of cake on a plate and spread with a thin layer of filling Repeat the layers, ending with the prettiest of your layers. Place in an air-tight container and allow to sit for 24 hours (the prune filling will soak into and soften the cake layers).

To serve, either dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar or frost the top and sides lightly with the frosting Cut into very thin slices.

Close up of the preserves and cake layers.

     In general this was a fairly easy recipe to follow. The only issue I encountered was something I noticed in almost every version I have seen. It does not say how thick to make each layer. You will notice in my pictures that each of the cake layers is rather thick. I feel that when I make this again I will be rolling the layers out on the silicone mat. The "hand pressing" gave me similar thicknesses, but a rolling pin would have made this easier. The thinner slices would have created a more uniform flavor and texture also. Overall, I will be adding this to the Thanksgiving 2.7 menu. It was enjoyed by enough people that I gave it the approval. It is different enough and simple enough that after a couple more test bakes I may add it to my regular baking recipe list.

Stay with us because next time you will see: Roast Pork w Cracklings.

Scandinavian Recipe #6: Lingonberry-glazed Pork Loin with Potatoes

     For the second main dish experiment I wanted to try my hand at a pork dish again. The first one came out so well, and I was hoping this one would be just as good. It uses lingonberries, dried cranberries, and dried apple slices together to create a mildly sweet flavor that melds with the roast pork. This is a relatively easy dish to make and I recommend buying an entire pork loin. Even if you get a 9 or 10 lb loin it will be worth it in the end. You save a good bit of money, and pork loin freezes fairly well, but that's another blog entry for a later time.

The ingredients.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 4-pound boneless pork loin
• 2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cup dried cranberries (orange-flavored if you can get them)
• 1 cup dried apple slices
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 10-15 new potatoes (multi-colored if available)
• 2/3 cup lingonberry preserves
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350º. Remove pork loin from web netting (if present) and slice length-wise. Sprinkle ground allspice over length of each piece, and then spread the dried apples and cranberries on bottom layer. Cover with top layer, season with salt and pepper, and either push back into web netting or tie with string. 

     

Layers of Apples, Cranberries and Allspice.

Place stuffed pork loin in large roasting pan and bake on center rack of oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and halve the new potatoes. After 30 minutes, add potatoes to roasting pan. Bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Whisk together the lingonberry preserves and orange juice into sauce consistency, then drizzle over the pork loin and potatoes. Bake for a final 15-20 minutes (until pork reaches an internal temperature of 150º to 155º). Cool slightly, remove string, and slice pork loin into 1/2 inch slices of possible; serve with potatoes and a fresh salad.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings 

     I purchased a 10 lb pork loin to attempt this recipe. Which meant I was increasing the ingrediants by 2.5 times. The only issue I had was slicing the loin in half. I decided to cut it into two 5 lb sections and then slice each one in half. Each half then went into the oven separately. The final product as you can see resembles a giant meat hoagie (sub, grinder, sandwich). I opted not to tie is as directed in the recipe, because I felt it wasn't necessary in this case. It held together very well in the end.  I cannot recall having issues with this recipe. It is as simple as it is written. I made it a bit more difficult by more than doubling it, but that was no trouble at all. 

This is now the second and what I believe will be the final pork recipe I try for Thanksgiving 2.7. I was very fortunate this past week to have around 6 people try this dish with me to help determine if it's worth making. In general I am not a huge fan fruit mixed/cooked/served with a meat of any sort. The flavors do not meld to me. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this dish so much. It became a much better experience once I made sure to get a bit of apple, cranberry and pork onto my fork. I will have to try this technique in the future when I encounter another meat fruit combo.

Finished Loin. 

   Since this is such a departure from what I normally serve guests I was not expecting overly positive reviews. I served each guest about a 1/2 an inch slice making sure to scoop some of the lingonberry sauce onto each one. I had made the recipe a couple days before the guests were able to try it. This worried me a bit because I would be re-heating each slice. Thankfully, pork loin is a forgiving piece of meat as far re-heating goes. All of the tasters claimed to really enjoy it. The most surprising part of the whole night was the 2 requests that were made for the recipe. 

    I have now successfully attempted 2 Danish pork dishes this month, with plans on doing an Icelandic cake in the next few days. I am desperately trying to make up for the last 2 months in which I neglected to recipe test. If I can keep up this pace I will have fleshed out my entire Scandinavian menu by October. It is a good place to be. 

     Next time look for Icelandic Vinaterta (Striped Lady Cake). It should be interesting. 

Scandinavian Recipe #3: Swedish Chocolate Balls (Chokladboll)

Coconut and Nonpareil versions

      Chokladboll is a Swedish confection that is often one of a Swedish child's first recipes that they are allowed to make on their own. This is a no-bake cookie/cake/ball that ended up being fairly simple with a few twists. On to the recipe. 

The ingredients.

•  4 C regular rolled oats
• 1-1/4 C white sugar 
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 C butter (softened)
• 2 TBSP strong coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 oz unsweetened chocolate (melted)
• 1/3 C coconut flakes

 Directions

1. Mix the oats, sugar, and cocoa together in a bowl. Add the butter, and use your hands to mix the ingredients together to make a thick dough. Mix in the coffee, vanilla, and chocolate until thoroughly blended.
2. Place the coconut flakes in a small bowl. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll between your hands to make small balls, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Roll the balls in the coconut flakes. Balls are ready to eat, or may be refrigerated 2 hours to become firmer.

"Batter" about to be shaped.

      The recipe is simply mixing ingredients into a bowl and then rolling them into golf balls. While the mixing is easy, the rolling into the golf balls is time consuming and not the easiest. I'd recommend having a helper when you are making these. It took me around 45 minutes to make 1 whole batch from start to finish by myself. The main issue I had was in the actual rolling of the balls. The dough did not hold together very well at first.They just wouldn't hold their shape at first. I decided to add an additional TBSP of coffee. You will notice in the pictures that I had some trouble keeping them round. I decided  to shape them into cubes about halfway through the process. The sprinkles or coconut  adhered much better after I made cubes.
     I found a  few other Chokladboll recipes that mentioned that you can eat these "fresh", refrigerated for an hour or even freeze them for several days ahead of time. We tried all 3 ways and I found that refrigerated produced the nicest texture. Freezing them made them too difficult to eat, and the fresh ones just fell apart to easily when lifted to the mouth. At the very least I would let them sit and meld overnight at the very least.
      I have made this recipe 3 times as of June 1st. I made them for our Super Bowl guests, for my immediate family and for one of the work "birthday days". They were a hit at all 3 occasions. The coconut versions ended up being slightly more popular than the sprinkle/non-nonpareil versions, but the sprinkle/nonpareil versions were much appreciated for those individuals who do not enjoy coconut. 
     When TH2 comes around I will be making these for the dessert table. They are relatively easy to make and they fill a different chocolate niche than the few other chocolate dishes that I regularly make. I feel 1.5 to 2 batches will be plenty for around 50 people. The fact that they can be made several days ahead of time is a great boon too. 

Lone ball