Why Candy Citrus Peel? Candied citrus zest (aka candied citrus peel, crystallized citrus peel) is very useful as a garnish or as an ingredient in both savory and sweet dishes.   You can use it as a garnish for cocktails and other drinks too.  It is sweeter and more tender than plain zest.  This method is often …

Making vanilla scented sugar is simple, and doesn’t use up your vanilla beans. Not only is vanilla sugar delicious, but it makes great gifts for the bakers and coffee drinkers in your life! Here’s how to make it: Ingredients: 2 Vanilla Beans (either tahitian vanilla beans or madascar vanilla beans will do) 2 cups of sugar …

How to Candy Flowers Flowers add bright color to desserts, cakes, and other plates.  For dishes where a little extra sweetness would be welcome, a great trick to increase their visual appeal is to candy them (candied flowers are also known as sugar glazed flowers or sometimes “crystallized flowers”).  To candy flowers you will need …

Includes huckleberry, peppercorn, and liquor flavored simple syrup recipes. Simple syrup is so called because it’s…well…simple.  A base simple syrup is nothing more than 1 part water to 1 part sugar.  Use simple syrup to sweeten cold drinks like lemonade, cocktails or hibiscus tea without endless stirring.  Dab it onto cakes before you frost them to …

This recipe can be used with almost any fresh herbs to make a tasty and colorful dessert sauce or cocktail mixer.  Here we’ve used the most popular dessert herb, mint, but you could substitute any variety (completely trimming the stems if they’re woody) that works with the other flavors in your dish. Ingredients:                Makes approx. 20 …

Creme brulee is a legendary dessert renowned for its rich, swoon-inducing creaminess.  As long as you have ramekins and access to a torch, it’s suprisingly easy to make at home.  This version has just enough maple flavor to stand up to the slight bitterness of the bruleed sugar. Drink Pairing: Sauternes or Vin Santo Ingredients:      (Makes 6 …

Pasilla Hot Chocolate with Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream Any variety of bulk dried chilies (consult our chile heat scale for help deciding) can be used to make this hot chocolate (although you’ll likely want to change the amounts to fit the chile heat you’re looking for).  Here we’ve used mild pasilla chilies for a fruity …

No need to wait for St. Patty’s Day, you can enjoy this upgraded, vanilla-centric Irish Coffee year round. Vanilla-holic Irish Coffee 2 premium vanilla beans—one for infusing the whiskey, and one for the whipped cream (I used Tahitian vanilla beans) 1 pint Irish whiskey infused with vanilla bean 4 teaspoons of demerara sugar 1 cup …

Galya of Eat Love & Train shares the below recipe with us.  Ever health conscious, she’s used intensely flavorful ingredients to get maximum satisfaction from these little goodies while including the least amount of sugar (and guilt). —— A couple of months ago, Marx Foods asked their fan bloggers to choose three ingredients and cook something with …

  Yes, you read that right, a mushroom dessert!  Panna cotta is a smooth, incredibly creamy dessert gelled with gelatin.  And yes, this candy cap panna cotta tastes like mushrooms.  But it’s good, we swear! The reason it works is because of candy cap mushrooms’ unique toasted-maple flavor and natural sweetness. They’re a cutting edge pastry chef …