Ginger Ricky & Betsy

In the lead up to my publication day of Cocktails At Kittiwake Cove, I thought I would share some cocktail recipes. 

Early on, whilst writing, I thought it would be fun to name each chapter after a cocktail. Over the next week, I'll be sharing recipes from chapter titles, and possibly some cocktails that ended up on the editing floor... 

The following recipes have been taken from a cocktail book I was given as a gift; Drink Me Now 150 cocktails for any emergency.

These two made it into the book... 

Ginger Ricky 

4 x 2.5cm (1 inch) cubes pineapple

2 lime wedges

1 1/2 measures London dry gin

1/2 measure ginger juice (see tip)

1 teaspoon lime juice

ice cubes

3 1/2 measures ginger ale

pineapple wedge, to decorate

Muddle the pineapple and lime wedges in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add the gin and ginger and lime juices and shake well.

Strain into a highball glass filled with ice cubes and top up with the ginger ale. Decorate with a pineapple wedge and serve. 

***

Tip: to make ginger juice, peel a large piece of fresh root ginger and blitz in a blender or food processor. Strain the juice before use. 

~

Betsy

2 measures gin or vodka

4 teaspoons lime juice

1 measure sugar syrup

2 strawberries, plus extra to decorate

1 sprig coriander

1 cup ice cubes

Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into 2 old-fashioned glasses, decorate each with a strawberry and serve.

***

Enjoy! 

Remember Cocktails at Kittiwake Cove is out Tuesday 15th June! 

Advent Calendar - Day 21

Merry Christmas! 

My name is Angel Nicholas and I'm behind door number 21! I write romantic suspense for Harper Impulse from my humble abode in an Idaho valley, but I also adore baking! A fairly recent favorite is this amazing pumpkin pie. I know what you’re thinking. “Pumpkin pie? That’s so…ordinary.” Trust me, there’s nothing remotely ordinary about this pie. From the buttery, bakery-worthy crust to the thick, creamy center to the dulce de leche drizzled across the top, this pie will have you and your guests reaching for seconds! Without further ado…

Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie with Dulce de Leche Walnut Streusel
Yield: one 9-inch pie

Walnut streusel:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts.  Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Crust:

1 cup unsalted butter

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and salt. Mix until a soft dough forms.
2. Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead together until smooth. Roll dough with a floured rolling pin to ¼-inch thickness.  Gently lay dough inside spring-form pan and press up the sides.  Allow a little of the crust to overhang the edges of the pan.  Place dough-lined pan in the freezer and freeze until dough is stiff. 
3. Preheat oven to 400F.

Pumpkin pie filling:

1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

4 eggs, lightly beaten

29 ounces (one large can) pure pumpkin puree

12 ounces (one can) evaporated milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk in eggs, then pumpkin; beat until smooth. Slowly whisk in milk, cream, and vanilla. Pour filling into frozen pie crust.  Cover edges of pie crust with aluminum foil or a pie crust shield if you have one.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.   Bake pie for 1 hour, then top with walnut streusel. Bake for 25 minutes more, then tent a piece of aluminum foil over the pie so the streusel does not over-brown.  Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the pie is set but still slightly wobbly in the center.  Cut away overhand crust if desired. Allow pie to cool completely then thoroughly chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Serve:

16 oz. prepared dulce de leche

1. Just before serving, warm dulce de leche in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop until loosened.  Drizzle about ½ cup over the top of the pumpkin pie. Transfer the remaining dulce de leche to a gravy boat and serve alongside pie.

Note: The leaves were cut from a ready-made refrigerated pie crust I had languishing in  my refrigerator.  I baked them separately (400F for 12 minutes) and lay them on top of the pie for decoration.

I found the recipe about three years ago. What I’ve shared here is the current version of the recipe that’s all over the internet. I don’t do the maple leaves or the walnuts in the streusel topping—I’m allergic to walnuts—but the topping is just as delish without! Especially with all that yummy dulce de leche drizzled on it! Enjoy! J

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Blog Takeover: Lynn Marie Talks New Year's Resolutions and Frou-Frou Cocktails

I'm handing my blog over to Lynn Marie Hulsman, a fellow Harper Impulse Rom-Com author! She's talking New Year's resolutions. Take it away Lynn Marie! 

I’m usually eager to make New Year’s resolutions. This year I’ll lose enough weight to fit into my high school jeans. In the next 12 months, I’ll organize my closets in so well they make Martha Stewart’s look like a hot mess. Even though I am not a medical doctor, this year I will find a cure for malaria. While it’s good to have goals, overshooting the mark can leave me feeling inadequate and defeated.

This year, I have a better resolution. In 2014, my plan is to support myself through gentle reassurance instead of force and criticism. I treat my best girlfriends this way, why not myself? Each time the “shoulds” start, I will remind myself that I’m OK as I am. At this weight, with my house the way it is, and with the achievements I already have in my quiver. I’ll conserve the energy I used to put into struggle to be a different person, and put it into something worthwhile like my writing.

As a kick-off to this new way of behaving, I’m going to do something I rarely do: Go to a lot of trouble for myself. I love fancy cocktails when I’m out at a bar or restaurant. At home, I usually settle for a simple glass of Sauvignon Blanc. This year, I’m going to push out the boat and treat myself to a Sparkly Peach and Cranberry Cocktail. I hope you’ll do the same!

Sparkly Peach and Cranberry Cocktails

Of course champagne is lovely for toasting the New Year, but why not kick off 2014 with something a notch more special? Here’s a cocktail that would be equally at home at a winter wedding or a black-tie event.

Perfect for holiday gatherings, the visual “wow” factor of this simple-to-make cocktail would have even Carrie Bradshaw tweeting a selfie with her gorgeous glass. The cunning combination of evergreen rosemary sprigs and the deep, wintry red of the cranberries will leave your guests gasping! But art is not the only trick these sparklies have up their sleeves: They taste sublime. One sip of the silky peach, offset by the tang of the cranberry, and rounded out by the aromatic Prosecco, and you’ll swear you’ve heard angels sing.

Makes 8 flutes

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

1/2 cup / 118 ml peach nectar

2 750ml bottles Prosecco

8 thin sprigs fresh rosemary, each slightly taller than the bowls of your champagne flutes, washed and patted dry

Place the cranberries in a small, heatproof bowl, and cover them in boiling water. Soak the berries until cool, about 30 minutes. Drain, gently pat dry, and refrigerate until serving.

Divide the peach nectar evenly among eight Champagne flutes. Now, divide the cranberries evenly among the flutes. Pouring down the sides of the flutes, add the Prosecco.

Garnish each glass with a rosemary sprig, and serve.

Christmas at Thortnon Hall blurb: 

When Juliet Hill unwittingly discovers a most-definitely-not-hers-rhinestone-studded lace thong in her high-flying lawyer boyfriend's apartment, this usually feisty chef is suddenly single and facing a very blue Christmas - with only a ready meal for one to keep her company!

So when she's personally requested to cater for the family at Thornton Hall three days before Christmas, it's not long before Juliet's standing at the (back) door of the impossibly grand ancestral pile.

The halls are decked, the guests are titled, those below the stairs are delightfully catty, and all-American Juliet sets to work cooking up a glorious British Christmas with all the trimmings.

But other flames are burning besides those on the stove... Sparks fly with Edward, the gorgeous ex-soldier turned resident chef, and are those sidelong looks Juliet's getting from her boss, the American tycoon Jasper Roth?

As the snow starts to fall on the idyllic Cotswolds countryside, so does the veneer of genteel high society and there are more than a few ancient skeletons rattling out of the Hall's numerous dark cupboards!

CHRISTMAS AT THORNTON HALL is a country house romance for the modern age, a must-read for fans of the scandals and drama of Downton Abbey and the charm and wit of Helen Fielding.

Lynn Marie Hulsman is a novelist in New York City, where she lives with her husband and two children. You can find more about her on the links below!

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / 

Thank you so much, Lynn Marie! Happy New Year everyone!