Irish Cream Truffles

March 16, 2018 No Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

A sweet treat with an Irish twist? These Irish Cream Truffles are easy to make and a tasty way to finish off a big St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Irish Cream Semi-Sweet Chocolate Truffles

While I chose to go the semi-sweet chocolate route these truffles would be equally tasty with a white chocolate. You can make these adults-only treats using Irish Cream liquor or use Irish Cream coffee creamer instead to make friendly to those who do not drink. I chose to dip these treats in chocolate, but you could also roll in cocoa powder or sprinkles.

Ingredients:

2 Bags of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter
1/3 cup Irish Cream Liquor (or creamer)
Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

Put one bag of chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl.
Slowly bring cream to boil (be careful not to scald) and mix in Irish Cream.
Pour the hot liquid over the chocolate chips and stir until smooth. If the mixture is not entirely melted, then you’ll want to slowly heat the mixture in the microwave in 15-second increments.
Mix in the coconut oil (or butter) until mixture is smooth and shiny.
Pour the mixture into a shallow 9×9 pan or dish and put in the fridge to firm up for approximately 1 hour.
Once firm, use a spoon to scoop out small quarter size balls of the truffle mixture. Roll into a ball using the palms of your hands. Note: you’ll get sooooooo messy! Try putting a bit of cocoa powder on your palms to help the process work a tad better. Set the completed balls of truffle mixture on a parchment paper covered plate and then set in fridge to firm while you melt your chocolate for dipping. If you are choosing to roll in sprinkles or cocoa powder instead of dipping, you can do so now.
Melt your chocolate slowly in the microwave or over a double boiler so that it does not burn and coats nicely. I tend to put in a tablespoon of coconut or vegetable oil to get it a better consistency.
Dip your truffle balls into the mixture and set on a sheet of parchment paper to firm. Top with sprinkles for fun!

This dessert is a classic candy with an Irish twist. What is your favorite dessert to enjoy on St. Patty’s Day? Comment below!

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Three Cranberry Sauce Recipes

November 19, 2017 1 Comment A Well Crafted Pantry

I don’t host Thanksgiving. Instead, I’m very happy to be attending a Thanksgiving with friends and family where everyone brings a dish to share and everyone is an AMAZING cook. I tend to do a lot of parties around this time of year so I don’t have a ton of energy to put into making something super involved for the holiday. Which means, typically, every year I’m bringing the potatoes and cranberry sauce. If those are the only two things I’m responsible for then I’m going to make them DELISH.

Cranberry sauce is often an afterthought to the Thanksgiving meal. However, a great cranberry sauce can elevate a turkey quite well. I have three fall back cranberry sauces that I love to make. Some years, when feeling extra on top of it, I’ll bring all three so guests can have their choice.

Traditional Cranberry Sauce

A traditional cranberry sauce is SO easy to make. You need a sauce pan, cranberries, orange juice, and sugar to make this sauce. Occasionally I’ll add in something like a cherry or orange liquor to give it a bit of a kick.

Ingredients:

1 12 oz bag of cranberries
freshly squeezed juice of one large orange
1 cup sugar
(Optional) 1 Tablespoon orange or cherry liquor

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on medium heat stirring occasionally so the sugar doesn’t burn. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until your berries are bursting and the sauce has thickened a bit. The sauce will further thicken once cooled. Serve warm or chilled. It will be extremely hot once finished so wait until it has cooled before tasting. If you feel that your sauce is too thick you can thin a bit with water.

Apple and Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

Sometimes I want a little more texture to my cranberry sauce. Sweet apples are a great contrast to the tartness of cranberries.

Ingredients:

1 12 oz bag of cranberries
2 fuji apples diced (or other favorite sweeter apple)
seeds of 1 pomegranate + any residual juices
1 cup sugar
freshly squeezed juice of two Meyer lemons

Directions:

Put all ingredients except for you pomegranate seeds into a sauce pan. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally so the sugar doesn’t burn. Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until you berries are bursting a bit and you can put a fork through your apple easily. Add in pomegranate seeds and juice and stir to incorporate. Chill. Serve Chilled.

Cranberry Salsa

This rendition of cranberry sauce is my favorite and is perfect on a leftover turkey sandwich. I tend to like the spicy things in life and will always opt for jalapeño when asked, so if you are similar in your flavor profile think about adding this to you Thanksgiving menu.

Ingredients:

1 120z bag of cranberries
1 to 2 jalapeños seeded (depending on how spicy you want your salsa)
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of two large limes
1/2 red onion diced
1 small bunch of cilantro (this is according to taste. I think I had about 1 tablespoon in mine because I don’t tend to love a lot of cilantro.)

Directions:

In a bowl mix your sugar and lime juice together until the sugar has dissolved.
Put the cranberries, jalapeños, red onion, and cilantro to a food processor and pulse until incorporated.
Add the cranberry mixture to your lime and sugar mixture. Mix and let sit in fridge covered for 4 hours. The lime juice will soften the cranberries a bit.

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Berry Good Cosmic Cocktails: Martian Sunrise

October 27, 2017 No Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

I think that many Halloween cocktails err on the side of too sweet and too kitschy. Sometimes, you just need a twist on a good, classic cocktail to get the effect that you want. I’m hosting a space themed Halloween party this year and needed some ‘spacey’ cocktail ideas. When I started created this berry cocktail I tried it with a different liquor. One taste of the drink made me realize that I was way off base and that I needed to stick with a classic.

This post is in partnership with Oregon Berries. All opinions are my own. See my other collaborations with Oregon Berries: Triple Berry Smoothie with Miso & Marionberry Champagne Cocktail.

This cocktail is a twist on a Tequila Sunrise. A traditional Tequila Sunrise consists of orange juice, grenadine, and tequila. So, I guess I’d say that this drink is a loose interpretation of the classic, but I like it even more. 😉 My big twist on this cocktail is that I use a berry syrup instead of grenadine and just a squeeze of fresh orange for orange juice. The ratio is certainly different, but the berries are brightened by the orange juice and the gold tequila really tastes great with the sweet and tart berries.

Triple Berry Simple Syrup

This triple berry simple syrup can be made to mix with cocktails or non-alcoholic drinks. I love this syrup in Italian Creme Sodas or mixed with lemonade. YUM.

Use the below portions to create a batch of syrup in any amount that you need:

1 part each type of berry
2 part water
2 part granulated sugar

Or, to make approximately 2.5 cups of syrup:

1 cup black raspberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup Marion blackberries
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

Directions:

Put the frozen berries and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat (stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick) until the berries soften. Approximately 5 minutes.
Add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Approximately 5 minutes.
Strain the liquid from the berries. Squish the berries as you go to get all the lovely juices.
Refrigerate the berry syrup for up to two weeks

This drink doesn’t look like it so much in the photos… but, it looks like a real sunset. A friend was over testing out the drinks and as I was throwing out names she nailed it with a Martian Sunrise. Mars is quite a bit colder that here on Earth. This drink sort of touches on that fact with the shaved ice base. To shave the ice I simply threw ice cubes into my blender and blended away. I filled the rocks glass to the brim with the shaved ice.

Martian Sunrise Cocktail

Ingredients:

Shaved Ice
1 quarter medium size orange plus a slice of orange for garnish
2 oz gold tequila
1 oz of berry syrup

Directions:

Fill rocks glass to brim with shaved ice
Add tequila
Add the squeezed orange juice
Add the berry syrup slowly
Garnish with an orange slice