Tag: Mint

Fouquet’s Meringue Cookies with Peach Curd

Posted August 24, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 4 Comments

         

 

When I first decided to make a Man in the Iron Mask menu, I fell in love with the idea of making a traditional French dessert. And when I read about Monsieur Fouquet’s famous peaches, I knew my dessert would have a peach theme. I tossed around the idea of peach madeleines, but I already made madeleines for my Hobbit menu (and adding fruit to the batter can be tricky).

Peach macarons also came to mind, but I’ll admit I was a little intimidated. I’ve never tried to make the infamously difficult macaron before, and I wasn’t confident that I’d have enough time to perfect such a temperamental recipe. Then I hit on the idea of meringues.

I’ve had great luck making meringue in the past, and I liked the idea of trying it as a cookie, something I’ve tasted but never made for myself. I used a combination of recipes to get my cookies: the proportions and prep instructions come from my baked Alaska recipe and the baking instructions come from a Taste of Home meringue cookie recipe my mom recommended.

But how to add the peaches? Since meringue can be fussy, I didn’t want to mess with the flavoring too much, but I’ve had fruit curd on the brain since I recently finished developing a blueberry curd recipe for my cookbook. So I consulted a peach curd recipe from Chocolate Moosey and made adjustments to my blueberry version to suit the differences in the fruit.

The final cookies had crisp, delicately sweet meringue with clean lines from the piping (no cracks or melting—yay!), and the peach curd was silky and fruity. Top with a sprig of mint to contrast the sweetness, and you’re in business! 🙂

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Honey Glazed Grilled Peaches with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Posted April 27, 2017 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 6 Comments

 

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What would a James and the Giant Peach menu be without peaches? A travesty, that’s what. Of course, not just ANY peach recipe will do. I wanted to make something special but simple at the same time. After all, this is a kid’s book we’re talking about! Grilled peaches with ice cream came to mind, and I dressed them up just a little by glazing the peaches with honey and making homemade ice cream with the most glorious of all the spices: CINNAMON. The end result was sweet, refreshing, and delightfully simple. The perfect snack after flying across the ocean on a giant peach!

P.S. The cinnamon ice cream recipe included below is for a Cuisinart ice cream maker and is a slight variation on the vanilla ice cream recipe that comes with the machine.

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The Raven: An Edgar Allan Poe Cocktail

Posted October 31, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 1 Comment

 

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All Hallows Eve is here, and with it, the end of our Edgar Allan Poe menu! Even though I don’t normally post recipes on Mondays, I thought it would be fun to share one on Halloween…and when I found a “The Raven” cocktail recipe a couple months ago, I knew I’d found the perfect way to bookend our Poe menu.

The recipe below is my interpretation of The Raven cocktail, which was originally developed by Ashley at Smarty Had a Party. The cocktail below is a delicious combo of 3 of my favorite flavors: blackberry, pomegranate, and mint. With a little white rum, it makes for a refreshing, darkly sweet (but not too sweet) drink. Enjoy while reading your favorite Edgar Allan Poe poems!

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Aunt Josephine’s Chilled Cucumber Soup

Posted April 7, 2016 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 12 Comments

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Our April book of the month is definitely a modern classic (or rather a classic series). We’re cooking A Series of Unfortunate Events! I DEVOURED those books as a kid. In fact, when I first started the series, I went to the library three times in three days, because that’s how fast I was whipping through it.

Even though it’s been years since I first read A Series of Unfortunate Events, I still remember the Baudelaires’ Aunt Josephine and her chronic fear of pretty much everything. She was too afraid to even turn her stove, resulting in her penchant for cold cucumber soup.

This particular soup is a light, delicious recipe originally developed by Whole Foods. I specifically sought out a cucumber mint soup, since the author mentions that such soup has “a delicious, minty taste.” I’d never made cucumber soup before now, but this recipe is easy and refreshing, not to mention healthy. Not bad for not using a stove! 🙂

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