NovelTea Tins: A Review

Posted July 27, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 0 Comments

*This post is sponsored by NovelTea Tins. I was given four free teas in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I’m almost as passionate about tea as I am about books. Whenever I sit down to read, I simply MUST brew myself a cuppa first, which means tea has fueled my free time for most of my life. When I discovered NovelTea Tins, a company that develops tea blends inspired by classic books, I was intrigued and asked them if they would like to sponsor a post. It’s not often that I reach out to companies, so you can imagine my excitement when they said YES!

Within a week, I had in my possession four of their teas: Pride & Peppermint, Anne of Green Tea Gables, Pippi Oolongstocking, and a premium tin of Anise in Wonderland. I love that they sent me a good variety, since this allows me to give you a better sense of their quality and selection. Of course, I was most excited about the Wonderland tea, which I think is why they very thoughtfully sent it in a tin. I’m super excited, so let’s get started! Time to review some teas! 😀

Sunnmørsbrød: Norwegian Rye Bread

Posted July 20, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

NOTE: I usually post my recipes for each menu in the order you’d eat them during an actual meal (appetizer, entree, side dish, and dessert). I’m doing things a little different this week, since I have something special planned for the entree, but it’s not ready yet. So today we’re doing the side dish instead. On with the show!

One of the great things about food blogging is that it gives me a chance to experiment with with variations on common foods. Loads of classic books prominently feature bread, so I make it all the time. Of course, I don’t want to repeat recipes, which means I’m always on the hunt for a new kind of bread to make. This has led to some delightfully unique bread making experiences. I’ve made Swiss braided bread, Missouri bacon cornbread, and even Brimstone Bread inspired by DRACULA! Since RONIA THE ROBBER’S DAUGHTER is set in a fantasy version of Scandinavia, today I’m trying my hand at sunnmørsbrød, Norwegian rye bread!

Scandinavia boasts many unique, traditional breads like knäckebröd (Swedish crispbread) and rugbrød (a distinctively angular Danish bread). In RONIA THE ROBBER’S DAUGHTER, Ronia’s mother Lovis makes amazing bread, but the book doesn’t say what kind. The only clue is that it’s always referred to as a loaf, which disqualifies all the Scandinavian crispbreads and flatbreads. Luckily, that still leaves lots of yeasted rye breads, so I chose a recipe from the Sunnmøre region of Norway, which I found on Arctic Grub.

This recipe is super easy. It’s also really flavorful, since it uses oat AND three types of flour: white, whole wheat, and rye. It takes on a delightful nutty flavor when toasted. Perfect for slathering in butter and dipping in Lovis’s chicken soup!

Norwegian Chicken Soup with Dumplings

Posted July 6, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 3 Comments

One of my favorite reads so far this year is RONIA THE ROBBER’S DAUGHTER by Astrid Lindgren, the author of PIPPI LONGSTOCKING. It’s such a delightful children’s book, complete with a brave heroine, fierce friendship, and an enchanting yet perilous fantasy world. It’s exactly the sort of book that would have become my entire personality if I’d read it when I was 10 years old! I’ll definitely read it to my own kids when they’re old enough. For now, I’ll content myself with making some of the delicious food from the story. Today, we’re making the tasty chicken soup made by Ronia’s mother, Lovis. Let’s get started!

Since RONIA is set in a fantasy version of Scandinavia, I sought out authentic Scandinavian recipes for this menu. Today I’ll be using a slight variation on a Norwegian chicken soup recipe I found on The Norwegian American. It starts with a rich, homemade stock using roasted chicken bones and lots of aromatics. Then it goes on to add carrot, onion, shredded chicken, and rutabaga (a new-to-me addition, which I loved). In the last ten minutes, you spoon in some quick, from-scratch batter to make dumplings.

I gotta say, I LOVED the final product. I think the rutabaga was my favorite part. I was nervous about it at first, but it has this starchy, lightly sweet quality that I found really pleasant. I think I like it better than potato as a soup add-in, since it doesn’t get grainy or mushy when reheated.

So if you’re huddled up in Matt the Robber’s fort with a storm raging outside and harpies screeching in the sky, just hunker down with a comforting bowl of this Norwegian chicken soup with dumplings! Enjoy!

Poppy Eyebright’s Wedding Cake: Hazelnut Honey Cake, Elderflower Whipped Cream, and Fresh Strawberries

Posted June 22, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Guys, this may be the most delicious thing I’ve ever made. I’m not even kidding. Poppy Eyebright’s wedding cake was my biggest motivation for making a Brambly Hedge menu to begin with, seeing as it’s the most iconic food in all the Bramby books. I’m SO glad I made it. It turned out amazing!

I feel like whenever anyone talks about Brambly Hedge food, we can’t help but gush about Poppy’s cake: three tiers of sponge cake interspersed with layers of cream and strawberries. I think we all imprinted on this cake because it’s simple yet decadent and highlights fresh, comforting flavors. It’s the physical embodiment of all things Brambly!

Interestingly, the description of Poppy’s wedding in the Brambly Hedge book SUMMER STORY doesn’t contain a description of her cake. Instead, we see several illustrations that include a cake fitting the description above. There is a larger, fancier cake in the illustrations as well. However, it hasn’t achieved the first cake’s level of fan recognition. This might be because it’s more formal, making it less emblematic of Brambly Hedge’s cozy cottage aesthetic. I like to imagine the larger cake was for the guests, while the smaller one was a bride and groom cake for Poppy and Dusty.

With that in mind, I decided to make mine a 6-inch cake. Since the book gives no description of the flavor, I decided to take my inspiration from another Brambly Hedge book. SPRING STORY describes Wilfred Toadflax’s birthday cake as “hazelnut cake with layers of thick cream,” which fits well with the illustrations of Poppy Eyebright’s wedding cake.

To start, I took the sponge recipe from the Honey Clementine Cupcakes in my new cookbook, A LITERARY PICNIC, and subbed in ground hazelnut for some of the flour. I was afraid it wouldn’t rise properly, but it turned out incredible. It’s quite possibly my best sponge recipe ever. It’s a lovely golden brown on the outside, and inside it has a texture that is somehow delicate and substantial—like if cake and banana bread had a baby.

For the cream layers, I whisked some elderflower liqueur into whipped cream, which added a lovely floral sweetness. To balance the richness of both the cake and the cream, I dotted fresh strawberries between the layers and added whole strawberries on top for decoration.

Could this be my magnum opus? It’s definitely one of my proudest culinary moments, and the pictures turned out amazing too (I had some perfect weather for outdoor photos!). So grab a plate and take a slice of this masterpiece out for a relaxing snack in the sunshine. It begs to be enjoyed with fresh air and greenery!

Brambly Hedge Chestnut Soup

Posted June 8, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

Over the past several weeks we’ve made Brambly Hedge recipes inspired by summer and autumn—now it’s time for a wintery recipe! In WINTER STORY, the woodland creatures of Brambly Hedge are cozy in their homes enjoying the autumn bounty they stored away when the delight of the first winter snow inspires them to throw a Snow Ball.

This cozy, savory chestnut soup (a variation of one by A Hedgehog in the Kitchen), is just like the one the Toadflax family serves just as the children discover the first snow. It’s super easy and quicker than most soups, and it would pair beautifully with a cottage loaf. I love how strong the rosemary flavor is. It’s the perfect thing for a cold day. Enjoy! 🙂

Cottage Loaf with Homemade Ricotta, Honey Roasted Hazelnuts, and Macerated Blackberries

Posted May 25, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

The next dish in my Brambly Hedge menu is inspired by the bountiful harvest in AUTUMN STORY. I couldn’t decide on just one recipe, so I brought a bunch of them together into one delicious entree!

Bread is a Brambly Hedge staple, so I started with a traditional English cottage loaf (using this version of Paul Hollywood’s recipe that provides American measurements). To top the bread, I made Attainable Sustainable’s homemade ricotta cheese. This was my first time making ricotta, which was a lot of fun. It’s very similar to farmer’s cheese, which I made for my SARAH PLAIN AND TALL menu a few years ago. I highly suggest ricotta or farmer’s cheese if you’re new to making homemade cheeses. They’re super easy, and the only special tool they require is a cheesecloth.

Blackberries are all over AUTUMN STORY (including the illustration on the cover!), so for a touch of sweetness I macerated some blackberries in elderflower liqueur. Finally, I tweaked my roasted hazelnut recipe from MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN to make honey roasted hazelnuts, the perfect complement to the blackberries.

Top it off with fresh sage for a bit of herbal earthiness, and you’re ready to celebrate harvest time with the woodland creatures of Brambly Hedge.

Strawberry Scones with Lemon Moscato Glaze

Posted May 11, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments

Welcome to a menu I’ve been wanting to make for years: one inspired by Brambly Hedge! If you’re unfamiliar with the series, just imagine if Redwall had been written as early chapter books with cozy cottagecore themes and utterly gorgeous illustrations. I have the box set of the Brambly Hedge seasonal stories, and I’ve been itching to make a menu inspired by each season. So let’s get started!

We’ll begin with SUMMER STORY, which follows the events surrounding the wedding of Poppy Eyebright, who runs the Brambly Hedge dairy, and Dusty Dogwood, the local miller. I brought their two crafts together and made a recipe that uses flour, butter, milk, and cream—scones! Strawberry scones to be exact, since fresh strawberries are one of the foods brought to the wedding. To jazz things up, I drizzled my scones with a lemon Moscato glaze inspired by the homemade white wine Basil Brightberry sets aside for the wedding.

I think the glaze might be my favorite part of this recipe. It gives the scones some needed zing, brightening all the other flavors. My son, our resident bread enthusiast, is a huge fan of these scones. He’s already asking when I’ll make them again!

P.S. If you’re a Brambly Hedge fan and are bummed I didn’t make Poppy’s iconic wedding cake, don’t worry. It’s coming! Since we get a beautiful illustration of her cake but no description of the flavor, I decided to combine it with the birthday cake from SPRING STORY, which has a detailed flavor description. So for dessert I’m make Wildfred Toadflax’s strawberry hazelnut birthday cake and style it to look like Poppy’s wedding cake. It will be my 4th Brambly Hedge recipe (the second-to-last one in the menu), so stay tuned!

Bonus Post: Twenty Thousand Leagues Tea

Posted April 27, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Teas / 0 Comments

Since there’s an extra Thursday this month, I get to do a bonus post! Usually I make a cocktail for my bonus recipe, but since Captain Nemo doesn’t keep alcohol on the Nautilus (much to the distress of Ned Land), I decided to take the opportunity to create a new tea blend.

If you’re new around here, you may not know that I have a set of custom tea blends on Adagio Teas. I used to make a new one for almost every menu, but now I have over 50 blends! So these days I only make a new tea if I feel truly inspired.

I loved the idea of an ocean-themed blend, so I started with White Tropics, which is a white tea flavored with pineapple and coconut. Those fruits are perfect since they’re both mentioned in the book and also have distinct flavors that come through even in a delicate white tea. For added depth, I mixed in my favorite green tea: Citron Green, which has notes of lemon and orange. I love how the citrus plays off the tropical flavors without completely overpowering them. For a flavor boost, I added dried coconut, dried pineapple, and lemon balm.

I always recommend serving herbal and white teas cold since the flavors are so delicate. This one is SO delicious! The lemon hits you first–smooth and soothing–followed by hints of the juicy tropical flavors at the end. Just the thing to calm your nerves after defeating a giant squid!

Sound delicious? You can order it here!

Captain Nemo’s Squid Cake Pops

Posted April 13, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

You knew it was coming: the iconic giant squid! After all, this wouldn’t be a TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES menu without a recipe inspired by one of literature’s most famous sea monsters. 😉

From day one of planning this menu, I knew I was going to include an homage to the giant squid. The big question was HOW. I thought about making sauteed octopus tentacles as the entree, but I was really excited to make tuna steaks instead. Then I considered fried calamari, but I couldn’t get calamari rings (which turned out for the best, because it meant I got to make mock turtle soup, which was delish).

That left dessert as my only option. While hunting for inspiration on Pinterest, I saw these adorable jellyfish lollipops by TheSweetStoryLine. I loved how the height from the stick allowed for long, dangling tendrils. This reminded me I have a killer recipe for cake pops, so I set to work designing a cake pop version of the iconic giant squid from TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES.

And here it is! Say hello to the cutest, sweetest, angriest squids you’ve ever met. These grumpy little guys are stylized versions of giant squids because I like the juxtaposition of a cute yet dangerous sea monster. These squids are blue since it makes the “suckers” on the tentacles more visible, and I had loads of blue candy melts left over from a previous recipe. I also had giant candy eyeballs left over from my other ocean-themed dessert, Colonel Brandon’s Curse Cupcakes. Which also happens to feature a too-adorable-to-be-scary sea monster.

My kids adored these, and I hope you do too. Eat them up fast . . . before they eat you! 😉

Seaweed and Cucumber Salad

Posted March 30, 2023 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments

There are so many unique foods and ingredients in TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, I couldn’t help but throw a funky recipe in this menu. Seaweed stood out to me in the story because it’s a bit unusual but still pretty easy to source (I got my seaweed at H-Mart, but you can also buy it online).

I decided to make seaweed salad since it pairs well with this menu’s entree: Sesame Soy Tuna Steaks. I made a variation on this sunomono salad recipe from My Kitchen. In my version, I use two types of seaweed–wakame and hijiki–for some added variety in flavor and texture.

This was definitely a fun experience. I highly recommend this salad if you want to experiment with seaweed recipes, since it’s so quick and easy (though I’d make a half batch if you’re not sure you like the flavor of seaweed). I enjoyed the springy bite of the wakame, and I also liked how tangy the cucumbers got after absorbing the dressing. However, after eating this, I decided that cold preparations of seaweed aren’t for me. I love it dried and in soup, but I’m not a fan of the texture when it’s rehydrated and cold.

Luckily, a little dried seaweed goes a long way, so I still have some leftover. I’ve heard it’s great in soups, and I still have some leftover miso and gochujang from making Spicy Eel. Maybe I should make some spicy miso seaweed soup!