BERRY SANGRIA SHORTCAKE - Berry Madness Part III

The last two days I have regaled you with bunches of fresh berries boozified into bliss as Fresh Berry Sangria and Berry Sangria Cocktail Gels - all resulting from my foray into Berry Madness a few months ago.  Not only did I made all flavors of berry booze, including Blueberry Liqueur and Vodka and Blackberry Liqueur and Vodka, I had so many berries and so much Berry Sangria that I decided they had to become a dessert as well!

I'm berry, berry happy with this recipe.

BERRY SANGRIA SHORTCAKE 

BERRY SANGRIA COMPOTE

TOOLS
Sauce Pan
Mixing Bowls
Medium Metal Strainer
Mixing Spoons
Slotted Spoon
Baking Sheet
Parchment Paper

INGREDIENTS
All the leftover fruit from your Berry Sangria
1 C. of the Berry Sangria
2 Apple Mint Leaves, chopped.
1 Tbsp. Clementine Zest
1/2 C. of Sugar

DIRECTIONS
Bring fruit, half the zest and the sugar to a boil in a sauce pan.
Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half and the juice is thickened.
Remove from heat.
Scoop out all the berries with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl to chill.
Pour the juice through a strainer into a small bowl, this will remove the seeds and most of the pulp.
Chill the juice with the fruit until time to serve.

BISQUICK SHORTCAKE
INGREDIENTS
2-1/3 C. Bisquick®  Mix
2/3 C. Milk
3 Tbsp. Sugar
3 Tbsp. Butter

DIRECTIONS
Still all the ingredients together until a soft dough forms.
Drop by a spoon onto a parchment lined baking dish.
Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes or until GBD (golden brown and delicious!)
Remove and allow to cool.

SERVING/PLATING
1 Bisquick Shortcake (or Scone)
Whipped Cream
Some Fresh Berries
Clementine Zest
Optional: Apple Mint Leaf

Pour the seedless berry sauce into a serving bowl or plate.
Split your shortcakes in two lengthwise, place the bottom half on the berry sauce
Spoon some of the macerated sangria berries over the bottom half.
Place the top of the scone on the berries.
Spoon a bit more of the macerated sangria berries on the top.
Spoon on some whipped cream.
Garnish with a pinch of Clementine zest and/or a mint leaf and scatter a few fresh berries around the plate.
 

Tomorrow:
BERRY SANGRIA MADNESS PART IV

SANGRIA BERRIES!

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BERRY SANGRIA COCKTAIL GELS - Berry Madness Part II

Yesterday I told you a tale of Berry Madness wherein I went a little crazy and turned bushels and pecks of berries into Blueberry Booze, Blackberry Booze, (oh heck, I filled the fridge with berry booze flavors!), Berry Sangria, Berry Sangria Cocktail Gels, Berry Sangria Shortcake and Sangria Berries.  Today you get the recipe for Part II of my sojourn into the wild and crazy world of boozified berries, a delicious and delectable cocktail gel (aka jello shot) made from some of that Berry Sangria.

BERRY SANGRIA COCKTAIL GELS

TOOLS
Sauce Pan
Wooden Spoon
9"x13" Baking Dish
Silicon Candy Molds
Sharp Knife, for cutting shapes
Cooking Spray

PREPARATION
(Mise en Place)
Spray your molds and baking pan.
Measure out all ingredients.
Clear space in your fridge for the molds & pans.

BOTTOM BERRY SANGRIA LAYER

INGREDIENTS
1 C. Boiling Water
1 Pkg. Knox Gelatin
1 Sm. Box of Blackberry Fusion Jell-O
1 C. Berry Sangria with the fruit strained out

INSTRUCTIONS
Mix the water and the gelatin in your pan and stir until dissolved.
Bring to a boil then remove from burner.
Stir in the Blackberry Jell-O until dissolved.
Allow the mixture to cool down for 10 minutes.
Pour in the Berry Sangria and stir well.
Pour into your baking dish (reserving enough to pour into the candy molds for the molded berry gel tops) and place in the refrigerator to set up for several hours.

TOP CREAM LAYER

INGREDIENTS
1/2 C. Milk
1/2 C. Half & Half
1 C. Whipped Cream Vodka
2 Pkgs. Knox Gelatin

INSTRUCTIONS
Pour your milk/half & half into your saucepan, add the gelatin and stir well. Let this sit for a few minutes.
Place the saucepan on a burner, turn the heat to low and warm the mixture, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. This takes about 2 to 4 minutes. Do not boil, it's not necessary.
Remove the pan from the burner.
Quickly stir in the whipped cream vodka.
Allow to cool to a point where you can put your finger in it - warm, but not hot! (Too hot and it will melt your berry layer, too cold and it will not stick to the berry layer.)
Pour this onto your berry layer in the 9x13 pan.
Carefully set your dish back in the refrigerator until the top can be touched but it's not completely solid, about 3 - 5 minutes.
Now you place the molded berry pieces on top, push them down a bit very gently, spaced widely apart enough to allow the cutting of your final gel shapes.

PLATING SUGGESTION

INGREDIENTS
Fresh Mixed Berries

Mint Leaf Cluster

Optional: Whipped Cream

Place two or three of the Berry Sangria Cocktail Gels on an attractive plate, add a few berries and garnish with the mint leaf cluster.  If you like you can add a few dollops of whipped cream to the plate!

Tomorrow:
BERRY SANGRIA MADNESS PART III

BERRY SANGRIA SHORTCAKE!

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FRESH BERRY SANGRIA Four Ways, Part 1

How a Bushel and a Peck Turned into

BERRY MADNESS!

Today's Berry Madness Recipe:

BERRY SANGRIA

(recipe below)

I am always on the lookout for a good deal on fresh fruits.  I go to the farmer's market and go a little cray-cray over bushels of citrus, bags of apples, pecks of peaches and big baskets of berries.  I buy them all in a mad whirl of fruity insanity and then I get them home and think, "What am I going to do with all of this?"

My mother would have made jams or preserves with the extras or just "put up" the fruit for winter consumption, but, sadly, I am not of the canning persuasion. I'm more of the moonshining persuasion. I'd rather throw my bounty of produce into booze instead of canning jars that are destined to gather dust on some cellar shelf. It's a certainty that booze will never gather dust on a shelf in my house.

Given this propensity for personal bootlegging, when I fell off the bushel/peck wagon and came home with a half a bushel of fresh blackberries, a part of a peck of fresh blueberries and a whole freaking flat of strawberries, I immediately decided to turn them into booze.  I made blackberry vodka and blackberry liqueur, blueberry vodka and blueberry liqueur, strawberry vodka and strawberry liqueur and even a few combos! My refrigerator looked like Popcorn Sutton* had been hiding from the revenuers in there for half a year.

And I still had berries left over! So I threw them into more booze, this time red wine, and I made Berry Sangria.  I had done citrus sangrias before but never a berry based wine infusion and I loved it.  The berries gave the wine a mellow, fruity sweetness which went down very smoothly! I was also imbibing all those lovely anti-oxidants and nutrition from the berries while enjoying a cocktail.  This was a total win/win situation and the best part was I didn't have to use expensive wines.  A decent priced (under $10) red wine of nearly any kind works in sangria. I happened to have some Merlot so that's what I used, but sangria can be made with nearly any type of wine including Cabernet, Zinfandel, Sirah and even white wines.

Since I still had fresh fruit staring up at me from their pecks and bushels, I took the idea of boozy berries one step further and created an edible cocktail, BERRY SANGRIA COCKTAIL GELS (Berry Madness Recipe Part II). Yes, I said edible cocktail and, no, I'm not talking your frat-party-Jell-O-in-a-Dixie-cup hooch here (I tossed away my Dixie cups many years ago with my blushing innocence), those berries got gel-ified and mold-ified into little finger popping, high proof, melt in your mouth edible hooch!

You would think I put a pretty decent dent in those berries and could freeze the rest. You would be wrong. There was still a few pounds of berries glaring at me from their little bushel and peck beds, a bit more than I had room for in the freezer. By this time I had crossed over from madness into murder and I took those taunting, remaining devils and threw them into the fire. Yup, I reduced their little souls into a Berry Compote to put on top of BERRY SHORTCAKE (Berry Madness Recipe Part III) for a dinner party!  I did pardon a few to make some SANGRIA BERRIES (Berry Madness Recipe Part IV) - though I might have been crazed, I was not without compassion.

After these berry stressful events I added a straitjacket to my wardrobe, but I am now the Diva of Berries!  Just ask my shrink.

*Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (B. October 5, 1946 - D. March 16, 2009) Famous Appalachian moonshiner from Cocke County, Tennessee.

BERRY SANGRIA

INGREDIENTS
1 Bottle (750 ml) Red Wine
1/2 C. Fresh Raspberries
1/2 C. Fresh Blackberries
1/2 C. Fresh Blueberries
1/2 C. Fresh Strawberries, Sliced
1 Clementine, Juice & Zest
4 Apple Mint Leaves
1/2 cup sugar
Optional:  Brut Champagne or Soda Water

TOOLS
Zester or Grater
48 Oz. Pitcher
Plastic Wrap

DIRECTIONS
Macerate (soak) the berries, Clementine juice, zest and the sugar together with the wine in your pitcher. I used a very moderately priced merlot, but feel free to use a Cabernet, Zinfandel or whatever suits your fancy.
Bruise the mint slightly by pinching between your fingers and add to the mixture.
Seal the pitcher up with some plastic wrap.
Allow to infuse overnight so the flavors of the fruits can fully permeate the wine.
When you're ready to serve, pour into a martini or wine glass (with or without ice.)
If you like a little effervescence, add your (or soda).
Garnish with some fresh berries and the mint leaf.

Tomorrow:

BERRY SANGRIA MADNESS PART II

BERRY SANGRIA COCKTAIL GELS!

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Cookie Inspired Cocktails

Everyone loves a cookie so what better way to enjoy them then in a cocktail? Just think of the dunking - booze, cookies, win, win!

COOKIE COCKTAILS

Chocolate Chip Cookie Martini

Chocolate Wafer Martini
Drunken Oreo Truffle Martini

Fluffernutty Martini
Ginger Bourbon Snap

Gingersnap Martini

Macaroon Martini

Mint Chocolate Cookie Martini

Oatmeal Cookie Martini

Oreo Cookie Martini

Peanut Butter Cookie Martini

Pecan Cookie Martini
Samoa Cookie Boozy Shake
Santa's Cookies & Milk Martini

Sugar Cookie Martini

The Scout Cookie Martini

Vanilla Wafer Martini

You might also like to try these Girl Scout Cookie Inspired Cocktails

DUNK AWAY!

If you need some cookies to dunk, here's my three favorite cookie recipes:
Pop Art Diva Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
My Mom's Superlicious Gingersnaps
Coral Island Thumbprint Cookies

National Cookie Day is December 4th and National Cookie Month is October.

Updated 12-2018

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PIE INSPIRED COCKTAILS - Shake, Don't Bake!

How else would a cocktail lover celebrate National Pie Day (or National PI Day) than by having one or two pie inspired cocktails?

PIE COCKTAILS

Apple Pie Martini
Apple Pie Cocktail
Banana Cream Pie Cocktail
Banana Cream Pie Martini

Blueberry Pie Martini
Blueberry Pie Cocktail

Boston Cream Pie Martini
 Bourbon Cherry Pie Smash
Cherry Pie Cocktail
Cherry Pie Martini
Caramel Apple Pie Martini 

Chocolate Pecan Pie Martini 

Coconut Cream Pie Martini

Derby Pie Cocktail
Humble Berry Pie Cocktail 

Key Lime Pie Martini
Key Lime Pie Martini Part Deux

Lemon Chiffon Pie Martini

Lemon Meringue Pie Martini
Mississippi Mud Pie Martini

Peach Pie Martini

Pecan Pie Martini
Pumpkin Cream Pie

Pumpkin Pie Martini

Raspberry Tart Cocktail

Today the motto is:

SHAKE, DON'T BAKE!

National Pie Day is December 1st AND January 23rd - hey, it happens, especially when it's something as tasty as pie!

National PI Day is March 14th.

Updated 3-2021

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The ROB ROY - A Classic Scotch Cocktail

Named in honor of the operetta Rob Roy, based on the life of Robert Roy MacGregor, the Rob Roy Cocktail was created in 1894 at the Waldorf Astoria New York.

A Rob Roy is much like a Manhattan but made with Scotch instead of Rye Whiskey or Bourbon. Like the Manhattan, the Rob Roy can be made sweet, dry, or perfect. A standard Rob Roy is sweet, made with sweet vermouth, a Dry Rob Roy is made with dry vermouth and a Perfect Rob Roy is made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.

And, yes, that is the Rob Roy MacGregor tartan in the image!

THE ROB ROY

1-1/2 Oz. Scotch

1/4 Oz. Sweet Vermouth

Dash of Angostura bitters

Maraschino Cherry Garnish

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with the cherry.

Here's to the heath, the hill and the heather,

The bonnet, the plaid, the kilt and the feather!

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY Updated 2-2017

A KOSHER COCKTAIL for Hanukkah

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

Every holiday season I am reminded of my very first experience with wine.  The holidays, of course, were a big meal deal in my house which called for the "good" tablescape, including Mom's full set of crystal.

As one of these glasses was for wine, wine had to be served. Since my mother was not a wine drinker, the wine on our Christmas and Thanksgiving table was always Manischewitz Concord Grape, a very sweet, low proof version of grape juice. It might seem odd that a family would have a Christmas tree and a bottle of kosher wine but it wasn't the kosher my mom was after, it was the sweetness.

Because it was the holidays, even the children were allowed a small glass of the Manischewitz. As a kid I loved it, what's not to love? After all, it was booze and it tasted like grape juice.

The start of the holiday season made me a little nostalgic and I went out and bought a bottle of Manischewitz. I skipped over the Concord grape and bought the blackberry, a flavor not available when I was a child, at least as far as I know.

Yup, still very sweet, but not beyond redemption if I skipped a few years ahead in my booze memoirs and applied the 70's spritzer fad to the recipe.

Ladies & Germs, I present you with a cocktail inspired by the holiday season, disco bars, Mom's crystal and a trip back to my youth:

KOSHER SPRITZER-TINI

3 Oz. Manischewitz Blackberry Wine, Chilled

1/3 Cup Fresh Blackberries

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

1 Tsp. Honey

1 Oz. Club Soda, Chilled

5 Fresh Blackberries

Lemon Twist

Chill your cocktail glass in the freezer.

Muddle the 1/3 cup of fresh blackberries, lemon juice, and honey in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.

Add a cup of ice then pour in the blackberry wine and shake until well chilled.

Strain into your chilled martini glass, top off with the club soda and garnish with the five fresh blackberries and the lemon twist.

Mazel Tov, L'Chaim & Boogie Down!

Updated 12-2018 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY