Raspberry Cointreau Syllabub

Whipping cream, Greek yogurt, Cointreau and raspberries combine to make a simple yet delicious dessert that takes mere minutes to throw together, ready to eat immediately or keep chilled till you are ready to serve.

In a rare occurrence, raspberries are on sale here in the UAE. I have no idea why my local Carrefour Market has marked them down to almost half price, but I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. As I piled the little boxes in my shopping cart the other day, the first thing that popped into my mind was syllabub. It’s an easy dessert usually made with whipping cream and sweet wine. Or perhaps a liqueur.

Syllabub is a typical British dessert, or pudding as they like to call it, but I had never heard of it until a number of years ago when a friend told me the story of a dinner party she was throwing in her home. The kitchen was a disaster zone with preparations, cooking and a sink full of dirty dishes. Somehow, by mistake, the syllabub she had just made for dessert – not yet spooned into serving vessels – was thrown out by her maid who mistook it for leftovers of the worst kind. I must admit, it’s not attractive but if you can ignore its looks and put a spoon in, it is delicious!

Come to find out, syllabub made it to the New World with the colonists and it is, in fact, still served in Colonial Williamsburg as a period dessert. What a shame that it fell out of favorite in what became the United States and I had to learn about it from a British friend! Perhaps it’s time to bring it back?

This recipe is adapted from one on JamieOliver.com.

Ingredients
12 oz or 340g raspberries, divided
3 tablespoons caster sugar
3 tablespoons Cointreau
1 1/4 cup or 290ml double cream
1 cup or 245g natural unsweetened Greek yogurt

Optional to serve: a few sprigs fresh mint

Method
Set aside a few raspberries for popping on top of the syllabub and then place the rest in big mixing bowl.

Sprinkle them with the sugar and Cointreau and set aside to macerate.

Whip the cream to soft peaks in a separate bowl and fold in the yoghurt.

Fold half the cream and yoghurt mix into the raspberry mixture. Squish a few of the berries to turn it a little bit pink, if necessary. My raspberries didn’t seem to break down at all, which surprised me, so I did squish a few.

Now gently fold in the remaining cream and yoghurt mix, trying to leave some parts white and some parts pink.

Divide the mixture between six glasses and garnish each with a sprig of mint and the reserved raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

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Consistently Delicious Margaritas

The weekend is here AND it’s summer! So here’s a recipe for those of you who can get your hands on Minutemaid Frozen Limeade Concentrate wherever you are in the world.  I don’t even know where I first learned to make this frozen concoction that helps Jimmy Buffett hang on but I know we were making them during my college years at UT Austin, and that is a very long time ago. 

(For those of you who cannot get it, I found this recipe here.  Haven’t tried it yet but the comments section says it can be used exactly like the concentrated limeade  I can’t wait to try this when I am home with my own freezer because I haven’t seen Minute Maid for sale in Cairo.  Further bulletins as events warrant.)

Like my rum punch, the measures are simple and you cannot screw this up.

Ingredients

1 small can Minute Maid Frozen Concentrate Limeade (6 oz or 177ml)

1 can's worth tequila (6 oz or 177ml)

1/2 can's worth Cointreau, Triple Sec or Grand Marnier (3 oz or 88ml)

Ice

In Kuala Lumpur (where my can came from the Mini Mart – oh, how I miss you, dear Mini Mart – they only have the large cans, so I had to use a measuring cup instead of the can itself for measuring.  I took two cans with me in a cooler on the plane to Cairo when we moved, in case you are wondering, along with bacon, sausage, a pork roast and pecans.  Traveling light are not words in my vocabulary, apparently.  You have got to know what's important, folks. Priorities!

Anyhoo, on to margaritas.

Method

In a good blender with the power to crush ice, mix together the limeade concentrate, the tequila and the Cointreau.

Add in a few cubes of ice and start blending.

Keep dropping in cubes of ice through the hole in the blender lid until the level almost reaches the top of the blender.  Sometimes you have to give the ice cube a small poke to make it fall through the frozen concoction as the blender gets more full.  You will know it has reached the blades by the grinding noise.

Blend until all the chunks of ice are completely gone. 

If you want salt around the rim of your glass, dip one finger into the blender of margaritas and then run it around the rim.  Turn the glass over in a saucer with a thin layer of salt in the bottom.   Turn upright once more and fill.  (Sorry - forgot to take a photo of this step.)

I don’t have pretty margarita glasses but it tastes just as delicious in these.  

Happy Summer!  Enjoy!