Some things are meant to be paired. You know, that cute mug and that lovely tea, cookies and milk, cupcakes and frosting, apple pie and vanilla ice cream, etc.. They are tasty on their own, and we can survive without one or the other, but they make sense together so why pass on the opportunity to have them both, at the same time, together, dunked, dipped, smeared, spooned, and scooped?….
This is what happened the other day with apricot teacakes and cold strawberry mint soup. I had a long night ahead of me and decided to make some tea cakes to help me through hours of file organizing instead of popping open a bag of chips and mindlessly muching my way through the entire bag. Withing 40 minutes or so I had about one dozen dried apricot tea cakes cooling down and we could not resist sampling one. Delicious and satisfying on its own.
That same day I also had become the instant parent of a 6 pound box of strawberries (they are in season right now in the Southern US) and after making ice cream, sorbet, strawberry scones, shortcakes and coulis, I still had about two cups left. That’s when the idea of refreshing little shots of strawberry mint soup popped into my head. A mini detoxing shot in the morning to boost creative juices or a light way to end a rich meal. It was a breeze to put together, mixing mint simple syrup and strawberries in a food processor and a delight on its own.
B. said he’d keep me company for a little while and sat at the dining room table with a plate of teacakes and a couple of strawberry soup shots. I was my nose one inch from the screen looking for a file I kept passing when he asked if I was going to blog about these. I said "yes, sure, don’t know when though". He added with his mouth full "well, when you do, make sure you blog about them together!". He is a dunker and a spooner. He’ll spoon peanut butter or jam on just about anything and dunk just about anything ressembling a cookie or a cake into coffee, tea, or milk. Surprising combinations have taken place but some yummy discoveries have occured that way too so I tend to trust his musings in the kitchen. Hence, you get them both today! Have them as singe items, have them as a tandem, they are the perfect snack break!
Apricot Teacakes Recipe:
Makes about a dozen
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (56.5gr) butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup (58gr) sour cream
1/2 cup (62.5gr) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (125gr) dried apricot halves, diced
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, about 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and sour cream. Whisk well and add the flour. Add the dried apricots and mix until incorporated. Divide evenly between muffin tins (or other small molds) coated with cooking spray and cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.
Cold Strawberry Mint Soup Recipe:
1/4 cup (50gr) sugar
1/3 cup (83ml) water
2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 cups(290gr) fresh strawberries
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water and mint and bring to a simmer. Cook for about a minute, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool (it will give the mint time to infuse the syrup).
In the meantime, hull and halve the strawberries and place them in a blender or food processor. Once the mint syrup is cooled, process the strawberries, adding the syrup, one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is nice and smooth. The more syrup you add, the thinner your soup will be. Serve in shot glasses.
Lastly, I was psyched to hear from my friend Anita that Tartelette was named one of the world’s 50 best food blogs. You can find the whole article here. Wow! I think there is going to be a giveaway here soon to celebrate!! Thank you all for your visits and comments, it is an honor.