Italian cream soda is one of my favorite New Year’s drinks. They’re not specific to New Year’s for most people, but they are for me. There’s something about the mild carbonation mixed with fruity flavors and cream that yells fun and festivity. AND… you can flavor them however you want with Torani flavoring syrups. I think this is one of the most common applications for these syrups.

I mix these up in more or less of a ratio. It doesn’t have to be exact. I personally like more flavor and more cream, so that’s what I do for mine. But you can mix them up however you like them most. I tend to use a 1:2 ratio of cream to flavoring syrup, then I top the rest of the glass off with club soda. But you can experiment and decide what you like most.

I hope you give this fun drink a try this New Year’s. I’m pretty sure you’ll love it. And we have one of the largest selections of Torani syrups in the area, so come in and check it out or have a look at them on our website here.

Italian Cream Soda

1/4 cup Torani flavoring syrup (Your choice. I prefer the fruity flavors with my favorites being raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, and peach.)
1 cup club soda
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Whipped cream for topping off (optional)

Instructions:

In a tall glass pour Torani flavoring syrup.
Add club soda to about 2 inches below the top of your glass. (If you don’t use the entire cup of club soda, that’s okay.)
Add cream and stir to combine. Your cream soda will foam up a lot at this point, which is why it’s important to leave enough space for the foaming up when you pour in the club soda.
Top with whipped cream if desired. Enjoy!

Chocolate and Hygge

As a 5^th blog post in the series of chocolate and cacao and cocoa, this post has been the most fun in preparing, taking pictures, and enjoying another version of hot chocolate from around the world. I had the fabulous opportunity to spend the Halloween weekend in Dallas with my daughter and her family. My parents also live in Dallas. We had a 4-generation craft and chocolate weekend. It doesn’t get much better.

The chocolate tasting involved several varieties of chocolate bars that I had brought from Alaska. The varieties included: sea salt dark chocolate, pure dark chocolate, milk chocolate caramel and sea salt, milk chocolate raspberry filled, and a creamy milk chocolate. We also had several varieties of German chocolate: milk sea salt, caramel dark chocolate, and an orange milk chocolate. As we ate small pieces of each chocolate and gave our opinions, laughs and giggles filled the room. Remember this was a 4-generation party so even the 3- and 6-year old participated and had fun.

We had chocolate overload so the next morning, breakfast included a Spanish hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream. I used one of my favorite chocolates, which is Venetian milk chocolate, available at Kitchen Kneads. As the holidays are quickly approaching, try a chocolate tasting this year as a fun activity. Kitchen Kneads has several varieties of milk and dark chocolate.

Enjoy this wonderful creamy delicious hot chocolate. Drinking the hot chocolate was just as much of an experience as making this version of hot chocolate. Picking out the cups with Great Grandma, whipping up the whipped cream, and licking the beaters and using Great Grandma’s tiny spoons to eat the whipped cream off the top. A truly hygge time for the family that is a wonderful family time together and memories.

Spanish Hot Chocolate – Chocolate Caliente

Ingredients:

3 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon cornstarch
6 ounces chopped milk chocolate

Instructions:

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and add the cornstarch.
Whisk to dissolve the cornstarch.
Once the cornstarch is dissolved, heat the milk over medium heat just until it boils.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Add the chopped chocolate immediately and begin stirring until the chocolate is completely melted.
Place the pan back on the stove over medium heat, stirring slowly but constantly.
The mixture should thicken quickly. As soon as you see it thicken, remove the pan from the heat so the cornstarch will not thin.
Ladle the hot chocolate into desired cups and serve piping hot with fresh whipped cream. Sprinkle chocolate shaving dust on the whipped cream if desired.

This hot chocolate was a great way to end our weekend of crafting. I didn’t realize how the love of chocolate could create such a family memory.

Try a chocolate tasting and enjoy!!

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who like eggnog and those who don’t. I happen to be one of those who does. BUT…I’m kind of picky about it too. I don’t like just any old eggnog. I have a couple of brands that I favor.

Now, I like to make things homemade sometimes. Sometimes because it’s less expensive to make my own, sometimes to eliminate unnatural and unnecessary ingredients, and sometimes just to see if it’s something I can do. Eggnog happens to be the latter. I just wanted it to be something in my arsenal of things I can make.

But, like I said in the first paragraph, I’m kind of picky. I don’t like the frothy kind of homemade eggnog. All of the recipes I tried just weren’t right. The flavor wasn’t right, or the texture wasn’t what I wanted, or any number of other things. What I was looking for was the same thickness, flavor, and texture or the stuff you can buy in the store. You may not all agree with me, but in my opinion, certain brands of store-bought eggnog are the best. And that’s what I was looking to recreate. So, why not just buy it then? Because like I said before, I just want eggnog in my arsenal of things I can make. Maybe some of you are like me too.

So, on I went to develop my own recipe and this is what I came up with. I have a secret ingredient that some of you may consider cheating, but in order to get the flavor I want, it has to be there. This secret ingredient is LorAnn eggnog flavoring oil. I know, I know. Adding eggnog flavoring to eggnog? But seriously. Don’t knock it until you try it. For me it makes the difference between good homemade eggnog and super duper awesome homemade eggnog.

So there you go. Homemade eggnog, Dawn style. This is probably the only time you’ll see me trying to make something just like store-bought instead of better than store-bought. But that’s me and you can make your eggnog however you like it. You may want to omit the eggnog flavoring oil. You may want to add a touch of vanilla. You make it how you like it.

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