Lychee Green Tea + Routin 1883 Syrups

I'm a very lucky blogger. I know I haven't been blogging that often lately, but this space is something I can call my own and a place to share my loves with you guys. To all of my readers, you mean a lot to me and your kind comments mean even more! I'm even luckier to have been able to receive so many nice gifts from various companies.

The latest are these unbelievably unique syrups from Routin 1883. They kindly let me choose what flavors I wanted to try, and of course lychee had to be one of them! You all know how much I love tea, so lychee syrup in tea is just another form of heaven for me. I fell in love with speculoos about a year or so ago when I made a foodie trip to New York and tried the Wafels & Dinges truck. They had this speculoos spread that they served with their waffles that was just... divine. When I saw that Routin 1883 offered a speculoos flavor I knew I had to try it!

Aren't the bottles just lovely? Anyway Routin 1883 is a brand that hails from France that specializes in decadent and specialty syrups that you could add to almost anything. I like to use my lychee flavor in tea and the speculoos flavor in lattes but I'm just about sure I could add them to anything I'd like... and believe me, I will! These syrups are concentrated in flavor and add just the right amount of sweetness. 

If you're interested in trying some, grab some here!

Lychee Green Tea with Boba

Yields: 1 serving

1 1/2 cups water

1 jasmine green tea bag or 2 tsp. loose leaf jasmine green tea

1 oz. Routin 1883 lychee syrup

1/4 cup boba, cooked (optional)

ice

Heat the water till almost boiling, either on top of a stove or in the microwave. Steep the tea, and immediately place in the refrigerator to cool for 15 - 30 minutes. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Pour in the syrup and cooled tea. Shake vigorously to cool, about 1 minute. Place the cooked boba in a tall glass. Strain the cooled tea mixture on top. Enjoy!

* Using a cocktail shaker is completely optional. You could plainly serve the tea over ice but I think shaking it makes it a bit more fun :)

Seriously, so delicious. I finished it in no time.

Lychee Martinis

A little libation for your Friday?

Lychee martinis are one of my ultimate favorites. If you've never heard of the lychee, it's a fruit that comes from Asia that's sweet and a bit floral-y. Besides the mango, it's one of my favorite fruits ever! Please enjoy your Friday with one of these - sure makes them go by faster :)

Lychee Martini

Yields: 2 servings

Original recipe here

.

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

3 oz. gin or vodka

2 oz. lychee juice, strained from pureed lychees (optional)

2 oz. lychee syrup, from canned lychees

2 whole lychees, for garnish

Fill a cocktail halfway with ice. Add the vermouth, gin/ vodka, lychee juice and lychee syrup. Shake thoroughly until well chilled, strain into two chilled martini glasses and garnish with the whole lychees.

Strawberry-Lychee Aguas Frescas

When there's a good deal, it's human nature to just jump on it. So when I saw strawberries at my local market for 99 cents a pack, I kind of just went crazy and bought a couple. They looked pretty red, firm and fresh but when I brought them home... they were just meh. Not sweet and definitely not the best tasting strawberries. I couldn't eat them and I definitely couldn't bake with them... so what's a girl to do?

Since I've kind of been obsessed with green monster smoothies, I wanted to make some kind of delicious drink with the berries. If you've never had aguas frescas, find yourself some immediately! Or, at least make yourself some - it's super simple. I threw the berries, some lychees and some lychee syrup into a blender, along with some water. A couple whizzes and it was all done! A simple, slightly sweet juice - perfect for the hot weather we've been having.

Strawberry-Lychee Aguas Frescas
Yields: about 4 cups


2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and roughly chopped
1 cup canned lychees
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 - 1 cup lychee syrup (reserved from can)


In a blender, combine the strawberries, lychees and water. Blend until completely smooth. Add 1/2 cup of the lychee syrup and blend to combine. Taste, and depending on how sweet your strawberries are or how sweet you want your aguas frescas to be, add more lychee syrup to taste. Chill in the refrigerator until cold. Serve over ice.

Lychee Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Jelly & Granita

I love pomegranates. But I didn't really experience them until probably 3 years ago. Late bloomer, I know! I love the crunchiness of fresh pomegranate seeds but I also love the tangy kick you get from pomegranate juice.

Recently, Ryan from POM Wonderful sent me a case of POM Blueberry juice and I was so curious about what I could do with the wonderful product other than drink it, which I think is probably the best way to enjoy the stuff! Well, I found two amazing uses for the juice - as a icy cool, uber refreshing granita and as a deliciously creamy panna cotta. Oh man, I really outdid myself with this one!
I took it to the next level by topping the creamy panna cottas with some of the granita. Yep, was it good. First of all, the panna cotta was sooo creamy and soft (the way they are meant to be). But I think my favorite part was the pomegranate jelly. Maybe it's because I love jelly but this one was really good. Then... granita on top?! Yeah, it was a good idea.

Tip though, BE PATIENT! I obviously was not and poured in my pomegranate jelly layer before letting the panna cotta fully set, which ultimately led to a mixing of the two. It pays to be patient!

Wonderous POM Wonderful.

Lychee Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Jelly
Yields:
Original recipe here.

For the panna cotta:
1 can lychees, in syrup
2 tsp. powdered gelatin
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 tbsn. sugar

For the pomegranate jelly:
1 1/2 tsp. powdered gelatin
1 cup pomegranate juice (I used pomegranate-blueberry)
1/2 cup sugar

Open the can of lychees and pour the lychees and syrup into a food processor. Process until smooth. There will be a lot of bits of lychee flesh and pulp, strain into a measuring cup until you get 1 cup of clear liquid. Place 3 tbsn. cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top, let sit while you do the next step. Combine the lychee liquid, cream, milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and it just comes to a boil. Remove the lychee mixture from the heat and add the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is fully melted and combined. Divide mixture among glasses and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.

To make the jelly, place 3 tbsn. of cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Let sit while you do the next step. Combine the pomegranate juice and sugar in a medium saucepan and heat on medium, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the gelatin and stir until fully melted and combined. Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes. Pour over the panna cotta and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

You can also just enjoy the granita by itself, which is perfect for the summer heat!

Lychee Pomegranate Granita

Inspired by this.

1 can lychees, in syrup

1 cup pomegranate juice (I used blueberry-pomegrante)

sugar, to taste

Puree the lychees with the syrup and strain the liquid to remove extra large parts. Add the pomegranate juice. If needed, add some sugar (this is not likely, as the lychees are pretty sweet). Place in a freezer safe container that is open, such as a medium baking dish. Let freeze, scraping every 30 minutes or so with a fork until frozen but a bit slushy. Enjoy!

POM Wonderful is right!

Summer in a Cup (Blueberry Green Tea)

Tea is quite possibly one of my favorite things on this earth. I love it hot or cold, but in the summer when the sun is beating on your back and glaring in your eyes, iced tea can be the most perfect thing you ever asked for. Especially the one I have down below!

Usually, I prefer my tea unsweetened but there's a certain kind of 'Asian style' tea that I just obsess over. It's super popular here in the southern parts of California and is filled with all kinds of treats such as chopped fruit and chewy tapioca balls (aka boba). I LOVE boba; it's chewy and like candy in your drink! Some people, I know, find the texture quite odd but if you haven't tried it before, give it a chance and you might find a new obsession.

This tea is perfection. It's like the tea I can find at my local Asian milk tea shops but now I can have it anytime I want it. The recipe is simple enough and it's really just a matter of assembling everything together. And if you don't like boba, or can't find the ingredients, the blueberry iced tea without the optional add ins are more than enough to keep your thirst quenched! Mmmmm summer and a glass of ice cold tea; it really doesn't get better than this.

Blueberry Green Tea with Add Ins (Asian style or not)

Yields: 6 - 8 servings

Syrup recipe from here.

For the syrup:

1 cup blueberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

6 cups water

3 - 4 tbsn. or 3 - 4 tea bags of green tea (I used peach green tea!)

1 package of large tapioca pearls/ boba (optional)

1/2 can of canned lychees, chopped (optional)

1/2 jar of coconut jelly or nata de coco, chopped (optional)

To make the syrup, add the blueberries, water and sugar into a large saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Boil until the blueberries burst and release their juices. Remove from heat. Use a spatula to slightly crush the berries against the sides of the pan. Strain the berries from the syrup with a colander.

You can brew the tea in two ways: hot or cold. To brew it hot, bring the water to just under a boil. Add the tea/ tea bags and let steep for 3 - 5 minutes, then cool in refrigerator until completely cooled. To brew cold, combine the water and the tea/ tea bags and let steep in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours (you don't have to worry about over steeping with cold brewing).

Prepare the tapioca pearls/ boba according to the package, then drain and set aside. To assemble, add enough of the blueberry simple syrup to the green tea until it is is just sweet enough and has enough berry flavor to your taste. If you want it 'Asian style', to assemble the individual drinks, add 2 tbsn. of boba, 2 tbsn. of chopped lychee, and 2 tbsn. of chopped coconut jelly into each serving glass. Add some ice, then top with the blueberry green tea. Drink with a large 'boba' straw!

Ispahan Cupcakes

When I got hired to make cupcakes for a birthday party, I offered a couple of different options to try. I threw out ideas all the way from lemon meringue cupcakes to raspberry white chocolate. She decided on Ispahan cupcakes and I was uber excited! Then a couple seconds later, a shot of fear ran through my veins... did I bite off more than I could chew?!?! I wanted something where the lychee flavor was really present and something that was of course beautiful.

I finally decided on a lychee butter cake from Dessert First and I planned to top it with a stabilized raspberry whipped cream and possibly fill it with a lychee mousse. No, no, no.... definitely did not work out! The stabilized whipped cream tasted fantastic but it must have been the mashed berries or something because it was hideous! So instead I decided to fill them with this instead which is kind of similar to a mousse (what I had planned to fill it with), so it worked out better this way! Yay I love it when things work out! For the frosting I wanted something that wasn't too sweet (as lychees are sweet by nature) and that I could pipe into stable shapes, so I decided to use a swiss meringue buttercream and it worked out perfectly! Topped with some candied rose petals (tutorial coming soon), fresh raspberries, some edible glitter and we are FINALLY done folks!

Yummy, creamy lychee batter:

Lychee Rosewater Butter Cake

Yields: 12 - 14 cupcakes

Original recipe from Dessert First, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

1 14 oz. can of lychees, reserve the liquid

2 cups of cake flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 tbsn. rose water

2 tbsn. reserved lychee water

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a cupcake pan with liners, set aside. Drain the lychees and cut into small pieces, set aside. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl, set aside. In a mixer cream the butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to scape the sides of the bowl as you move along. Next add the vanilla, rose water, and lychee water. Mix to combine. Lastly, toss the diced lychees into the flour mixture and mix with the wet mixture, mix to combine. Pour into cupcake pans and bake about 15 - 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

They are waving 'Hello' to you!

Stabilized Raspberry Whipped Cream Filling

Yields: enough for 12 cupcakes

Slightly adapted from Art of Dessert, original recipe can be found here.

Printable Recipe

1 tbsn. water

1/4 envelope of unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup of heavy cream, cold

2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/8 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup of mashed raspberries

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Let the gelatin bloom/ absorb the water for a couple of minutes. Add a dash of the heavy cream and microwave for a minute to allow the gelatin to dissolve, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, on low, beat the cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add the whipped cream, sugar, and salt. Whip everything till soft peaks form, then add the gelatin mixture and the vanilla. Whip until stiff peaks form, then fold in the mashed raspberries. Refrigerate for 15 - 20 minutes. You can use the cone method or simply pipe these into the cooled cupcakes.

Pink raspberry cream stuffed inside the cupcakes:

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Yields: enough for 12 cupcakes

Original recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbsn.), cut into 12 pieces

1- 2 drops of food coloring (optional)

Put the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water making sure the bottom does not actually touch the water. Stir the egg whites until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and place into the mixer stand. Beat until it becomes white and doubles in size. Add the vanilla on low speed, then add the butter, one piece at a time, making sure it is well mixed after each addition. Do not worry if it looks curdled, it will take some time for it to come together. Continue beating for 5 - 10 minutes until everything comes together. Spread/ pipe/ smother onto your cupcakes and enjoy!!

If you don't want to make candied rose petals, you could also decorate them like this:

The final cupcake order, all packed and ready to go!