Sip, Sip: The Cosmonaut

Well, since I already told you loud and proud that I make a habit of breaking martini glasses (case in point, I now only own one martini glass), then why not start this blogging adventure with a cocktail served in a martini glass?

I present to you: The Cosmonaut.

Category is: Breakfast Martini. The Cosmonaut is indeed quite similar to a Breakfast martini (variations on the same theme), minus the Cointreau and it replaces the orange marmalade with raspberry jam. According to Difford's Guide, The Cosmonaut was adapted from a recipe created by Sasha Petraske at Milk & Honey, New York City, USA.

The colour will differ based on your jam, naturally - unfortunately mine is not the bubblegum pink I wanted it to be, but my goal this week is to try different raspberry jams - no judging, please! It's also winter here, hence no fresh raspberries to garnish my drink. Without further ado, here's how to make it:

Ingredients (1 serving):

2 oz/60 ml gin of your choice
0.75 oz/22 ml fresh lemon juice (nobody will mind if you go 1 oz)
3 full barspoons raspberry jam
ice (for shaking only)
(optional) raspberry to garnish

Method:

Add all the ingredients (except for the garnish) in a cocktail shaker. Stir with your spoon to break the raspberry jam, to make sure it won't just sit on the bottom of your shaker. Add ice to your shaker and shake-shake.

Double strain your cocktail in a martini or a coupe glass. Garnish with a fresh raspberry.

Enjoy!

🍸 Source: TikTock, more specifically Difford's Guide AU.

Grandma's Sarmale

Well, they are mine now because I tweaked her recipe a bit. But without further ado: I MADE SARMALE! I don't know how or why, but while talking with a friend I decided this year I am cooking sarmale for Christmas. Then I started telling everyone, my dad sent me cabbage and minced meat and... well, I had to actually do it now! I was a bit scared because all the friends I spoke with who had their sarmale cooking experience told me it would be hard. And that was not my experience at all. Stuffed cabbage or grape leaves is a thing in many countries, but I think it may have all started from Turkey since the Turkish word "sarma" means wrapped. And in Romanian we call one "sarma" and many "sarmale", and since you never make just one, the meal is called sarmale . Actually my grandma was mad when she heard I only made 23 sarmale , and not 60 or 100 like she expected me to. In my country, this is a traditional dish that we usually have for Christmas and Easter....

Chocolate Tigré Financier-Cake

Actually... that is not the title. The author of this cake, Dorie Greenspan, misread the word tigré (which is a mini-sponge cake speckled with chocolate, topped with a dollop of chocolate cream - something like this ) as tiger and has pronounced that cake as tiger ever since. I did the other way around and after reading her story I mispronounced her recipe title (Chocolate and Almond Tiger Cake) as Tigré so... so now the name stays, okay? Greenspan based this cake on financiers, which is a French cake made especially for stockbroker clients - so they can eat it on the go. Hence why I call my cake financier even though it is not the same shape as a financier. But since this blog is only for yours truly, I will name the recipes in my recipe index (this is what this blog is after all) with the names I use. This is a perfect coffee cake - they go so well together. Silly me took no picture from the side so that you can see the chocolate-speckles, so you will have to take my word ...

Sugar Syrups: Simple & Rich Dem

I think I always had a passion for cocktails but I started being serious about it (and it's seriously fun) only last year. If 10 years ago I was only making Bellinis and Mimosas, now I love mixing spirits, learning about the history of cocktails, and... even making my own basics - this time: sugar syrups! Sugar syrups are extremely easy to make. It's all about ratios - a simple syrup is a 1:1 ratio, and a rich one is 2:1. And you can also make a semi-rich syrup which is 1.5:1. Simple Sugar Ingredients: 1 cup white sugar 1 cup water Rich Dem Ingredients: 2 cups Demerara sugar 1 cup water Method: Method is the same for both. Demerara sugar is a raw brown sugar and it gives your drinks a toffee-coffee aftertaste. It's amazing and goes great with whiskey or my favourite Espresso Martini (recipe for it coming soon). Combine the ingredients for your syrup in a pot over heat, stirring continuously while the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the pot from the ...

The Clumsy Cook

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