There’s a surprise in this Bundt cake: a rainbow of colors. For St. Patrick’s Day, garnish the cake platter with gold foil chocolate coins—the ones in the pot at the end of the rainbow. (We filled the center of the Bundt with the coins.)

In this recipe from McCormick, prep time is 30 minutes, cook time is 35 minutes. The cake yields 12 servings.

RAINBOW BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients

 
For The Whipped Cream

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

2. PREPARE the cake mix per package directions, stirring in the orange extract. Divide the batter evenly among 4 bowls. Tint each bowl a different color. Stir 50 drops (about 1/2 teaspoon) of red, green or blue food color into each of 3 of the bowls. Stir 25 drops (about 1/4 teaspoon) of yellow food color into the last bowl.

3. POUR the red batter, followed by the yellow, green and blue batters, into the Bundt pan. Pour each color batter gently into the pan so that each batter is layered over, instead of mixed into, the previous one.

4. BAKE for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack. Cool completely. Meanwhile…

5. MIX the confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Prior to serving…

6. MAKE the whipped cream. Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Rainbow Bundt and food color from McCormick. The chocolate coins from SweetGourmet.

What does “Bundt” mean? Who invented the shape of the cake?

Check out the history of the Bundt cake (scroll down below the recipe for the Apple Streusel Bundt).
 
 
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*If using liqueur in the whipped cream, reduce the vanilla extract to 1/2 teaspoon.

[1] Homemade green ketchup made from green tomatoes. Here’s the recipe from This Mama Cooks (photo © This Mama Cooks).

[2] The gone-but-not-forgotten green ketchup from Heinz (photo © The Kraft Heinz Company).

Ketchup has many uses beyond eating, including polishing silverware and removing the green tinge in bleached blonde hair (no kidding—check out these non-food uses for ketchup).

But given all its food uses, why not make a big batch of green ketchup for St. Patrick’s Day meals and gifting?
 
 
THE RECENT HISTORY OF GREEN KETCHUP

Housewives have been making green tomato sauce since…well, probably since there were green tomatoes.

But back in 2000, ketchup giant H.J. Heinz decided to bring red ketchup flavor to green ketchup*. Targeted to kids, their Blastin’ Green ketchup, created as a promotion in tandem with the first Shrek movie, was a smash. It engendered additional colors for the E-Z Squirt line: Awesome Orange, Funky Purple, Passion Pink, Stellar Blue and Totally Teal.

Alas for its fans, although 25 million units were sold, the novelty lost steam and the colors were discontinued in 2006.

There was a brief revival in 2012. Heinz created green ketchup packets for a Burger King St. Patrick’s Day promotion; but that idea didn’t fly past 2012. [Source]

Don’t be daunted by the lack of green ketchup on store shelves. You can make your own green ketchup with green tomatoes. There are many recipes online, from sweet to spicy.

This green ketchup recipe from ThisMamaCooks.com is made with the low glycemic, better-than-sugar sweetener, agave nectar (a.k.a. agave syrup).

It’s easy to flavor your homemade ketchup, with variations such as Cranberry, Curry, Horseradish and Hot Chile (Chipotle, Jalapeño, Sriracha, etc.)
 
 
USES FOR GREEN KETCHUP

Green ketchup has the same uses as red ketchup, of course. And if you only use ketchup with burgers and fries, or with breakfast eggs, you’re not giving it its full props.

Use your green ketchup to make green condiments for St. Patrick’s Day.

In fact, it was brown and the precursor of modern Worcestershire sauce.

The first known recipe for ketchup in English was published in 1727 by one Eliza Smith (you can still buy it). Part of a volume entitled Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplished Gentlewoman’s Companion, the condiment was spelled as “kachop,” a transliteration of the Asian fish sauce after which it was fashioned.

Ingredients included anchovies, shallots, white wine vinegar, two types of white wine, mace, ginger, cloves, whole peppers, a whole nutmeg, lemon peel and horseradish.

Check out the history of ketchup.

 
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*Making ketchup in colors required re-engineering of the ketchup product. The red color had to be stripped out and food coloring was added. The flavor was tweaked to taste like the original. [Source]
  

America doesn’t need another “good for you” snack bar. The $6.2 billion U.S. snack market is plenty crowded as it is. The Curate brand’s research turned up more than 1,000 varieties of snack bars.

But when you taste Curate, you’ll be delighted that management decided to enter the premium snack bar market.

The brand took a chef’s approach to developing recipes, testing combinations of ingredients that are both nutrient-dense and luscious, with a bonus of eye appeal.

All-natural, gluten free, non-GMO, soy free and lightly sweetened, the bars contain 4 to 7 grams of protein and are a good source of plant-based fiber.

Each bar comprises some six ingredients including quinoa supergrain, omega 3-packed seeds, a fruit and a nut. They’re non-GMO and gluten-free.

Each of the first six flavors out of the gate is equally tempting, depending on whether your temptation is chocolate or a fruit profile:

 
The line is certified kosher by OU.

More products are in the works, including bars designed for kids, with plans to extend the offerings with other better-for-you snacks.
 
You can buy the bars at retail (here’s the store locator) or online on Amazon.com, Soap.com and Target.com.

 
WHO MAKES CURATE SNACK BARS

Curate bars are made by Abbott Laboratories, a $20+ billion global company that makes healthcare products as well as nutritional products: from Glucerna, PediaSure and Similac to as Zone Nutrition Bars and EAS Sports Nutrition.

The company decided to further its nutrition heritage with a consumer snack brand. A new division, Curate Snacks, was born.

As big as the snack category is, the company feels that the opportunity for delicious, nutritious snacks has “tremendous” potential.

Take a bite, and you’ll discover why.

Learn more at CurateSnacks.com.

Curate bars in three of the six flavors: Dark & Tempting Bar, Indulgent Bar and Irresistible Bar. Photos courtesy Curate Snacks.

St. Pat’s snack: wedge fries, green dip and a green beer. You can color any light-hued food green. Photos courtesy McCormick.

Chocolate chip cookies? Mashed potatoes? Milk? Oatmeal? Pancakes? With a bottle of green food color you can have a blast/

Here are three recipes from McCormick, maker of that green food color, to add to the collection: Irish Spuds With Green Ranch Dip, Green Beer and Leprechaun Lemonade.

For St. Patrick’s Day fun, color your food green.

Here, roasted potato wedges and crudites are dipped in a green-tinted ranch dressing and served with green beer or “Leprechaun Lemonade.”

 
RECIPE: IRISH SPUDS WITH GREEN RANCH DIP

Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time is 30 minutes.

Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 450°F. Cut the potatoes into 3-1/2-inch wedges and place them in a large bowl. Add the oil and toss to coat well.

2. MIX the chili powder, optional parsley and salt. Sprinkle over the potatoes and toss to coat evenly. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer in foil-lined 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

3. BAKE for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. While the potatoes are baking, slice the crudités.

4. MIX the ranch dressing and food color in medium bowl until well blended. Serve it as a dip with the potato wedges and crudités.
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*Idaho is a brand name for russet potatoes grown in Idaho.
†If you want to make your own dressing, here’s a ranch dressing recipe.

 
RECIPE: GREEN BEER

Ingredients Per 12-Ounce Beer

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the food color in a glass. Add the beer and stir gently until evenly tinted.

RECIPE: LEPRECHAUN LEMONADE

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. MIX all ingredients in a pitcher. Pour into ice-filled glasses.
 
Variations

The new Coffee Flavor Wheel offers essential training on how to understand the flavors and aromas of coffee. Photos courtesy SCAA.org.

We do this with a flavor wheel: a chart that identifies the different flavors and aromas of the particular food. Then, as we taste the food, we learn to identify its specific flavors and aromas by referencing the wheel.

Take a look at THE NIBBLE’s Chocolate Flavor Chart and Olive Oil Flavor Chart, plus the seminal Wine Flavor Wheel developed at UC Davis, which not only identified all the flavors but grouped them for the first time.

Twenty-one years ago, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) created the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel to help professionals identify the sensory attributes of any particular [brewed] coffee bean. It became one of the most valued resources in the industry.

Earlier this year, the SCAA released an updated version, which is a valuable tool for any coffee lover who wants to better understand it. The Coffee Wheel is instrumental to understanding flavor attributes—what we call flavor notes.

Using the World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon as a foundation, dozens of industry professional—sensory experts, research scientists, coffee tasters, buyers and roasters—collaborated for more than three years to update the Lexicon and the Wheel.

The SCAA notes that this is the largest and most collaborative piece of research on coffee flavor ever completed, and provides a new set of vocabulary for industry professionals.

“This groundbreaking new tool will shift the way our industry thinks about and utilizes coffee flavor,” said the news release.

Here are more details about the research and development that went into creating the wheel.

An 18″ x 25″ poster of the wheel is $20 at Store.SCAA.org.

We have a much more simplistic list of coffee aromas and flavors on TheNibble.com.
 
MORE ABOUT COFFEE

 
Here’s a truly great product: