THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


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GIFT: Cake In A Jar

May 5, 2015 at 9:11 am · Filed under Cookies-Cake-Pastry, Food Fun, Giftable, Party Favors-Stocking Stuffers

When you can’t be there to bake a cake, send a cake in a jar. Jar’d Cake from one of our favorite bakers, Cake Chicago, offers four delicious varieties to send as a Mother’s Day gift, or give as party favors.

Everything at Cake Chicago is made from scratch, including the raspberry conserve a nd salted caramel.

Choose from:

  • White Buttermilk Cake with raspberry conserve and italian meringue buttercream
  • Chocolate fudge cake with salted caramel filling
  • Carrot cake with cream cheese filling (spiced carrot cake, no raisins or nuts)
  • Banana cake with fudge filling

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    Tied with grossgrain ribbon, the jars are $7.00 each, with a 2 jar minimum.

    		   cake-in-a-jar-closed-chicagocake-230
    Moist, delicious Jar’d Cake. Photo courtesy Cake Chicago.
     

    Get yours at Cake-Chicago.com.
      

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    RECIPE: Mexican / Southwestern Yogurt Parfait With Tortilla Chips

    May 5, 2015 at 8:52 am · Filed under Cinco de Mayo-Dia De Los Muertos, Food Holidays, Recipes, Yogurt

    southwestern-parfait-FSTG-230
    [1] A savory Mexican (or Tex-Mex) parfait (photo and recipe © Food Should Taste Good).


    [2] Start with a can of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes (photo © Muir Glen).


    [3] Tricolor tortilla chips add an extra layer of fun (photo © Abuelita Mexican Foods).

    		   This Southwestern Tomato and Yogurt Parfait is made in trendy glass canning jars, but you can use wine glasses, juice glasses, or whatever you have.

    It’s easy to make the salsa, but if you’re pressed for time you can buy ready-made corn and bean salsa.

    Check out the history of the parfait—for most of its existence, a frozen dessert.

    Happy Cinco de Mayo!

    > More Cinco de Mayo recipes for every meal of the day.

    > The history of Cinco de Mayo.
     
     
    RECIPE: MEXICAN PARFAIT

    Ingredients
     
    For The Salsa

  • 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced fire roasted tomatoes (we used Muir Glen), drained, 2 tablespoons juice reserved, patted dry
  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained, rinsed
  • 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped, seeded jalapeño chile
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Optional garnish: cilantro sprig

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    For The Parfait

  • 1 quart plain Greek yogurt
  • Tortilla chips

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    Plus

  • 8 pint-sized canning jars (substitute juice or wine glasses)

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    Preparation

    1. MIX the salsa ingredients in a medium bowl.

    2. SPOON into each of the jars 1/4 cup salsa, then 1/4 cup yogurt. Repeat with two more layers. Top with a layer of salsa

    3. GARNISH with a sprig of cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

     
     

     
     

    CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

     
      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Grow Your Own Stevia

    May 5, 2015 at 8:42 am · Filed under Honey-Sugar-Syrup, Tip Of The Day

    Stevia is a sweet herb from South America, 20 to 30 times sweeter than sugar cane. Yet, it has no calories. It’s been a boon to many people who want a calorie-free sweetener but don’t want the chemically-derived aspartame (Equal), saccharine (Sweet ‘n Low) or sucralose (Splenda).

    (Check out the different sugar substitutes.)

    A wholesome alternative to processed sugar and chemically-derived sweeteners, Stevia is becoming more and more popular among health-conscious individuals.

    The plant Stevia rebaudiana has been used for more than 1,500 years by the Guaraní peoples of South America. For hundreds of years, it has been used in Brazil and Paraguay to sweeten teas and medicines, and to chew as a sweet treat.

    It came of notice to Europeans in 1899, when Swiss botanist Moisés Santiago Bertoni, conducting research in Paraguay, first described the plant and the sweet taste in detail. He named the genus in honor of the Spanish botanist and physician Petrus Jacobus Stevus (Pedro Jaime Esteve, 1500–1556).

    		   
    stevia_rebaudiana_wiki-230

    The sweet leaves of Stevia rebaudiana. Photo courtesy
    Wikimedia.
     

    Stevia is also known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf and sugarleaf. It is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), which includes:

  • Other food products, including artichokes, coffee substitutes, herbal teas, lettuce, sunflower seeds and cooking oil.
  • Flowers such as chrysanthemums, dahlias, daisies, marigolds and zinnias.
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    stevia-sweetleaf-potted-burpee-230
    Grow your own pot of stevia. Photo courtesy Burpee.    		   GROW YOUR OWN

    Stevia is an easy care plant that grows well indoors in a sunny window (and in the garden, of course), yielding small white blossoms in summer.

    You can dry and grind the leaves into a powdered sugar substitute. Or, do what the South Americans have been doing for generations: Pluck a leaf from the plant and drop it into your hot or cold beverage.

    You can also use it like a bay leaf to sweeten dishes as they cook.

    You can buy the seeds from Burpee.

    The plant reaches maturity, 12-20 inches, in 40-60 days.

    Or, you can buy plants that are already growing. Here’s one online source.

     

      

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