This post was made in partnership with Kerrygold Irish Cream. Recipe and ideas are my own.
Years ago, when I was working a 9-5 job where I left my house and went into an office, my day-to-day activities often including working with chefs. Whether they were designing a new commercial kitchen here in Southern California, looking for hard to find ingredients, sourcing pallet loads of Cambro containers, or looking to gain some exposure by hosting a demo in our test kitchen. It was working with these chefs where I first heard of molecular gastronomy; not from watching Top Chef, although when they started getting technical on the show suddenly we had to learn about a lot more techniques and answer some interesting questions from viewers of the show.
Although dubbed a fad by many, the excitement waning for most diners, the techniques still hold a fascination with me. This probably has to do with my love of chemistry as a young person that has carried through decades later. Recently, for a separate project outside of this site, I decided to relearn a technique called reverse spherification, and in doing so learned of a new-to-me technique called frozen reverse-spherification. The very abridged explanation of this technique is to turn a liquid into a sphere shaped jelly-like solid. Cool, right?
So, that brings us to today’s recipe, made in partnership with our friends over at Kerrygold Irish Cream. When thinking about some fun summertime recipes to make, the idea of milkshakes came up, but here in Los Angeles, I’m more likely to run across a boba shop than a milkshake shop, so I thought, why not combine the two? However, we’re using some artistic license here and instead of the tapioca pearls found in your boba tea, we’ll be using flavorful strawberry spheres instead. Because, while some might like their stone fruit during the summer, it’s all about the berries for me.
I bring up the molecular gastronomy because you can, in fact, make these spheres, and I will list a few of my go-to resources below. However, because it’s summer and we don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen making spherification baths all day, I’m also listing where you can buy these strawberry spheres. So now you can follow your own adventure.
I’m thinking of this shake as a modern take on the Neapolitan flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Vanilla ice cream is spiked here with the rich, creamy chocolate found in Kerrygold Irish Cream (along with some Irish whiskey for good measure), and little spheres bursting with strawberry flavor are peppered throughout the drink. I don’t think a milkshake is complete until it has been topped with whipped cream, and if you’re going to go for it, you should definitely add some sprinkles too. It’s summer, celebrate.
I’ve listed my resources for the reverse spherification process below the recipe if you’d like to try your hand at that!
Spiked Vanilla Milkshake with Strawberry “Boba” Pearls
2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 ounce Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur
1/4 cup milk
1/2 to 1 cup strawberry pearls (or “bursting boba” like these)
whipped cream
rainbow sprinkles
In a blender, combine the ice cream, Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur, and milk. Blend until smooth. Pour a small layer of strawberry pearls into the bottom of a pint glass or soda glass. Pour in the milkshake mixture. Top with whipped cream, a few more strawberry pearls, and sprinkles. Enjoy!
Resources:
If you’d like to try your hand at reverse spherification, you’ll need a few items and tools you probably don’t have in your pantry. Here’s what I currently use:
- distilled water (you cannot use tap water or filtered water as there shouldn’t be any calcium present)
- Sphere Magic
- calcium lactate gluconate
- scale that weighs down to 0.1 grams
- small sphere ice mold
Once you have your items, you’ll need to create your spherification bath and infuse the liquid you want to use with the spherification agent. I usually use the Chef Steps site for my instructions but I HIGHLY suggest you check out some YouTube videos to watch how to move from one step to the next. Also, I’m here for questions!
We are currently running through a pint of strawberries every few days at our house. Regardless of the weather outside, it doesn’t really feel like summer to me until the berries start rolling in. As per usual, I overbuy and then have to look for ways other than just straight eating them. So, for this month’s Make or Buy, we’re looking at strawberry liqueur!
Strawberry liqueur is super versatile, and I think especially tasty during the summer, but also nice to have on hand as summer turns towards fall. You can splash it into some club soda, flavor a multitude of cocktails, but my most favorite way is to use it in a Margarita (because of course!). If you make it, please let me know how you use YOUR bottle!
To Buy: 
To Make: Strawberry Liqueur
And how do they compare in a cocktail? Well, of course I had to try both liqueurs out in my Strawberry Margarita recipe. Usually I would also add fresh strawberries in, but since I was testing out to compare side by side with the liqueurs I left them out (but I do highly suggest adding a few slices and muddling them in!). The store bought liqueur had a strong strawberry taste and slightly spicy flavor added to the Margarita. The color was significantly darker as well. The homemade liqueur Margarita was lighter in flavor, color, and body. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different. Both were definitely strawberry in aroma but each one on opposite ends of flavor and color.
This post was made in partnership with Truvia®. Recipes and ideas are my own.
It’s no wonder that May also contains National Mimosa Day; in fact, it’s today! If all you know about Mimosas are the cheap, sparkling wine drinks offered “bottomless” at your local brunch spot, let me change that notion with this vibrant, delicious spin on the classic brunch cocktail. We’ve teamed up with 
Orange juice and sparkling wine can be fine, but mostly, just a flat, one note drink. Here I’ve pureed sweet tart strawberries that have been lightly spiced with cardamom and vanilla, and combined that with orange and lime juice, so you have a sour balance to the sweet. The strawberry puree is sweetened with just three Truvia Natural Sweetener packets; no measuring spoons needed!
Notes:
Fresh Strawberry Purée and Mixed Citrus Mimosas
For the cocktails (yields two cocktails):
This post is made in partnership with Amaro Lucano. Recipes and ideas are my own.
The flowers here in SoCal are everywhere (I’m sure you caught a poppy or two on Instagram)! But did you know some of those gorgeous blooms are edible? And today our cocktail is brimming with a whole bunch of colorful spring flowers that are safe for cocktail garnishes and also super pretty to look at. While you may not want to taste all of them, if you do, you’ll find tastes ranging from cucumber (borage) to raw green beans (bachelor’s buttons) to slightly bitter and spicy (chrysanthemum). All of these can add to the flavor and aroma of this amaro-based cocktail, a Strawberry-Rhubarb Amaro Cobbler Cocktail.
Isn’t cobbler a dessert?! Well, yes. Many people will be familiar with the cobbler as a baked good, but a cobbler cocktail is like a fancy dessert… in the cocktail world! I go into the cobbler a bit in 
Amaro Lucano has been a staple in my home bar for awhile now (and that 93 point rating from Wine Spectator would tell me some of you enjoy it a lot too!). Amaro Lucano has a mild, bittersweet taste that is great on its own, but lovely in cocktails. There are some citrus and herbal notes here too (which isn’t surprising as it’s blended with over 30 herbs!) and I thought they’d pair really well with the strawberry-rhubarb syrup as well as the flowers in the garnish. Since I wanted an easy drinking, low ABV cocktail to pair with my Easter brunch, Amaro Lucano fits the bill with an ABV of 28%.
I really love that people are so into flowers, and gardening, and just taking some time to enjoy nature; this is one current trend I can get behind! Maybe we could all do it with a lot less handheld devices though… but still, at least everyone’s getting outdoors.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Amaro Cobbler Cocktail
