Desserts

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Tricks and Treats for Adults

Tricks and Treats for Adults

October 30, 2009 , , , ,

Learn a new cocktail trick at the wine stores this weekend. We’ll be pouring tastes of Crystal Head vodka (the one that comes in a SKULL) and demonstrating how to make a Halloween-themed cocktail. The event is FREE and will take place in the Manhattan wine store on Friday, October 30 from 5-8pm and in the Brooklyn wine store on Saturday, October 31 from 5-8pm.

At Provisions, we’ve got tempting treats that will prevent you from raiding the kids’ candy stock. We just got a delivery of Liddabit sweets – local handmade chocolates including amazing salt caramels and gourmet candy bars like the King Bar made with soft peanut butter nougat sandwiched between a brown sugar-brown butter cookie and a layer of fresh banana ganache, and dipped in milk chocolate. Fresh out of the oven, we’ve also got pumpkin ginger sandwiches (don’t call them “whoopie pies!”) – creamy white chocolate filling delicately spiked with white pepper sandwiched between two spiced pumpkin ginger cookies and dusted with sparkling sugar from local artisanal, inventive bakers Whimsy & Spice.

Greene GrapeTricks and Treats for Adults
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It’s It’s Its

It’s It’s Its

August 15, 2009 , ,

That’s right, we’ve got It’s It ice cream sandwiches from San Francisco in the freezer case. A dark chocolate dipped oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich that comes with chocolate, vanilla or mint chocolate chip ice cream filling, this is an iconic San Fran treat.

For a more locavore ice cream sandwich, try Van Leeuwen Ginger Ice Cream sandwiched between two Whimsy & Spice chocolate gingersnap cookies. Surprisingly spicy! Or exercise your own creativity and make your own ice cream sandwiches using components from our grocery shelves and freezer section. Homemade ice cream sandwiches are a perfect post-bbq dessert. You can even grab a few different flavors of ice cream and cookies and let your guests build their own!

Greene GrapeIt’s It’s Its
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Apple and Peach Crumble

Apple and Peach Crumble

July 27, 2009 , , , ,

Now that it’s high fruit season, we thought you’d appreciate a reminder of the simple pleasure of a fruit crumble.

The joy our guests had in indulging in this dessert made us feel slightly guilty. We simply had a surplus of peaches and apples. We even had the kids mix the topping.

Ingredients

6 pieces of fruit (we used 3 apples, 3 peaches but you can also use pears, etc.)
1 1/2 cups flour
12 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup of granulated sugar

Cut fruit into 1″ sections or slices. Line buttered 9″ square pan with fruit slices. Combine flour, butter (cold, not room temperature), sugar in bowl. Combine by grinding with fingertips until consistency of coarse sand (or slightly lumpy). Sprinkle flour mixture on top of fruit and place into a 350F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Greene GrapeApple and Peach Crumble
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A Vere Good Deal

A Vere Good Deal

July 18, 2009 ,

Kathy, Founder and President of Vere chocolates, will be at Provisions Sunday, July 19 from 4-6pm giving out free tastes of her chocolate and offering a special buy one get one free deal.

Vere is local cocoa – they began in Manhattan for production and are part of the movement towards ethically-sourced chocolate. Their cocoa beans are pesticide-free and produce a bar that is high in cacao content and antioxidants, low in sugar, gluten- and preservative-free, vegan and stands up to the world’s best chocolate.

Greene GrapeA Vere Good Deal
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Homemade Ice Cream Cake

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

July 7, 2009 , , ,

Whether your childhood memories are of Carvel’s or Baskin-Robbins, ice cream cakes seem to scream “birthday.” But unfortunately the store-bought ones often disappoint a grown-up palate. Maybe you never can go home again?

If home isn’t the same because it has changed or you have, don’t despair. We have a quick, inexpensive fix. Make your own ice cream cake – you can spring for better quality ingredients and still pay less.

We served our homemade ice cream cake at a recent birthday and even overheard a friendly neighbor question whether we had indeed made the cake because it was so good. But she ended up asking for the details and served the cake at her own son’s birthday – pretty in pink, pictured above. Only she sandwiched a layer of sorbet between two flavors of ice cream and put it on a chocolate chip cookie base. If the grass is not greener, the ice cream cakes are certainly more elaborate and delicious.

Ingredients

1 pint Whipping cream or heavy cream
sugar
1 gallon ice cream
1 8-inch cake pan filled with your favorite brownie or cookie recipe

Fill an 8-inch springform pan with your favorite ice cream flavor (soy-based works too if you’re going dairy-free). You may have to leave the ice cream out a bit to soften it so that it is moldable. Then put the springform pan in the freezer. Freeze until firm (we did it the night before). While it is firming, bake brownies or cookies (from a mix, from scratch, doesn’t matter) in an 8-inch cake pan. Make sure to flour the pan or bake them on parchment paper so that they can come out in one piece (but don’t stress out, this part is the base and no one will see it. Turn the brownie or cookie base out onto a cake plate. Dip the springform pan into hot water briefly then run a knife around the side to separate the ice cream from the side of the pan. Remove springform part and invert ice cream cylinder onto base. Slice off bottom of pan that is on top of ice cream cylinder (or remove if it has melted enough). Put base topped with ice cream cylinder in freezer. Right before serving, beat cream with mixer until it magically turns into whipped cream, adding sugar to taste. Frost cake with whipped cream. Note that whipped cream can also be piped onto cake but whipped cream melts quickly if you are holding the pastry bag. Add sliced strawberries or fruit to top to cover any imperfections in whipped cream icing. Refreeze but only briefly. Remove from freezer 15 minutes or so before serving. Bask in adulation of peers and/or pint-sized people.

Greene GrapeHomemade Ice Cream Cake
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Fine & Raw Chocolates

Fine & Raw Chocolates

June 29, 2009 , ,

Fine & Raw bonbons

Tonight from 5-7 pm we welcome Daniel Sklaar from Brooklyn-based Fine & Raw chocolates for a chocolate tasting at Provisions.

Sweetened with agave nectar, Fine & Raw chocolates are made without heating the chocolate past 118F degrees. The ganache filling is sweetened with agave nectar giving them a low glycemic index and coconut oil provides richness. Velvety, dense and intense, they melt in your mouth. And, in summer, on your kitchen counter. So store them in the refrigerator lest your bonbons end up as hot chocolate.

Greene GrapeFine & Raw Chocolates
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Chocolate Bookends for the Weekend

Chocolate Bookends for the Weekend

June 26, 2009 , ,

Unfortunately we can’t make the sun shine for you this weekend. But with the weather looking like 5 straight days of more rain, we thought you might appreciate chocolate tastings to bookend your weekend. Tonight from 4pm-7pm, we welcome Taza chocolate and on Monday from 5pm-7pm, we welcome Daniel from Fine & Raw.

Taza stonegrinds its chocolate with a Oaxacan mill, the perfect tool to fabricate true mexican chocolate. Sabrina admits to nibbling on their mexican chocolate discs straight but they are also useful pantry staples. They can be used to make a mole sauce for enchiladas (try with our Hot Bread Kitchen tortillas) and in winter (or on dreary summer days), they make a true taza of mexican hot chocolate – a frothy, spicy chocolate drink traditionally made with water, not milk.

Greene GrapeChocolate Bookends for the Weekend
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WTF?

WTF?

June 22, 2009 , , ,

As in “Where’s the Fudge?”

We need to get the 88th Precinct on this brazen case of theft. At the beginning of the weekend we had a full container of our new “Fudge is My Life” dark chocolate sauce and now it looks like this. The only other thing the perps took was a half a pint of Adirondack Creamery vanilla ice cream.

We suspect an inside job. The sauce was open and kept in an unlocked fridge. Because the fudge is sweetened with honey and sugar, not corn syrup, we have high hopes for our “sting” operation using a jar of the mint dark chocolate sauce. If that doesn’t work, we’ll crack the case anyway using old-fashioned detective work. They appear to have gotten every last taste out of the jar using their fingers.

Remember, it’s almost ice cream season. So stay safe out there. And keep an extra jar hidden in the crisper.

Greene GrapeWTF?
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Luminous Kitchens Bum Bars

Luminous Kitchens Bum Bars

June 15, 2009 , , ,

Having worked through lunch and right up to the last minute, we were late to see Alain de Botton speak about his book “The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work” and needed a snack to tide us over. Right by the register we found the perfect thing – an Apricot Bum Bar from Luminous Kitchens. All-natural, calorie-dense fuel for your busy NYC lifestyle.

How apt the snack. De Botton spoke eloquently on how the workforce at a large UK cookie manufacturer felt alienated because they were too distant from the products they make to care about their jobs. Luminous Kitchen Bum Bars, the antithesis of industrially-produced biscuits, are handcrafted in small batches. In the store tonight after 7 pm you can meet Doug who will sample his apricot, hemp and peanut butter bum bars. Ask him how close to his product he feels. To give you a hint, after the tasting he may go to Long Island City to bake until the wee morning hours . . .

NYPL Live!, where we saw de Botton speak, is the best $25 ticket in New York. This year’s season is almost done but get thee on their olde mailing liste – their events are thought provoking and you will emerge refreshed, optimistic and intellectually satisfied.

Greene GrapeLuminous Kitchens Bum Bars
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Today: Aperitif, Garden Walk, Dessert

Today: Aperitif, Garden Walk, Dessert

June 14, 2009 , , ,

Today is the Fort Greene Garden Walk sponsored by the Brownstone Brooklyn Garden District. Tickets and maps are available at Provisions and some of our wee ones decorated corners near stops on the tour. As you can see, we’ve kept the little graffiti artists anonymous lest they get cracked down upon.

From noon to 5pm, the Brooklyn wine store will pour Aperitivos (prosecco and Aperol plus soda and orange) as an aperitif to the Walk. Save room for dessert, though! From 4-6 pm today at Provisions, TCHO chocolate will visit to give free tastes!

Greene GrapeToday: Aperitif, Garden Walk, Dessert
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