Recipes
Aji Pimento Cheese Crackers
These little crackers combine a range of delightful chile flavors into every bite and will add a unique twist to your snacking or appetizer lineup. The mild pimento cheese is complimented with Aji mirasol chile peppers. They are mild and fruity with hints of tamarind and tomato. The pickled jalapeño on top adds a kick- but not too much. Orange zest brings the flavors together nicely.
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Peppercorn Shortbread
Shortbread takes a walk on the wild side with a globe trotting parade of pepper- Vietnamese peppercorns, green peppercorns, grains of paradise and pink peppercorns. all make an appearance and lend their unique flavors to the mix. These cookies are easy and everything BUT boring. This short bread is spicy, sweet and has a kick that makes them perfect for dunking in something warm and creamy like your favorite Chai or some warm milk with turmeric.
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Rosemary Cottage Cheese Cookies
Vintage cookbooks offer up some curiously great recipes and this one from the 1930's is no exception. Cottage cheese cookies are an intriguing prospect and in this case, grandma DID know best - the resulting dough is light, tender and full of flavor. The addition of rosemary and apricot jam adds a festive flair.Rosemary is wonderful in sweet applications and pairs well with most fruity jams or jellies. Cherry or blackberry would be wonderful in these, as well. This cookie is a perfect for a cookie exchange, or just as a slightly sweet accompaniment with a cup of tea or coffee.
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Kala Masala Almond Cookies
Pain d'amande is a classic French almond cookie. Thin and crispy, and not overly sweet, they make an excellent accompaniment to tea or coffee. A stack of these cookies wrapped up with string makes a quaint gift, and happens to be exactly how we first came to try them.Since our first encounter with these cookies, we've played with different flavors and shapes. Of all our experiments, the most successful added Kala Masala to the cookie dough. Masala blends are usually quite versatile and deserve to be played with in more than savory dishes. Our Kala Masala blend has warm spices like coconut, clove, cinnamon and star anise. The almonds in the Pain d'amande are a perfect vehicle for all of these spices, giving them a gently sweet base flavor upon which they can shine.
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Fig Ras el Hanout Clafoutis
The spicy aromas wafting out of our storefront next to Pike Place Market bring in all sorts of curious noses off the street. There's no one spice that exactly mimics that unique scent, but Ras El Hanout is probably the next best thing! Our signature recipe for this classic Middle Eastern blend has twenty four ingredients, easily making it our most complex spice blend. Ras el Hanout is traditionally used more in savory dishes, but its medley of spices are sweet, aromatic and perfect for baking.Beautiful ripe figs found in the market next door were the inspiration for this delectable creation! Clafoutis are an overlooked brunch gem, easier to make than pancakes or waffles with a custardy texture similar to crepes. Here, we caramelized the figs in Ras el Hanout and baked them into the custard. The resulting Clafoutis is rich, indulgent, and perfect for a decadent weekend morning.
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Olive Oil and Juniper Brownies
Juniper is a lovely spice, and capable of so much more than it is often given credit for. These aromatic berries are layered with flavor: piney at first, but then giving way to a sweet citrus taste that lingers. It deserves to love in something besides gin. With this in mind, we set out to make a desert that placed this underappreciated spice in center stage.Dark chocolate is a perfect vehicle to showcase juniper's unique flavor profile, and so we decided to feature them in rich, moist brownies. Through trial and error, however, we learned juniper gets much stronger as it cooks. Another addition was needed to balance the spice. We found our answer in olive oil. It's rich and earthy, and will heighten the bitterness of the dark chocolate. The resulting brownies are fabulously out of the ordinary, yet still deeply satisfying.
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Chocolate Conchas
Conchas hold a special place in my heart. Growing up blocks away from a Mexican bakery, I always looked forward to heading over and picking out a rainbow of sweet breads every Sunday. Conchas get their name, which translates to seashell, from the patterns stamped on the sugary crust. The sugar topping is can be flavored in many different ways, and is often dyed in vibrant colors. These pastries are a labor of love, but are totally worth making fresh. The possibilities for conchas are infinite! In this recipe, we made chocolate conchas, my childhood favorite, using rich and smooth Valrhona cocoa powder. These delicious little pastries are typically dunked in milk, coffee or hot chocolate. For a breakfast treat, try spreading them with sour cream, or use day-old conchas to make great French toast and bread pudding.
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Holiday Pepper Biscotti
These crunchy treats were a clear favorite from our holiday baking sessions this year. Boasting festive pops of cranberry and pistachio, these little gems get an extra dose of pizzazz from our Holiday Pepper Blend in the crust. Not too peppery or too sweet, the flavors are delightfully complex. They are easy to make, keep well and make a wonderful complement to coffee, tea, toddies or egg nog. Enjoy!
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World Spice Birthday Cake
Let's see....how do you celebrate a quarter century milestone 2020 style? Go with the flow! This cake has all the flavor worthy of a 25th birthday spice cake and all the ease that comes with working with what's at hand. We spiced everyday cake mix with our Roast Chai blend and added Turmeric to a delicious tub of frosting to take it over the top. Coconut orange curd made up the filling of this 5-tier tower of sweet, bold flavor. You only turn 25 once, and it was a fun cake to make. We hope you are inspired to make this or use what you have on hand to experiment with your own version, because sneaking in spice into any celebration should be delicious and easy. Enjoy!
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