Momofuku Strawberry Milk

Here is another way to use the elderflower syrup I talked about here and here.  This is Christina Tosi's recipe for Strawberry Milk.  She is the pastry chef at Momofuku Milk Bar.  I have gushed about her numerous times, having said I'll be first in line to buy her cookbook if she ever writes one.  Well...she has inked a deal to write a cookbook.  The word round the internet is that it should be released in the fall of 2011.  Giddyup!

Now, this Strawberry Milk.  It's like a melted strawberry milkshake with amped up strawberry flavor and the sweet, citrusy, floral hint that the elderflower syrup adds.  If you can't find the elderflower syrup, you can make your own by combining elderflower liqueur with a simple syrup.  Simple syrup is equal amounts of water and sugar, warmed until the sugar is fully dissolved. 

I think this would be great as part of a dessert course.  It is sweet so it could stand alone as a dessert but how great would it be to pair it with a grilled banana bread sandwich with chocolate ganache in the middle?!

Besides the elderflower syrup, the only other things you must have are a food scale and patience.  The recipe uses weights and ratios which is why you need a food scale.  You need patience because straining the strawberry puree through a fine mesh strainer is laborious.  (Promise me every time you say "lah-BOR-ious" you'll say it with a Transylvanian accent a la Dracula.)  In fact, I should have made my intern handle the puree.  If I had one that is...

Enough chit chat, let's make some strawberry milk!

Momofuku Strawberry Milk
Courtesty of Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar and Bakery & The Dairy Show


1 quart whole milk
180g elderflower syrup (or make a simple syrup and flavor it with elderflower liquor)
665g strawberry puree (put strawberries in a blender add 10% sugar by weight, blend, and then strain)
sugar
65g plain yogurt
pinch of salt

1. Wash and hull strawberries and weigh.
2. Take the weight of your strawberries and calculate 10% of that weight to determine how much sugar you'll need to add.  (I had 22 ounces of berries, therefore my sugar in weight should be 2.2 ounces.)
2. Put strawberries in blender and add your sugar.  Puree.
3. Using a fine mesh strainer and the patience God gave you, pour the puree into the strainer.  Use a rubber scraper to keep pressing the puree back and forth down through the strainer.  Continue until you can't take it anymore or until only seeds remain.  (I ended up with 2 1/2 cups of seedless puree.)
4. Combine the seedless puree, yogurt, elderflower syrup, pinch of salt and milk in a large pitcher.  Whisk to combine.

This is before I started to resent the lovely puree.

This is where I said, "I'm over it."

This is where I said, "Yum." And then apologized to the puree.

Vietnamese Iced Cinnamon Coffee

What is it with me and cold beverages?  You'd think I've been on  a liquid diet lately.  When it's been the hottest summer on record your mind tends to gravitate toward cold beverages.  Thus, I bring you this one.  This is not your every morning coffee drink.  It's almost like a dessert so go easy there, tiger.

But when you're turning on the a/c by 8a.m. you're allowed to treat yourself to this icy cold, sweet, morning pick-me-up.  The coffee is cold-brewed (that will impress your coffee snob friends).  And when people marvel at how fresh and unwilted you remain in this heat, you can casually remark, "Oh me? I cold brew my coffee and drink it Vietnamese style."

Vietnamese Iced Cinnamon Coffee
Barely Adapted from Food & Wine

Coffee Concentrate
1/2 pound coarse grind dark roast coffee 
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 
4 1/2 cups of cold water

Combine cold water, ground coffee and cinnamon in a pitcher. Stir and let sit, covered, on countertop for 24 hours.  Then strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer (or through cheesecloth or a coffee filter).  Discard grounds and refrigerate concentrate.

Iced Coffee
6 ounces of coffee concentrate
up to 3T sweetened condensed milk
up to 4 ounces of milk

In a tall glass filled with ice, combine the coffee concentrate and sweetened condensed milk.  Top with milk and combine.  Make sure to start with 1T of sweetened condensed milk and taste as you go.  Add more depending on how sweet you like it.