Steve Yurish of Amherst is the owner of Sherman’s Pit Stop (944 Gibbons Hwy., Wilton, 654-2600, shermanspitstop.com), as well as 603 Foods (603foods.com, and on Facebook), a line of homemade soups, chowders, cottage pies and other prepared comfort meals that he runs during the winter months. Menus of 603 Foods products are posted to its website and Facebook page early each week, with ordering available until 6 p.m. on Wednesdays — items are regularly rotated out but have included New England clam chowder, chicken pot pie, shrimp and sausage gumbo, shepherd’s pie, macaroni and cheese, Italian wedding soup and more. Pickups are on Fridays after 11 a.m., at the Amherst Garden Center (305 Route 101, Amherst) or at Sherman’s Pit Stop. Weekly home deliveries are available too — email [email protected] or message them on Facebook for details. Prior to starting 603 Foods in 2020, Steve and his wife, Diane Yurish, owned and operated Moulton’s Market in Amherst Village for 16 years.
What is your must-have kitchen item?
I usually make the soups in five-gallon batches, so I need a good cast iron soup pot and a large wooden ladle to stir with.
What would you have for your last meal?
Cheeseburgers, medium rare, with pickles, onions and ketchup. I’ve always called them my desert island food.
What is your favorite local restaurant?
I like Eric Griffin’s restaurant over in Milford, Grill 603. He’s got a good group of people over there and the food is always good.
What celebrity would you like to see trying something on your menu?
Elvis Presley.
What is your favorite thing on your menu?
The vegetable beef barley soup. It’s got a base of tomato and red wine, and lots of mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions and peas. I just find it to be a great hearty soup.
What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
Specific to New Hampshire, I think it would be the continued trend toward using more and more local products, grown here and produced here.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
I like to grill outdoors as much as possible. I still grill pretty much through the winter.
Smoked Gouda and roasted red pepper bisque From the kitchen of Steve Yurish of 603 Foods and Sherman’s Pit Stop
2 pounds freshly roasted red peppers or jar equivalent (rinsed and with all seeds removed) 1 stick and 3 Tablespoons butter or margarine 2 onions, minced 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic 1 Tablespoon black pepper 1 quart chicken broth 2 quarts water 3 Tablespoons Better than Bouillon chicken base 2 cups half-and-half 1 6 to 8-ounce package smoked Gouda cheese, shredded (or more, if desired) 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in water 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
Saute the onions, garlic and thyme in the stick of butter until translucent (approximately 10 minutes). Add a little water to help along and not burn. Add the chicken broth and the cleaned roasted peppers. Add the water, chicken base, half-and-half and black pepper and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Add shredded Gouda, remaining three tablespoons of butter and liquid smoke. Return to low heat and add cornstarch. Bring to just below a boil. Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy (Hint: Add more chicken broth or water if soup seems too thick.)
If you think you make the best bowl of soup, chili or chowder around, you’ll have a chance to prove it at Epsom Central School’s annual cook-off. Now through Feb. 14, entrants are welcome to participate in the friendly competition, which is due to return for its ninth year on Monday, March 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. inside the school’s gymnasium.
“It’s been a huge event for us, and it’s a great community builder,” school business secretary and cook-off coordinator Stephanie Colvin said. “We try to get different people in from all over.”
Originally conceived as a much smaller fundraiser mostly among the school’s teachers and staff, the cook-off has grown over the years to now feature dozens of entrants across three judging categories: soups, chilis and chowders. After a brief hiatus in 2021, the event is returning with a few tweaks, Colvin said, such as additional seating in the cafeteria to allow for distancing.
There is no fee to register as an entrant — soup and chili makers can access the entry form through the event’s Facebook page. Each participant also receives three free sampling tickets.
For tasters, tickets will be sold at the door and will include access to up to 10 four-ounce sampling cups per attendee for adults and five sampling cups for kids ages 10 and under, along with sides of corn bread. Part of the fun is that you never know which different flavors of soups, chilis and chowder you may encounter at the cook-off in any given year.
“You have your typical seafood chowders or your tomato soups,” Colvin said. “We’ve had a Tuscan soup and a chicken bacon wild rice soup. One year we had a dill pickle soup, and then somebody also did a chocolate raspberry delight soup … I feel like the stranger or the more curious it is, the more people are going to go over to try it.”
Chilis, meanwhile, also usually include an eclectic mix of options, from chicken or turkey to a venison chili. Entrants like to give their soups, chilis and chowders all kinds of unique names.
A panel of nine judges — three for each category — gives entrants a score on a 10-point scaling system and adds them all up at the end of the night. Winners from each of the three categories receive a “Souper Bowl” trophy, and the top vote getter also wins a $50 Visa gift card. Two People’s Choice recipients from each category are awarded ribbons.
Proceeds from the cook-off help fund various student activities at Epsom Central School, from field trips to clothing needs.
9th annual Epsom Central School soup/chili/chowder cook-off When: Monday, March 7, 5 to 7 p.m. (registrations are due by Monday, Feb. 14) Where: Epsom Central School, 282 Black Hall Road, Epsom Cost: $8 for adults and $6 for kids ages 10 and under (includes access to up to 10 four-ounce samples for adults and up to five samples for kids, plus cornbread). Tickets are sold at the door while supplies last. Registration as a soup, chili or chowder entrant is free. More info: See “9th Annual ECS Soup/Chili/Chowder Cook-off” on Facebook, or email cook-off coordinator Stephanie Colvin at [email protected]. Entrants must provide at least one gallon or more of their soup, chili or chowder, along with a slow cooker, a large serving spoon or ladle, and a displayed list of its ingredients. Each entrant will also receive three free sampling tickets.
Featured photo: Three-time trophy winner Heather Brown will return to Epsom Central School’s ninth annual soup/chili/chowder cook-off on March 7. Courtesy photo.
Loon Chocolate and 603 Charcuterie join forces for new retail shop
Scott Watson was perusing Netflix one day in the winter of 2017 when he came across a documentary about a Southeast Asian coffeehouse. He tuned in to learn the shop also produced its own chocolate onsite — a catalyst for what would end up becoming his newest venture.
“It just triggered something in me and got me thinking, ‘How come I don’t know how chocolate is made?’” said Watson, who worked as a craft brewer during the mid to late 1990s at the now closed Nutfield Brewing Co. in Derry. “I started diving into it … and it brought me back to my brewing days. It fascinated me that there was fermentation involved, and that there seemed to be so many parallels to craft brewing. … It intrigued me enough to start making it at my house.”
Courtesy photo.
That was how Loon Chocolate, based in Manchester, was born — Watson sold his first chocolate bar in the spring of 2018. On Feb. 5, he opened his first retail shop, teaming up with Theresa Zwart of 603 Charcuterie to also feature New Hampshire-made specialty foods like cheeses, jams, hot sauces, crackers and mustards.
Watson and Zwart are the first commercial tenants of The Factory on Willow, a former Queen City shoe factory turned apartment and business complex. The new shop also has an adjoining chocolate production facility that is double the size of Watson’s former manufacturing space.
Loon’s chocolates are handcrafted in small batches from bean to bar, its cacao beans sourced from multiple growers across Bolivia, Belize, Uganda, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
“We get beans in and we’re roasting and doing every single step from bean to bar,” Watson said. “There’s no curtain hiding people in the back room that are opening up pallets of pre-made chocolate and melting them down into an Easter Bunny for you.”
In addition to offering a lineup of 12 flavored bars, Watson has since expanded his product line to include bagged cacao nibs, dark chocolate cocoa bombs and a do-it-yourself chocolate-infused elixir kit. All of these items are now available for sale out of his new storefront.
Courtesy photo.
Zwart, meanwhile, is utilizing the space as a one-stop shop for all of the New Hampshire-made products featured on her charcuterie boards, like cheeses from Bell & Goose Cheese Co. of South Hampton and Abbot Hill Creamery of Wilton, cured meats from Short Creek Farm of Northwood, and mustards from the Blackwater Mustard Co. of Contoocook. Even the boards themselves, built by Souhegan Wood Designs of Amherst, are sold in various shapes and sizes.
Since launching 603 Charcuterie in late 2020 as a small takeout ordering business, Zwart has gone on to teach charcuterie board-building classes at local breweries and wineries, and has also expanded into catering larger boards and grazing tables for weddings. She and Watson first developed a business relationship last year when she started purchasing Loon’s chocolates for use on her boards. They’re also commonly served samples at her classes.
“We’re going to have charcuterie boxes to go, so premade charcuterie boards that people can just pick up,” Zwart said. “I want to bring in some other stuff in the next few weeks too, so things like honeys, maple syrups, and maybe an olive oil for dipping bread.”
Other items in the store include loose leaf teas from 27 Teas of Candia, cooking salts from the Maine Sea Salt Co., and craft marshmallows from Nomadic Kitchen of Vermont.
Events are already being planned for the space, starting with a multi-course tasting menu centered around Loon’s chocolate by Dahlia Restaurant, a series of farm-to-table pop-up dinners across New Hampshire. They’ll be hosting limited seatings on Friday, Feb. 11, and Saturday, Feb. 12 — one at 6 p.m. on Friday and two at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“We’re also planning on doing some sort of chocolate and wine tasting … just to take advantage of the space that we have and to give the wineries a chance to talk about their products and pair them up with some chocolate,” Watson said.
Loon Chocolate & 603 Charcuterie
Where: The Factory on Willow, 252 Willow St., Manchester Hours: Friday, Feb. 11, noon to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 12, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 13, 8 to 11 a.m.; hours for future dates TBA More info: Visit loonchocolate.com or 603charcuterie.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram
• Romantic meals: Still haven’t made plans yet for Valentine’s Day? There may still be time depending on where you go. Check out our listings that ran in the Feb. 3 issue; they begin on page 22. You’ll find dozens of special menus and dinners at local eateries, as well as sweet gift-giving ideas at chocolate and candy shops and bakeries with their own special offerings. Since Feb. 14 falls on a Monday this year, some businesses are opening their doors on the weekday when they would normally be closed, while others are choosing to celebrate all throughout the preceding weekend. Go to issuu.com/hippopress and click on the Feb. 3 issue to read the e-edition for free — and be sure to contact each establishment directly for the most up-to-date availability on reservations and takeout items.
• More drive-thru Greek eats: Join Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (68 N. State St., Concord) for its next boxed Greek dinner to go, a drive-thru takeout event, on Sunday, Feb. 20, from noon to 1 p.m. Now through Wednesday, Feb. 16, orders are being accepted for boxed meals featuring dinners of Greek meatballs, rice pilaf, Greek salad and a roll for $15 per person. The event is drive-thru and takeout only — email [email protected] or call 953-3051 to place your order. The church is also planning a similar takeout and pickup meal featuring chicken and orzo, scheduled for March 13. Visit holytrinitynh.org.
• Get into the spirit: The New Hampshire Liquor Commission has a couple of special virtual events planned for this week. On Friday, Feb. 11, from 6 to 7 p.m., they’ll be helping you gear up for the Big Game — brand representatives from Crown Royal, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan will be tuning in for some game day cocktail recipes and ideas, which you can also access by visiting liquorandwineoutlets.com/diageosuperbowl. Then on Thursday, Feb. 17, from 5 to 6 p.m., the NHLC will hold a behind-the-scenes tour of Fabrizia Spirits in Salem, which has grown into one of the leading purveyors of limoncello in the United States. After the tour, co-founder Phil Mastroianni will be sharing a cocktail recipe using Fabrizia’s crema di pistacchio, the newest addition to his product lineup. Both events are free to sign up via Zoom, or you can watch them live on Facebook @nhliquorwine (click the “live” tab to access the videos).
• Make way for Mardi Gras: Save the date for A Mardi Gras Wine Festival, an event presented by St. Thomas Aquinas Church that’s happening at the Aquinas Center (26 Crystal Ave., Derry) on Saturday, Feb. 26, from 6 to 9 p.m. The evening will include samplings of several New Hampshire-made wines, along with live music, raffles, games, a door prize, food and more. Tickets are $40 per person or $70 per couple. Visit stthomasderry.org for more details, or call the church office at 432-5000 to purchase tickets.
Experts explain how to wow with cookies, candy and cupcakes for your Valentine — or yourself
Make your Valentine’s Day a little sweeter with homemade goodies as local bakers share their secrets for jazzing up sugar cookies, getting creative with cupcakes and going fancy with chocolates.
From chocolate-dipped strawberries to homemade truffles and breakable chocolate hearts, here are some sweet ideas for chocolate-y treats you can try out at home this Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate-dipped strawberries
One of the most common treats associated with Valentine’s Day, the chocolate-dipped strawberry is easy to create at home — the key is which type of chocolate to use, said Emilee Viaud, pastry chef and owner of Sweet Treats by Emilee, a home baker based in Milford.
“Baker’s chocolate is what you want to use. You can find it in the baking aisle at the grocery store,” Viaud said. “The top two brands are Baker’s and Ghirardelli, and those can come in a bag or as a bar. … There are options, [like] unsweetened, semi-sweet and bittersweet, and they are based off of the amount of cacao that’s in them. I recommend using semi-sweet for the strawberries, because it kind of gives it a little bit of sweetness and it’s not super bitter.”
Viaud recommends about five ounces of chocolate per pound of strawberries. The fruit itself should be bought fresh, washed, dried and kept at room temperature, never frozen.
“Dryness is super important, because water and chocolate do not mix,” she said.
Inserting a toothpick into the top of the fruit can make it a useful tool for dipping, or you can twist the leaves a bit to turn them into a sturdy handle and prevent them from breaking.
To melt the baker’s chocolate, the easiest way is to just pop it into the microwave. Viaud recommends starting with the smallest size possible, cutting it up or breaking it with your fingers, placing it in a bowl and heating for 30-second increments, stirring after each.
After it’s melted, dipping the strawberries into the chocolate works best when you use the smallest bowl you can, so that you have a deeper level to work with.
“You don’t want a big wide bowl. You want to be able to have at least two to three inches of chocolate so that you can dip the strawberry in,” Viaud said. “You can choose to dip them halfway or all the way up to the leaves, and then you basically just shake the strawberry five or six times to let off all that excess chocolate. … Then you want to place it on parchment paper on a plate or something. Tin foil will not work because it will stick.”
Placing the fruit into the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes after it’s dipped will cause the chocolate to harden. For extra flavor, you can roll them in anything from peanuts or hazelnuts to toasted coconut pieces, chocolate sprinkles or a white chocolate drizzle.
Ashley Reisdorf of Ashley’s Eats & Sweets, based in Raymond, said she has worked with alcohol-infused chocolate-dipped strawberries — a batch she made a few years ago, for instance, featured strawberries infused with Grey Goose vodka using pipettes.
“You poke a hole in the top of the strawberries by the stems with a toothpick, and then stick a pipette of the alcohol in the hole and squeeze it in right before you eat it,” she said.
Homemade truffles
Truffles are also very easy to make because they only require two ingredients — chocolate and heavy cream. Butter is also an optional ingredient to give them an added creaminess, or you can incorporate an extract like vanilla, raspberry, orange, peppermint or coconut for more flavor.
Like with the strawberries, Viaud said she recommends using baker’s chocolate for truffles. About eight ounces of chocolate and two-thirds of a cup of heavy cream would yield 20 tablespoon-sized truffle balls. If you’re using butter and extract, she said, one tablespoon of butter at room temperature and half a teaspoon of extract would be enough for that same amount.
Truffles require creating a ganache, achieved by heating the heavy cream in a pot on the stove until it simmers, or just until you see bubbles. The chocolate should be finely chopped.
“You don’t want to boil it. You just want to make it simmer,” Viaud said. “You’re going to have that chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. You want to add the butter to that bowl of chocolate and then, once the heavy cream comes to a simmer, you’re going to pour that hot cream over the chocolate. … Then, the most important thing is to let it sit and not touch it.”
Allowing the pot to sit for about five minutes will allow the heavy cream to incorporate and melt the chocolate. If you’re using an extract, this is when you’ll add that in next, Viaud said.
“You can mix it in using a whisk, which will help incorporate the liquid into the melted chocolate,” she said. “Then it will come together and basically look like a chocolate hot sauce.”
Once you have your chocolate hot sauce, placing it in the refrigerator for one to two hours will cause it to harden. Viaud recommends covering it with plastic wrap, pushing the plastic wrap down so that it touches the top of the chocolate in the bowl and prevents moisture.
After that time in the refrigerator has passed, the chocolate should become moldable, allowing you to scoop it out and roll into balls using your hands. If the ganache is too sticky, you can use gloves or lightly coat your hands in cocoa powder to help produce smooth truffle balls.
If your truffles have other ingredients like coconut pieces, peanuts or hazelnuts, they should be rolled a second time at room temperature to help them stick. Placing them back into the refrigerator afterward for an additional 30 minutes will then allow them to be fully incorporated.
Cocoa bombs and breakable chocolate hearts
While a bit more involved than truffles or chocolate-dipped strawberries, cocoa bombs are great to enjoy on a cold winter night. Pouring hot milk or water over these hollow balls of chocolate, which are usually filled with flavored cocoa mixes, miniature marshmallows or any other ingredient you want to put in them, causes them to “explode” with flavor inside your mug.
Breakable chocolate hearts. Photo courtesy of Emilee Viaud.
Viaud, who began making her own cocoa bombs in late 2020, now offers all kinds of flavors from traditional milk, dark or white to peanut butter, salted caramel and more.
The traditional round appearance of cocoa bombs is achieved using half sphere-shaped silicone molds, which are available in most big box or craft stores in all shapes and sizes. Unlike for the strawberries or truffles, Viaud recommends using coating chocolate.
“You can really use any type you want, but for cocoa bombs, because you’re molding them and keeping a sphere shape, you really want to use a chocolate that is durable,” she said. “[Coating chocolate] is made with ingredients that help keep it stable and give it that nice shine. … Ghrirardelli has coating chocolate at the grocery store, or melting wafers, is what they call it.”
Melting the chocolate can similarly be done by placing it in the microwave and stirring at 30-second increments. Viaud recommends pouring just about a teaspoon into each individual mold and using a spoon to coat its entire inside. Placing it in the refrigerator for about five minutes and repeating that process a second time will cause your molds to harden well.
“I think that’s the step that a lot of people don’t do, and then their chocolate breaks,” Viaud said. “So it’s important that you repeat that process to get a really thick shell.”
Once it’s completely hardened, you can remove the shells from the mold — the best way to do that is to gently push them out from the bottom with your finger or thumb, as the edges would break most easily, Viaud said. Two half sphere molds equal one cocoa bomb, and heating a saute pan over the stove on low heat will ensure smoother spheres. This is also when any flavorings such as cocoa mixes or marshmallows get added into your bombs.
“You take the edges and quickly put them on the hot pan to melt the chocolate and make it smooth, so that they come together easily,” she said. “You have to have the right pressure, because if you push down too hard, you’ve melted half of it. … So it’s really about having the right touch to know exactly how much of that sphere to melt.”
The chocolate then eventually cools at room temperature, the half sphere molds “glued” together.
If you have heart-shaped molds, you can make breakable chocolate hearts, a process very similar to the cocoa bombs. The difference, Viaud said, is you can fill them with any small candy you want, from M&Ms or Hershey’s kisses to jelly beans or conversation hearts.
“You can use the back of a spoon to kind of crack it open,” she said.
If you’d rather let the experts handle everything this Valentine’s Day, check out this list of local candy and chocolate shops, home bakers and other businesses offering special chocolate treats.
• Candy Kingdom (235 Harvard St., Manchester, 641-8470, candykingdom.shop) takes special orders for chocolate-dipped strawberries, and also offers treats like chocolate red-foiled hearts and assorted heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. • Dancing Lion Chocolate (917 Elm St., Manchester, 625-4043, dancinglion.us) has various bars, boxes, drinking chocolate sets and other items that can make great Valentine’s Day gifts. • Granite State Candy Shoppe (13 Warren St., Concord, 225-2591; 832 Elm St., Manchester, 218-3885; granitestatecandyshoppe.com) is offering a variety of specialty chocolates and candies for Valentine’s Day, like milk, white or dark chocolate heart boxes, Valentine malt balls, chocolate-dipped strawberries and more. • Loon Chocolate (252 Willow St., Manchester, loonchocolate.com) just opened a new retail shop inside The Factory on Willow on Feb. 5, in partnership with 603 Charcuterie. The purveyor of small batch chocolates features 12 flavored bars in addition to a product line that includes cacao nibs, dark chocolate cocoa bombs and a do-it-yourself chocolate elixir kit. • Nelson’s Candy & Music (65 Main St., Wilton, 654-5030, nelsonscandymusic.com) is offering a variety of specialty sweets and treats for Valentine’s Day, from traditional assorted heart-shaped boxes of chocolate to solid chocolate dinosaurs holding tiny hearts. • Pearls Candy & Nuts (356 S. Broadway, Salem, 893-9100, pearlscandynh.com) has assorted milk chocolate heart lollipops, gold foil solid milk chocolate hearts and more. • Sweet Treats by Emilee (Milford, [email protected], find her on Facebook) offers milk chocolate-dipped Twinkies, breakable chocolate hearts filled with assorted candies, and cocoa bombs in several flavors, from milk, white or dark chocolate to salted caramel, peanut butter and cookies and cream. Find her products at the Manchester Craft Market (inside the Mall of New Hampshire, 1500 S. Willow St., Manchester), Locally Handmade (at the Merrimack Premium Outlets, 80 Premium Outlets Blvd., Merrimack), and Junction 71 (71 Route 101A, Amherst). You can also find them at the Milford Farmers Market on Saturday, Feb. 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., inside the Milford Town Hall Auditorium (1 Union Square, Milford). • Van Otis Chocolates (341 Elm St., Manchester, 627-1611, vanotis.com) has assorted chocolate gift boxes, custom chocolate-dipped Champagne bottles and milk chocolate foiled hearts. They’re also taking special orders for chocolate-dipped strawberries.
Elevate a standard sugar cookie to a bake-shop-worthy treat by stepping up your baking game, whipping up a perfect royal icing and decorating with finesse.
Jessica Radloff from Granite State Cakes in Wilton teaches classes and posts tutorials on her Facebook page to help novice bakers make sugar cookies that look professionally decorated. And the best part is, you can focus on the icing instead of the dough.
“While you can make your own cookie dough, there’s absolutely no rule that says you can’t use ready-made dough from the refrigerated section of your local supermarket,” Radloff said.
Here are her tips for making ordinary sugar cookies extraordinary.
Roll and bake
Regardless of whether you make or buy your dough, Radloff advises that you roll your cookie dough out between two layers of parchment paper and place it in the freezer for about 5 minutes to help retain the shapes you cut out and make it easier to transfer to your baking sheet. Once it’s chilled, you can use cookie cutters or get creative; Radloff said you can print a template on a piece of paper and cut cookies with a sharp knife. Then it’s time to bake.
“I’ll preach parchment until the end of my days,” Radloff said. “Line your baking sheet with it. If you have a silicone mat feel free to use it instead. Give your cookies about 2 inches of space in case they spread a little.”
Bake ¼-inch-thick cookies at 350 degrees for 7 to 8 minutes, then let them cool completely before you start icing.
Nice icing
“Royal icing can seem intimidating but it is all about the consistency — too thin and it will never stay where you want it and it will take an eternity to dry. Too thick and it will be impossible to get [a] smooth, satisfying finish,” Radloff said.
Valentine’s Day cookies. Photo by Jessica Radloff.
Once your icing base is made [see recipe in box], add your desired amount of royal icing base to a mixing bowl and add food color until you get the shade you want. Radloff said that color continues to develop over time so mix them in a couple days ahead of time for darker colors. In a pinch, you can microwave your royal icing on the 50-percent power setting for 15 seconds at a time (no more than twice) to help speed up the process.
There are two popular methods of icing cookies, Radloff said. The first is using two different consistencies of icing — one that’s thicker to create a sturdy border and one that’s looser to fill in the spaces you’ve outlined. The second is using one medium-consistency icing that can hold its shape enough to outline but also be smoothed out nicely to fill in the outlines. “I personally prefer the second option — I would prefer not to have to mix double the icing for my cookies when it’s not absolutely necessary,” Radloff said. “[But] some designs and details require different consistencies to achieve different looks.”
When thinning your icing, add water by the drop; consistency can change greatly with even a teaspoon. Medium consistency royal icing looks a bit like ranch dressing, Radloff said. You can test your icing by drawing a line through your icing with a knife and then counting the number of seconds it takes for the line to disappear into the rest of the icing. Medium icing will smooth out within about 15 seconds.
“The best advice I can give a new cookie decorator is to count your icing and then test it out on a piece of parchment paper to make sure it’s where you want it before piping it onto a cookie,” Radloff said. “If it’s too thick and doesn’t smooth out properly, add another mist of water and try again. … If it is too thin you can add half a teaspoon of confectioner’s sugar at a time to thicken it and then test again.”
Decoration perfection
“I would suggest using tipless icing bags so you do not have to go through the hassle of finding, buying and cleaning a ton of piping tips,” Radloff said. “Start small when you first cut your piping bags — you can always cut off more but you cannot add it back.”
Once you outline your cookies, let them set for a few minutes.
“Trust me, it’s worth the few minutes to preserve your mental health,” Radloff said. “The last thing you want after going through all the work to get to this point is for your icing to start dripping off of your cookies because you were too impatient to wait for your outline to set a bit.”
Once your outline has set — it will look a little less glossy and more matte — you can start to fill them in. Start from just inside your outline and work toward the center of each space you are “filling in.”
“You can choose solid-colored cookies for your first time decorating, or you can let your imagination run wild and add polka dots or stripes, choose a different outline and food color — the possibilities are endless,” Radloff said.
Once decorated, cookies should dry for 12 to 24 hours before packaging to prevent moisture in the cookie from seeping out and causing the colors to run or the ice cracking due to not being allowed to fully harden.
Royal icing Jessica Radloff shares her recipe, minus a couple of “secret” ingredients that are key to her icing’s flavor but don’t affect consistency.
6 tablespoons meringue powder (You can use 9 tablespoons of egg whites but make sure they are pasteurized for food safety.) 10 Tablespoons water 2 pounds confectioner’s sugar 1 Tablespoon corn syrup (This is optional but it gives your fully dried icing a softer bite as opposed to the crunchy texture you sometimes find with decorated cookies.) 1 teaspoon almond extract (I use imitation to ensure I don’t have any issues with allergies.)
Add all of your ingredients to your mixing bowl, making sure to sift your dry ingredients to remove all lumps. Mix with a stand mixer or beater for a couple minutes or until the royal icing looks a bit like plaster — it will be thick. Store your finished royal icing in an airtight container with a piece of parchment or plastic wrap laid directly on the surface of your royal icing to prevent crusting on the surface of your icing.
When it comes to Valentine’s Day treats, cupcakes are quintessential.
“They’re made with love, pretty to look at, and, let’s face it, they just make people happy,” said Tara Collins, baker and owner of Collins Cupcakes in Derry. “They’re everything we think about on Valentine’s Day.”
Courtesy of Collins Cupcakes.
Cupcakes have a short, simple set of steps and ingredients that “most people have right in their cabinets and pantries,” Collins said, making them a great dessert option for beginner bakers.
“The great thing about baking cupcakes is that even if they don’t look perfect the first time, they will still taste great,” she said.
The versatility of cupcakes gives bakers plenty of room for creativity and experimentation.
“The customization options are endless,” Collins said, “and the fun thing is, cupcakes are individual [desserts], so each cupcake can be different … and customized to each person’s liking, and, more importantly, you don’t have to share.”
Consider filling your cupcakes with a fruit filling, like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or apples; or with pudding or sprinkles.
“Filling is a super easy way to elevate your cupcakes to a whole new flavor dimension,” said Brianna Lucciano, manager at Cake Fairy Bakery in Hooksett.
Play around with frostings by mixing extracts, liqueurs or candy or cookie pieces into a buttercream frosting base. Then, add a topping, like a single piece of candy — a heart-shaped candy is the perfect accent for a Valentine’s Day cupcake, Lucciano said — or sprinkles, fruit, edible glitter, or chocolate or caramel drizzle.
Courtesy of Cake Fairy Bakery.
“If it sounds good to you, try it,” Lucciano said. “Do you think anyone thought a maple bacon cupcake would be good at first? Definitely not, but someone tried it, and look how beloved that flavor is now.”
One of the easiest ways to jazz up your cupcakes, Collins said, is with food coloring. For Valentine’s cupcakes, place streaks of pink food coloring inside the piping bag, fill it with white buttercream and swirl it on top of the cupcake once it’s cooled.
“Each one will look slightly different than the others, while at the same time complementing one another,” she said.
You can have fun with cupcakes this Valentine’s Day even if you aren’t up for baking them yourself.
“You can literally just go to your local box store and grab some unfrosted cupcakes,” Lucciano said, “and, if you can’t frost very well, grab an ice cream scoop and do a scoop of frosting on top of the cupcake, add some sprinkles or a chocolate drizzle, and you now have a gorgeous dessert that looks professionally crafted.”
Finally, Lucciano said, have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously; even if your cupcakes are a flop, “the thought is truly what counts.”
“So, they came out disastrous? It’s a fabulous story to tell your family and friends about how you tried and completely failed,” she said. “Laughter is the best medicine.”
Valentine’s Day buttercream frosting Courtesy of Tara Collins, baker and owner of Collins Cupcakes in Derry
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter ¾ cup strawberry jam 3 cups powdered sugar
Using a stand or hand mixer, whip butter until smooth. Add strawberry jam, then slowly add in powdered sugar. Mix until all sugar is well-incorporated and buttercream is smooth and creamy. Frost onto cooled chocolate cupcakes and top with fresh sliced strawberries.
Featured photo: Valentine cocoa bombs. Courtesy of Emilee Viaud.
In the fall of 2020 I wrote a column about port wine varieties and their pairings with s’mores. The article spoke to evenings, gathered around the campfire, savoring fine port wines and how they can pair to the welcoming warmth of both the fire and the gooey s’mores.
It is winter and the crisp air and snow are to be enjoyed. So get out and strap on those touring skis or snowshoes. Break out those skates and take a spin on the pond. After your “walk in the woods,” gather around a warm fire and break out the s’mores. But this time try a different spin on the s’mores. Ramp up with a few changes to the mainstay of graham crackers and marshmallow and pair those new s’mores to different wines.
For the traditionalist who likes their s’mores the way they have always had them, I offer the 2019 Sixth Sense Syrah, by Michael David (available at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets at $17.99). This wine hails from their Lodi, California, winery and vineyards planted in 1982. With a color of dark violet and nose of black cherry, plum and espresso, it is a perfect complement to the toast of the brown, melted marshmallow. Flavors of ripe raspberry and licorice, along with a bit of spice, carry through to the finish, pairing nicely with the dark chocolate in the s’mores. This is a real treat for the child that still remains in our adult bodies.
Time for a change-up? Add a little chocolate-covered bacon to the marshmallow, and you get that salty smokiness we all love. What to pair with this combo? The 2019 Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Zinfandel (available at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets at $17.99) brings the fruit-forward experience of the wine to the fore. With notes of strawberry, along with coffee and chocolate, there is a full mouth feel to the experience. The wine was aged on new and used oak, which brings notes of leather and vanilla to the mix. Coming from ancient vines planted in Contra Costa County, east of San Francisco Bay, this wine can be enjoyed now or in future outings for another five years.
Looking to resurrect that child wonderment still within you? How about baking a batch of snickerdoodle cookies and replacing those store-bought graham crackers with the cookies in your s’more? Any of your favorite homemade cookies will do, sugar or chocolate chip, but the cinnamon in the snickerdoodles complements the fruit in the riesling I suggest here. The 2019 Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard Dry Riesling (available at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets at $17.99) is a perfect match! Estate bottled, from grapes grown on the west bank of Seneca Lake, New York, it is true to an old-world Riesling. With a 300-year family history of winemaking in the Mosel region of Germany, Hermann Wiemer came to New York in the 1960’s and found the cool climate and gravel soils of the western shore of Seneca Lake to be like that of the Mosel Valley. The layers of citric and other tropical fruit, along with a slight minerality, complements the sugar and cinnamon of the snickerdoodles.
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, a romantic, snowy afternoon outing must end at a fire pit with s’mores made with chocolate-covered strawberries, paired with a sparkling rosé wine. Mumm Napa Méthode Traditionnelle Brut Rosé (available at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets at $22.99) is the perfect complement to those lush strawberries. It has a beautiful pink color with rich fruit flavors that culminate in an elegant finish. A blend of 80 percent pinot noir and 20 percent chardonnay, it has aromas of black cherries, raspberries, along with citrus. It has a delightful full mouth feel as it bubbles over your tongue. As the label states, this sparkling wine is produced the same way as classic Champagne, that is with a double fermentation, and with a minimum of 18 months of yeast aging.
So release that inner youthfulness and play in the snow and on the ice. And after that, kick back over some adult-themed s’mores, made all the more interesting by changing up the recipes and pairing those new discoveries to different wines.
