Brandy. Not the singer.
I've never cooked with alcohol before. Never purchased it. Never even been in a liquor store. But I've been dying to try this brandy cheesecake recipe from this book for a few years now, and with T's birthday last week I figured it was time to try it.
I'm not a cheesecake person. He loves it, though and his mom's is so good (I've have it. It is super tasty). So I've been kinda afraid to make it. And I must admit I was a little wary of the whole "buying one ingredient that we can't use for anything other than cooking" thing, either. For these reasons and SO many more, I hadn't tried making it. WELL, I'm glad I finally did. That cheesecake was GONE. T had like four pieces. And finished it up for breakfast the next day. Said it was perfect. And told me to make it again and soon. (win!)
Some things that swayed me (because I do think there are multiple points of view on the cooking with alcohol discussion within nondrinking circles):
* pure vanilla extract is 35% alcohol. Has to be to be considered pure.
* via america's test kitchen: 70% of the alcohol will cook out of a dish in a 12-inch skillet in 20 minutes.
* this recipe is cooked for 7 hours.
Do you have any IDEA how expensive alcohol is?! ugh. SO glad we follow wise counsel and abstain.
4 comments:
what kind of flavor did it have? i had rum cake once and it grossed me out a little. also, i accidentally ate a kahlua chocolate in mexico and it was foul. maybe brandy is a little sweeter?
a brandy flavor? haha. I had never had anything made with brandy before. it tastes lush and creamy. I'm hit or miss with rum, so i agree with you there. I've only had one thing with rum that was good. and i think it was made with imitation rum flavoring, bc when i had a baba au rum at gourmadise it was YUCK. and it kinda gave me a headache to boot!
so i'm with you, for the most part things i've had with alcohol have been gross, but this was seriously the best thing ever AND it was derived from a Washington Post recipe! yaya!
what do you mean you hate buying ingredients that you can't use for anything but cooking? do you hate buying flour? eggs? chocolate chips?
Did you enjoy your fist buying experience. First time I bought something other than cheep cooking wine, I was in the state liquor store and completely baffled. I went in for rum, thinking, "ok, this should be simple." Then there were 30 kinds of rum... I don't even think there are 30 kinds of Cola.
I don't think there's a problem with cooking with alcohol. They'd have said something.
Plus, the point of obtaining is to not impair your judgment (remain in control of your body and your choices), use it as a stimulant, use to avoid confronting issues, damage your kidney's and liver (brain, etc), or develop a dependency.
I've never had any of those things happen after cooking with alcohol. I maybe cook with 1/2 a cup of something or another a month.
If you were cooking with it daily, who knows (scientists), it might start effecting your body, but cooked out used sparingly...I'm not going to judge you
Oh, and rum... I think it's about balance. I made some wonderful chocolate mouse that had some cooked into it (I used it as a substitute for something else), and it was amazing, as long as you had lots and lots of cream on top. Amazing. I think it was too strong a flavor to just substitute like that though, so I'm trying to cut it in half until I find a good balance, but I rarely make it. I think it makes a good subtle flavor, like vanilla.
yay! so glad it was a hit!
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