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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Vanilla Honey Sesame Milkshake for the Great Shakes 2012: Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes Virtual Party {cookbook review}


title: Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes: 100 Thick and Creamy Shakes You Can Make at Home

author: Adam Ried
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
photos: yes
soft cover (also available in hard cover): 208 pages

chapters/sections: Introduction - Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Equipment and a Key Ingredient or Two - Your Father's Oldsmobile: Basic Shakes - Vanilla Shakes - Chocolate Shakes - Tea and Coffee Shakes - Fruity Shakes - Not Your Father's Oldsmobile: Unconventional Shakes - Shakes (and Other Frosty Affairs) from Afar - Index

fun features:  Aside from being a fascinating, pages eleven through thirty-seven are a fantastic primer for stepping into the kitchen and getting friendly with your blender.  Those pages begin with Ried's Introduction in which he sells us on the modernization of the milkshake.  If you weren't already standing at the cash register, that is. The Building Blocks of Milkshake Modernization in which the arsenal that you'll need to modernize those shakes follows close behind. From the ingredients that go in to a word about the recipes within the book to tips and pointers Ried learned along the way.  He also talks about the differences between shakes and smoothies and includes a fun Soda Fountain Beverage Family Tree.  I particularly loved learning the what exactly fun sounding drinks from the soda fountain's of old, such as Cabinet's Concrete's, Egg Creams (no eggs!), Phosphates, and Fre3zes (among others) actually were.  And then settle in for A Brief History of the Milkshake nestled between those building blocks.  I love a good history lesson.  Especially when it's foodie history.

(a few of the many) recipes destined for my kitchen: Mexican Chocolate Shake w/ Chipotle & Almond, Chocolate-Guinness Shake, Chocolate-Earl Grey Shake, Mocha-Cardamom Shake, Triple Peach Shake, Raspberry-Rose Shake, Pineapple Ginger and Lime Shake, Tamarind Shake w/ Sugar & Chile, Lemon-Buttermilk Shake, Peanut-Molasses Shake, Malted Caramel Shake, Cholado, Malted Ballistic Vanilla Shake, Serious Malted Chocolate Shake

my thoughts/review:  A couple of things.  Number one: can you really go wrong releasing an amazing book full of frozen treats at the beginning of a hot, HOT summer?  Number two:  can you really go wrong believing in the amazing Adam Ried (yes, I'm an America's Test Kitchen fan)?  The answer to both of those questions is a resounding NO.  No you can't.  I love everything about this book.  From the brief history of a milkshake in the front of the book to the tantalizing photographs that leave me wanting to go shopping for not only enough ice cream to fill both of my freezers, but also quirky glasses, spoons, and straws in which to serve from and slurp from, I can't stop staring at the pages.

You'll find not only the basics and their amped up versions (extra rich and malted) like Ballistic Vanilla, Classic Chocolate, Serious Chocolate, and Strawberry on these pages, you'll also find a plethora of tempting and unexpected flavor combinations.  See the recipes destined for my kitchen above for a sneak peek at some of those combos.

This book will keep me cool and satisfied for many summers to come.

recipe(s) I have already tried:  I am completely enamored with this milkshake and if I didn't have restraint, I would make myself one daily.  It reminds of some of my favorite desserts: Pastelli and Sesame Seed Toffee Snaps.  Oh.  Yes.
Vanilla Honey Sesame Milkshake

by Heather Schmitt-González
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Keywords: blender snack dessert ice-cream summer

Ingredients (3½ cups/28 oz./850 milliliters)
  • ½ c. cold milk
  • ¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1½ tsp. toasted sesame oil
  • 2 Tbs. (1½ oz./43 g) honey
  • 8 medium scoops (~1 qt./24 oz./680 g) vanilla bean ice cream, slightly softened
Instructions
Combine milk, vanilla, sesame oil, and honey in a blender and blend thoroughly, ~15 seconds.

Add the ice cream and pulse to begin combining. Scrape down the sides with a rubber scraper and continue pulsing, stopping, and mashing until the mixture is well-blended, thick, and moves easily through the blender jar, 30-90 seconds.

Pour into chilled glasses and serve immediately. Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds, if you wish.

slightly adapted from Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes
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photo by Andre Baranowski
about the author:  Adam Ried is the cooking columnist for the Sunday Boston Globe Magazine and a contributor to Cook's Country, Fine Cooking, Hannaford fresh, and other publications.  He is also the kitchen equipment specialist on both the top-rated PBS cooking show America's Test Kitchen and the new PBS series Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen.  As an editor for Cook's Illustrated Adam developed and edited recipes and feature stories and was responsible for the highly respected kitchen equipment testing and ingredient tasting programs and features.  He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

further info: twitterwebsite

For more Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes, click on the banner below.  You'll find more about the book, Adam Ried, recipes tried by other bloggers, and #GreatShakes!
great-shake-2012

*I received a free copy of this book to review from the publisher.  All thoughts and opinions stated in this post are 100% mine.


I am sharing this post with:
Scrumptious Sunday @ Addicted to Recipes
Cookbook Sundays at Couscous and Consciousness gumbobadge fr2button

Would you like to comment?

  1. Velva-Tomatoes on the VineJune 24, 2012 at 10:19 AM

    You can never have too much fun with your blender-Milkshakes and other family delights is a sure family favorite.


    Happy Summer to you.


    Velva

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  2. what fun book! great review --- and your vanila honey shake looks fabulous!

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  3. Can never ever turn down a milkshake!

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  4. This looks like so much fun. I love the chapter titles and the soda fountain drinks section. Also Chocolate-Guinness shake? Oh yeah! I had several cocktails in Ireland that included Guinness, but I would love to try a milkshake!

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  5. I am a huge milkshake fun! What a wonderful book,Heather!

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  6. Love milkshakes, the vanilla honey sesame looks so good. I'd love to read about egg creams though. Hope he uses Fox's U-bet!

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  7. I saw this reviewed on a friend's blog just the other day,.,and after seeing the recipe that you've made, my desires have quadrupled!

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  8. A book all on milkshakes? Though I am not exactly a fan of milkshakes, my kids definitely are! They would certainly love your vanilla honey milkshake! Thanks for sharing, have a lovely week!

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  9. Excellent and super nutty shake.

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  10. The sesame oil is a brilliant idea!T

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  11. Funny you should say that. In his section about egg cream, he talks about Fox's U-Bet and says that any true egg cream aficionado would insist that it's the "only acceptable brand for the job", but his dad used Hershey's and so that's what he uses. And although he acknowledges it, he says to use any chocolate syrup you have on hand because "Better an ersatz egg cream than no egg cream at all". HA! I'm gonna have to agree with him, because never in my life have I seen Fox's U-Bet, so I'd be out of luck if I HAD to use it!! =)

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  12. I agree. Happy summer to you and yours, Velva!

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  13. I know I would love this book and I know I love your picture.

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  14. You're welcome to use it, if you like. =)

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  15. Holy Cow this one looks good! I have a shake maker but admit that I've only used it once or twice. This would help me put it to use!

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  16. An entire book devoted to milkshakes sounds like a mighty fine idea. I also like the idea of sesame and honey paired together. Thanks for linking w/ See Ya In the Gumbo, Heather! Good to have you.

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  17. Couscous & ConsciousnessJuly 1, 2012 at 5:19 AM

    Even though it's freezing here right now, I'm still totally loving the sound of this. I'm intrigued by the sesame oil in this, and some of those other shake flavour combinations sound wonderful. This is definitely a book I have to try and find before summer gets here!!

    Thanks for sharing at Cookbook Sundays.

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