It's A Nice Day For A Dip!

I don't know about you, but where I live, we've had one crazy winter. Whether it be the eight foot snowbanks, having a snowday at least once a week, or the -7 wind chills, I'm pretty sure everyone is craving spring and summer at this point. I, for one, am looking forward to the fresh fruit and vegetables that are finally going to be in season, and not mushy or unripened. However, after a while, slices of fruit can become pretty redundant, and I'm sure you'll be looking for a change while still using all of the fresh produce available to you before the snowbanks return. A great idea to spice up your fruit is to have a dip with it. I've created this dip recipe in hopes of spicing up fruit trays around the world with a blend of creaminess, yet sweetness, while still not overpowering the natural flavors of the fruit.

First, you want to slice up about one stick of butter, give or take a little depending on how many people you are planning to serve. I formulated mine so that it would serve as a hors d'oeuvres for about 20 people. We are slicing the butter into pads so that they have an even cooking time. If we were to just toss a stick of butter into a hot pot, the chances are that while the rest of the stick was melting, what had already melted would burn and you would have to start from scratch again.

Once all of your butter has melted, you want to add brown sugar. Make sure the heat is on low so you don't burn the sugars before they caramelize. I added about a cup of packed, which is equivalent to about a cup and a half of unpacked. We're only using a cup because if you put too much in, itll become very sweet which will in turn make the fruit taste sour. The goal of this recipe is to enhance hte flavors of the fruit, not overpower them. Whisk the two together. 

After you're done whisking, the sugar and butter mixture should look something like the above. You shouldn't be able to see any sugar granules, and the sugar shouldnt separate from the butter if you let it sit for a moment. If this does happen, and they do separate, return the mixture to the low heat and whisk for another minute or so. The sugars just need to carmelize a little bit more and you should be good. Let the mixture cool down until it reaches room temperature. Do not rush this step, let it cool fully.

While waiting for the sugar and butter mixture to cool, mix together some sour cream and vanilla. I did about a 1:1 cup to tablespoon ratio, meaning that since I used about a cup of sour cream, I added a tablespoon of vanilla. This ratio makes it easier so that if you decided to double, or split the recipe, it makes it easier for you. Don't worry if your measurements aren't exact. The reason that you need to make sure that your sugar and butter mixture is because we're using sour cream. Since its a cream based food, it could scald if it gets too much heat exposure.

Once its all cooled, add the sour cream and vanilla mixture to the sugar and butter mixture. Whisk together until its smooth and all a uniform color.

It should look something like this.

Pour it into your serving dish and you're good to go!

Until next time, 

K

NONCOOKS LIFELINE:

Hors d'oeuvres- pronounced orderve, this is a small food eaten before a meal, but not served before it. Hors d’evours and appetizers are commonly interchanged, but differ becuase of this. An appetizer is part of the meal that is served first. On the other hand, an hors d’evours has not correlation to the meal, it is just meant to fill the person eating while the meal is being prepared.

Pads of butter- when you cut butter into pads, you cut it about a centimeter thick  horizontally, so that it forms uniform sized squares.

Caramelize- when sugars melt down form their granulated state. 

Scald- when you heat a milk or cream based substance so much so that it actually burns and becomes extremely bitter or dry depending on whether its a liquid or a solid. ie. milk, or chocolate.