Pink Elephant: Who We Are

After months of building our coffee company, Pink Elephant got its first account this week!

To begin, let me tell you our story. Mitch and I, two obsessive coffee lovers and budding entrepreneurs, saw our good friends at Oak Grove Coffee Co. in Wooster putting their love of coffee to good use — not just roasting their own coffee to have the freshest, most delicious cup at home, but making a successful business of it! We were inspired and our own coffee roasting dreams took root. With the help of our friends, that dream became a reality when we bought our 1 pound air roaster from Sonofresco, an awesome company from Washington State.

The shiny silver machine fit perfectly in our studio apartment in downtown Millersburg. It now sits on a special roasting table Mitch crafted from plumbing pipes and boards, which we painted blue of course. From there, we began ordering samples of green coffee beans from importers and began the trial and error of finding the perfect coffees — roasting, cupping and drinking cup after cup of coffee, a peaberry from Brazil one day and a single origin from Peru the next. We are caffeinated, to say the least.

Meanwhile, we got the legal work in order — licenses, permits, fees, labels and more. With the help of a friend, we designed our lovely elephant logo. For our packaging, we made stamps, stickers and developed a brand. I, being the social media freak that I am, went nuts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and now, the blogosphere.

Our first order came from a friend who needed a housewarming gift. Then came orders from family and friends. Last week, our first online order came in from a friend in Cleveland. Fun stuff!

Enter Creekside Coffeehouse & Cafe in Killbuck, Ohio. This quaint little coffee shop in downtown Killbuck is exactly the place for Pink Elephant —With a huge variety of coffee and espresso drinks, delicious food, a great atmosphere and awesome service by the friendly staff, Erin and Angie, the place is perfect. And the roasted red pepper soup with smoked gouda is to die for.

After sampling our coffee, they agreed to use it as their house brew and sell bags of our whole bean coffee for customers to take home. We're pumped!

The dream is to take this coffee business to the next level. This first account is the first step! Cheers.

Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

{Hazelnut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream}

snapshots

Brownie Batter Ice Cream

{Brownie Batter Ice Cream}

~Ice Cream Base~

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

6 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tapioca starch

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Over medium heat, add heavy cream, whole milk, half the sugar and the salt in a medium saucepan. Heat until it reaches a bare simmer. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks just to break them. Whisk in rest of sugar. When hot, use half the cream mixture to temper eggs, whisking constantly. Then return egg mixture to cream mixture. Heat until thickened, 2-3 more minutes. Immediately pour into a bowl in an ice bath, stirring occasionally. Chill overnight. Stir in vanilla, then freeze according to ice cream maker instructions. When nearly down, slowly pour in brownie batter. When putting in container, layer in brownie chunks.

~Brownie Batter~

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 + 1/8 cup sugar

1/3 cup natural cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons whole milk

1/4 cup flour

Directions

Melt butter over medium heat. Let cool slightly. Whisk sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl to combine. Pour butter in a steady steam into dry ingredients, whisking. Whisk in vanilla and milk. Add flour and stir to combine.

~Brownie Chunks~
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1-1/4 cups sugar

2/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/3 cups flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 glass baking dish with foil, pressing firmly into pan and leaving a 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray; set baking dish aside. Melt butter over medium heat. Let cool slightly. Whisk sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl to combine. Pour butter in a steady steam into dry ingredients, whisking. Whisk in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating vigorously to blend after ach addition. Add flour and stir just to combine. Scrape into prepared pan. Bake until top begins to crack and a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs, 25 minutes. 

Cut half the batch into bite-sized pieces.

This ice cream tastes like the perfect brownie sundae: Big chewy hunks of brownie, swirls of brownie batter and vanilla ice cream to mellow it all out. Serve atop a warm brownie for pure decadence! 

Quiche, Two Ways

What's better than the best omelet you've ever had? The best omelet you've ever had, with a buttery flaky crust.

That, my friends, is quiche.

{Quiche, two ways}

{Ham & Cheese Quiche}

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
1/2 pound oven roasted ham, sliced
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 cups spinach
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

{Mushroom, Onion & Feta Quiche}

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
1 cup feta cheese
1 onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 cups spinach
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
cherry tomatoes, for garnish

Assemble each quiche separately; then, follow joint directions.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two pie dishes with the crust, crimping the edges. Place a layer of cheese on the crusts. Saute the onion and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat, add spinach and cook for a minute or two. Layer on top of the cheese.

Place the eggs, cream, milk and salt in a big bowl and whip with a hand mixer for one minute on high speedy, until frothy. Pour custard over the vegetables in each pie dish until it comes almost to the top of the crust. Top with more cheese.

Bake for one hour, then remove from oven and jiggle the pan from side to side. If it looks liquidy, it needs more time; If it jiggles just a bit, it's set and is done. Do not overbake.

You can serve the quiche when it cools or, even better, wait until the next day — it tastes even better and reheats beautifully. Let the quiche cool completely, refrigerate overnight. The next day, preheat oven to 350, cut the quiche into slices and reheat in the oven for about 10  minutes, until warm.

I made this for my sister's engagement party, a little get-together featuring heavy appetizers, lots of wine and no sit-down meal. The quiche was a hit, and always impressive. 

And to up the ante a little bit more, add bacon to the mushroom, onion & feta quiche. Trust me on this one.

Great Lakes Porter Ice Cream

It's the weekend. That means beer by night, ice cream by day... but why not both — by night and day? Why not have the best of both worlds? Why not make beer ice cream?

So here we go.

This is crafted with my all-time favorite beer — the rich, smoky, dark, coffee-infused, chocolate-esque porter by Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland: Edmund Fitzgerald. For all you fellow beer geeks, this one's for you.

{Great Lakes Porter Ice Cream}

Adapted from the Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book

Ingredients

12 oz. bottle of Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, or any other strong dark beer

1/2 cup brown sugar

1-1/2 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

2 cups frosted almonds (recipe to follow)

Directions

In a large 4-quart saucepan, combine the beer and brown sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, for about 15-20 minutes until reduced by half.
Add the molasses and salt and stir to dissolve. Add the cream and milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it comes to a bare simmer (small bubbles form along edges of pan). Do not boil.
Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until just blended.
Remove the cream mixture from heat and slowly pour a half cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat with another half cup. Then transfer the yolk mixture to the remaining cream mixture and return to medium heat.
Cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Place a large clean bowl in the ice bath and fit the bowl with a fine-mesh strainer.
Pour custard mixture through the strainer into the bowl in the ice bath. Let cook, stirring occassionally. When cooled, cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight. Freeze according to ice cream instructions.

While chilling, melt chocolate over a double boiler. Set aside. When ice cream is almost finished, add chocolate to form stracciatella. Transfer to a air-tight container. To serve, top with frosted almonds. Or, if you're feeling daring, toss a scoop in a pint of your favorite porter for a beer float!

{Frosted Almonds}

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg white

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

2 cups whole, unsalted almonds 

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Whisk together ingredients. On a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spread out the coated almonds. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a plate to cool.