Rudolph's Elixir, Tipsy or not

This is my take on a festive drink called Rudolph's Spritzer, originally made with fruit juices and sodas. I've captured the flavors of the original, while leaving behind a lot of the fructose. For the "tipsy" version, add vodka. Admittedly, I have not tried it that way myself. Cheers!

Candy Cherry Syrup Dex#

What's this? What's it for? Add it to a cola or lemon-lime soda to make a cherry version, yummm; plus it adds fiber. It also turns plain yogurt into something like a go-gurt, but with a lot less sugar.

 It has a super-strong and sour cherry flavor, and reminds me of cherry candy. After a lot of Google searches, I discovered that almond is the secret flavor. I also tried this with real cherry flavor and artificial cherry flavor. In the end, I decided to use both! It satisfies my notion of cherry candy from my childhood, while rounding it out with the real flavor.

Dragon's Blood (Fruit Punch Soda) Dex#

 

This is currently our favorite flavor of home-made soda. I sometimes mix up a batch of "candy cherry flavor" as a separate recipe, because this is such a nice flavor combo to use in other recipes. It is shelf-stable, and can be made in larger batches. I've also broken out the exact amount needed for one 2-liter bottle of Fruit Punch Soda. The syrup is in a previous post, Home-Made Soda: The Syrup, Dex#, and is repeated here in case you prefer making just enough for one bottle of soda.

Same-Day Eggnog Dex#

I really love a glass of eggnog around the holidays. It's a bit fussy cooking up a custard, and worst of all, it takes hours to cool. Grabbing a bottle from the grocery is so much easier and faster! Except, it has all that sugar in it. If only I could make eggnog at home, and drink it right away; then it would be easier than driving to the store.

Well, I've found a way, and it makes us happy. :) It's also Dex#, my term for when the carb to fiber ratio is 5:1, like what it is in blueberries. For Dex#, all the non-fiber carbs count, where as for Dex+ I only look at the fructose to fiber ratio. But enough of that, on to what makes the recipe work!

There are a few special things to consider here:

Spriggan Soda (Lemon-Lime)

You can make a really good lemon-lime using, no surprise, lemons and limes. However, lemons and limes vary in size and cost, they spoil, and also take a bit of work to cut and squeeze. The easier and more consistent way is to use lemon and lime oils for the flavor, and a blend of citric and malic acids for the sourness.

I've been using Boyajian oils, which you can get in a set of three, orange, lemon, and lime. They can also be used in place of citrus zest, 1/4 tsp or 24 drops per 3 tsp zest; really handy. The emulsifiers (gum Arabic and xanthan gum) in the syrup allow the oils to blend in, rather than pooling on top.

Acidity is a huge part of the flavor of citrus, and of soda. You can try only using the citric acid, but using the malic also makes this more like real citrus fruit. Malic acid is the sour in lots of super-sour candy. It's also the main acid in apples.

Home-Made Soda: The Syrup, Dex#

I'm revisiting Soda Syrup, for a couple of reasons. The lemon-lime I had come up with was tasty, but it was too much work to make a glass. The syrup was very thick, and hard to stir in. Cutting, squeezing, and crushing the lemons and limes was a hassle. We stopped making it, and after a while, diet drinks started showing up at home.

This new and improved syrup:

• Is thinner due to not using corn syrup.
• Contains some stevia, a natural sweetener that, best I can tell, has no bad effects on health.
• Has emulsifiers (I will spare you all the details on experiments), which allow use of oils for flavoring, and also gives a nice foam like store-bought cokes.

Crystallized Ginger Ale Dex+

I needed dex+ ginger ale this morning! I've attempted it before with fresh ginger, but wasn't satisfied with the result. This morning, when my youngest daughter woke up sick with a stomach "bug", I knew the time had come to give it another try! We didn't have fresh ginger, but I found a bag of crystallized ginger. About an hour later, I was able to give her a very nice glass of ginger ale. She only drank one sip, and that only because I told her to. Not exactly a rave review. About 15 minutes later, though, she was feeling much better, and was asking for some crackers. Success! And now I have a ginger ale recipe to share; bonus!

Lemon Lime Soda Dex+

Sweetened drinks. They are everywhere. We all love them. When I talk about Dex+, I see the pained look on faces after I mention not drinking sweet drinks, whether sugared, natural juices, or artificially sweetened. The kids struggle with it too. 

We have a Soda Stream, and Simple Syrup Dex+. I've tried to re-create Dr Pepper, and so far failed. Colas are mysterious. Then it struck me: lemon lime soda. We usually have both. How hard can it be? Turns out, not very!

European-Style Hot Chocolate Dex+

I'm so pleased! My daughter went to Hamacon last night, and got hot chocolate. Now, here's the awesome part: she said it tasted so weak and sickly sweet that she had to give it away! She also couldn't drink the Dr Pepper! My scheme is working; my children don't like fructose-laden foods any more. Of course this also means that her friends think our "sweets" aren't sweet enough... I may need to add extra sweeteners when they visit.

In her honor, I wanted to make some real hot chocolate. I've had Jacques Torres' hot chocolate on Valantine's before (hugs to my DH); it's delicious, rich and thick. If I could Dex+ that, wow! But he doesn't share his recipe; hmmm.

Sweet Iced Tea Dex+

makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

• 10 single tea bags
• 300 g Simple Syrup Dex+
• ½ pinch citric acid, or small squeeze of lemon (optional)*

Instructions:

1. Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Pour over tea bags and steep for 3 min, then remove and discard tea bags.
2. Stir in the syrup. Add cold water to make two quarts. Stir in citric acid or lemon, if you want.

*The lemon can easily overpower the tea, as the syrup is not as intensely sweet as traditional syrup. Use caution.

More about Dex+ here.

Sugar and Cinnamon Sugar Dex+

This sugar blend is a good replacement for white sugar on your morning bowl of cereal, or on a tart pink grapefruit. You won't notice the fiber, and the sweetness is very similar.

You may also like a jar of cinnamon sugar. It's great for making cinnamon toast, and we like it on the Frozen Yogurt Dex+ too.

I have tried a variety of cinnamons, from Penzeys Spices: Korintje, China Cassia, Vietnamese, and Ceylon. Whichever kind you get, fresher cinnamon has a stronger, better flavor. Korintje is the "grocery" variety. Vietnamese has the same taste but is much stronger and better. Ceylon is the only "true" cinnamon, and reminds me of red-hots candy; not that it is hot, it's just a different note. I actually like a blend of Vietnamese and Ceylon.

Chocolate Syrup Dex+

Chocolate milk, hold (most of) the fructose please! Coming right up...  Have you found a bag of dextrose and made that simple syrup dex+ yet? If so, go get your Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder, salt and vanilla, and whip up a batch. It'll only take a few minutes, and it is really impressively tasty. 

 

 I wish they sold this kind of chocolate milk to the kids at school!

Simple Syrup Dex+

Traditional simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, combined and boiled long enough to dissolve the sugar completely. It can be used to sweeten tea, coffee, and to make your own Soda Stream syrups. My version of simple syrup tastes about the same as the traditional, and yet has a lot less fructose. Mine also has fiber added to create a fructose to fiber ratio like that found naturally in blueberries. I have added "Dex+" to the names of my "fiber balanced" recipes. It's been very useful in my personal campaign against fructose.