Toasting Joffrey's Wedding with Blood Orange Mimosas

Happy day! Callooh! Callay! It looks like King Joffrey is getting married soon. And since we…love?…him so much that we have decided it’s time for a toast from North of the Wall in his honor. 

You may recall from our last North of the Wall post that the oldest one of us is now living in Germany. Since the rest of us have been nice and warm in Atlanta (relatively... Yes, Starks, winter came to the south), we let our oldest in the not-so-frozen north of Germany warm us up with some tasty drinks. 

For our toast today we’ve decided to settle on Prosecco, the Italian version of Champagne which is just a little sweeter than its French cousin. 

But just pouring out a glass of Champagne and toasting with you all would be pretty boring, so let’s make mimosas instead. 

Remembering the Red Wedding and with a nod towards the future, we’re changing up our fruit a little and using blood oranges for our mimosas. 

Blood oranges are a bit different than the typical orange. With a distinctive red coloring to their pulp, these oranges are a bit smaller than navel ones and also a little sweeter. 

Blood Orange Mimosa Recipe:

2 parts blood orange juice 

1 part prosecco

If you prefer to use champagne or another sparkling wine, that's fine too. 

Let's raise our glasses this week, shall we? 

Red Keep Treats: Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Meringues

 Raspberry Meringues with Dark Chocolate Chips

Valentines Day is close enough now that we can't stop thinking about sweets. Looking for a royal treat for your betrothed? Look no further than our raspberry flavored meringues with dark chocolate chips. Inspired by all of the betrothals and weddings in the Red Keep of King's Landing last season, our mouth-watery Red Keep Treats are the perfect sweet that will literally melt in your mouth. They're light and fluffy - just right for your sweetheart (arranged or not).

Besides, who doesn't want to feed their Valentine like a royal Southerner?

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp raspberry extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
2 drops of pink or red food coloring
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Step 1: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare a cooking sheet covered with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat egg whites until soft white peaks form. To check for peaks, turn off your beaters and flip them upside down. Beat until peaks remain on the upside-down beaters.

Step 2: Add sugar, raspberry extract, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat until stiff peaks form. Test for peaks the same way as before. These cookies are naturally white, so I beat in pink food coloring. If you don't have pink, try using one or two drops of red food coloring for the same effect.

Step 3: Stiff in dark chocolate chips. Drop the mixture onto the parchment paper in small clumps, using a spoon. Space each cookie about 1 inch apart. Bake for 20 minutes.

And that's it! Let them cool, and enjoy. But be careful, these cookies crumble easily, so don't pack them too tight.

Red Wedding Bruschetta

A 'Game of Thrones' Inspired Treat to Die For

In honor of the Red Wedding, we thought we'd fix an appetizer! (It's easier to remain calm during a blood bath if all you can think of is what you're going to snack on to feel better) Naturally, we thought of piles of tomato topped with cheese and fresh basil. So while you watch the season finale of Game of Thrones this week, munch on this delicious bruschetta with a spicy kick.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 7 minutes

Makes 15-20 pieces

Ingredients:

6 Roma tomatoes

Fresh basil leaves

1 Baguette 

3 Cloves of garlic

¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

¾ tsp ground red pepper

½ tsp onion powder

1½ tsp salt

1 tsp Italian seasoning 

2 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Step 1: Chop tomatoes and put in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mince garlic and add it to the bowl. Add in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper, onion powder, salt, and Italian seasoning. Stir until thoroughly mixed and let sit. Make sure to do this first so that the mixture has time to marinade.

Step 2: Set oven to broil. Slice the baguette into three-quarter inch slices and set on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for roughly two minutes or until the top of the bread pieces is light brown. Remove from oven.

Step 3: Evenly spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread pieces. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over each piece. Put back in the oven for 3-5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

Step 4: Chop fresh basil leaves and place them on top of the melted cheese. Serve immediately.

And that's it! Pretty simple for a tasty snack, appetizer, or healthy meal. If you have leftovers, pour them over lettuce for salad. 

Yellow Rose of Tyrell Cake

Oh happy day! A wedding! Well, actually, several weddings! As this third season of Game of Thrones winds down, many of our favorite Westeros lords and ladies are getting married--whether they're happy about it or not. We're hoping it all turns out happily, but this is Westeros, so that just doesn't seem likely. 

For us, a happy wedding means good cake. For a Tyrell, a good cake means roses that are growing strong. We've whipped up this rose covered cake to celebrate the upcoming big day for Margaery Tyrell. And did we mention the hazelnut? The cake, icing, and Nutella filling are all hazelnut flavored, making for a delicious treat. 

Today we're giving you the cake recipe, but look out for our rose tutorial coming later this week where we'll teach you this very easy technique to create a beautiful Tyrell Rose Cake of your own.

 Yellow Rose of Tyrell Cake Recipe

Prep time: 30 minutes, bake time 25-30 minutes, icing 30 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
Serves: 12-15 

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter (if you use salted butter then don’t use the ½ tsp of salt)
• 1 ¾ granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp hazelnut extract
• 1 cup room temperature milk

Buttercream Icing Ingredients:

• 2lb bag of powdered sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• ½ cup milk
• 2 ½ tsp hazelnut extract
• Yellow and green food coloring

*You will also need Nutella for the cake filling 

Hazelnut Cake Recipe:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch cake pans or three 6 inch pans. 

Step 2: Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl

Step 3: In a large bowl beat butter until creamy 

Step 4: Gradually add sugar and beat thoroughly

Step 5: Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly before adding the next egg

Step 6: Beat in hazelnut

Step 7: Add flour slowly, adding milk as you add flour in order to help the mixture beat more easily

Step 8: Pour mixture into pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until finished. Bake time will vary depending on size of pan you used.

Crusting Buttercream Icing Recipe:

Step 1: Beat together shortening and hazelnut extract until creamy in a large bowl.

Step 2: Slowly add powdered sugar. You will need to add no more than a cup at a time and beat the mixture thoroughly before adding more. As the icing becomes harder to beat, slowly add milk. Only add a little at a time until all sugar and milk is added and icing is smooth.

Step 3: Separate about a quarter cup of icing from the mixture. 

Step 4: Mix green food coloring into the small portion of icing

Step 5: Mix several drops of yellow food coloring into the larger portion of icing

How to Decorate the Cake:

Cake Layers:

Step 1: Place the first layer on your cake plate. It’s easiest to place the cake upside-down so that the flattest part of the cake is facing up.

Step 2: Add some yellow icing to piping bag with a round icing tip. Put a rim of icing around the top of the cake layer. Then fill in the rim with Nutella. Place the second layer on top of the first. If you are using three 6 inch pans, then repeat this process and add the third layer.

Crumb Coat:

Step 1: To crumb coat the cake, add a thin layer of yellow icing to the cake. You only want to add enough icing to hold in the crumbs and to give the roses something to stick to.

How do you make the roses? See our tutorial here: 

Frosting Roses tutorial by Anna-Lara of House Cook