For more than 80 years, you could purchase only three types of chocolate bars: dark chocolate (launched in 1847), milk chocolate (debuted in 1875), and white chocolate (arrived in 1930).

Few people realize that in 2012, a fourth chocolate joined the group. Valrhona introduced blonde chocolate (which it trademarked under the name Dulcey®), discovered in a kitchen accident.

And just five years later, in 2017, Barry Callebaut unveiled the fifth type, ruby chocolate (photo #6), made from specially selected and processed ruby cacao beans. The first major consumer product using it—a ruby KitKat—followed in 2018.

Blonde and ruby are not “flavored” chocolates. They are distinct formulations, just as milk was added to dark chocolate to create milk chocolate, and the cacao solids were left out of the blend to create white chocolate.

We’ve previously extolled the virtues of ruby chocolate. In celebration of International Chocolate Day, September 13th, we introduce you to our favorite blonde.

Below:

> What is blonde chocolate?

> Why haven’t you heard of it?

> The history of blonde chocolate.

> The science of blonde chocolate.

> Where to find it.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of chocolate.

> The different types of chocolate: a photo glossary.

> The world’s top chocolate houses.

> The year’s 69 chocolate holidays.

 
 
1. WHAT IS BLONDE CHOCOLATE?

Blonde chocolate, is caramelized white chocolate. It was trademarked as Dulcey® by its creator Valrhona, after the French word “dulce,” meaning sweet. Other producers call their products by the generic names blonde/blond chocolate, caramelized white chocolate, and sometimes, gold chocolate.

Barry Callebaut has trademarked the name Caramel Aura® for their blonde chocolate. Valrhona also makes a second type of blonde chocolate called Orelys®† for the professional market.

Unlike standard white chocolate, which is a blend of cocoa butter, milk solids, and sugar, blonde chocolate undergoes the Maillard* reaction to develop its caramel notes—the same process that turns cream into caramel candy.

Under gentle, prolonged heat, the natural milk proteins and sugars react to produce a rich blonde-tan hue. The reaction fundamentally transforms the flavor into a profile similar to that of dulce de leche (itself a Maillard reaction).

A blonde chocolate bar is creamy and melt-in-your-mouth smooth: a velvety texture, a warm golden hue, and a symphony of flavors.

The melt-in-your-mouth feature is the result of 35% cocoa butter—not to be confused with 35% cacao‡ of many milk chocolate bars. Like white chocolate, it contains cocoa butter but no cocoa solids; its distinctive blond color and toasted, caramelized flavor come from the processing of its milk and sugar components.

The initial notes are buttery and toasty, evoking butterscotch and caramel and the essence of freshly baked shortbread.
 

[9] Consumers can buy bars of Valrhona Dulcey; in fact, chocolate lovers owe it to themselves to try it (photo © The Nibble).
 
 
2. WHY YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF BLONDE CHOCOLATE

Blonde chocolate has had a significant impact—but primarily in professional pastry, not as a mass-market candy.

It has not become a consumer category in the way milk, dark, white, or even ruby chocolate (briefly) have.

Yet, Dulcey became Valrhona’s most successful chocolate launch and one of its five leading sellers (note that the bulk of Valrhona sales are to professionals—pastry chefs and chocolatiers).

Why is that?

It originated as a professional couverture ingredient. Valrhona marketed Dulcey to pastry chefs: for creams, ganache, glazes, ice creams, mousses, and molded pieces—not as a grab-and-go candy bar. So far, its influence can be found in restaurant desserts, bakeries, and luxury confections. Some artisan chocolatiers use it, and you can find blonde/Dulcey chocolate bars.

It does not look dramatically new. Blonde/Dulcey chocolate is pale gold or tan. On a shelf, it can be mistaken for white chocolate, caramel chocolate, butterscotch, or a milk-chocolate variant.

Ruby chocolate had an immediate advantage: Its naturally bright pink color is visually striking and easy to communicate on a package or in a photograph.

Its flavor is familiar, but its identity is confusing. The flavor—caramelized milk, which delivers notes of dulce de leche and shortbread—is appealing. But consumers can easily interpret it as salted caramel or toffee, rather than recognize a distinct chocolate type.

It has no clear mass-market flagship product. Most consumers learn a chocolate type through an inexpensive, widely distributed, strongly branded item: a Hershey bar, a KitKat, an M&M’s product, and so on. Ruby received that kind of attention through Nestlé’s ruby KitKat launch.

Dulcey has been sold in bars and baking pieces (discs/feves), but its principal home has remained specialty retail and pastry. Even Valrhona’s U.S. store presents it chiefly as a premium chocolate and baking ingredient.

It competes with a crowded caramel universe. Caramel, salted caramel, dulce de leche, toffee, brown butter, cookie butter, and butterscotch already give shoppers choices in essentially the same flavor territory.

Blonde chocolate is technically more useful to pastry chefs than liquid caramel or caramel fillings, but that functional advantage matters far more in the kitchen than in the candy aisle.

In the U.S., the dominant consumer preferences are already entrenched. According to a National Confectioners Association survey, milk chocolate was preferred by 40% of consumers, dark by 28%, and white by 7%. “Blonde” was not even presented as a separate mainstream choice.

The same survey found caramel to have the broadest appeal among added flavors. In other words, consumers may like what blonde/Dulcey tastes like while choosing it under the familiar word caramel.

In fact, some companies market it to consumers as caramel white chocolate or caramelized white chocolate.
 
 
3. THE HISTORY OF BLONDE CHOCOLATE

Blonde chocolate was a happy kitchen accident at one of the world’s most prestigious chocolate houses.

It was discovered in 2004 by Frédéric Bau (photo #8), the renowned pastry chef and creative director of the French luxury chocolatier Valrhona.

While leading a demonstration at l’École Valrhona—the company’s professional pastry school in Tain-l’Hermitage, the Rhône Valley headquarters of the chocolate company—Bau inadvertently left white chocolate in a hot bain-marie for longer than intended.

Instead of burning or curdling, the chocolate slowly caramelized over approximately ten hours, turning a soft golden hue and releasing warm aromas of toasted shortbread and roasted milk.

Recognizing that this mishap had culinary brilliance, Bau and his team spent eight years perfecting the formulation, texture, and industrialization of the process until Valrhona officially introduced the product to pastry professionals and consumers in 2012 under the trade name Dulcey.
   

[1] Indulge in the creamy, caramelized texture of Valrhona Blond Dulcey 35% cocoa butter chocolate bar (photo © The Nibble).

[2] Laderach Frischoggi blonde chocolate with almonds (photo © The Nibble).

[3] Pastry chefs and chocolatiers buy their couverture in blocks like these, or in discs in the next photo (photo © Valrhona).

[4] Discs, also called fèves (French for beans) or wafers. Flat discs are also called buttons, callets, or pistoles (photo © Valrhona).

[5] A bowl of Valrhona Dulcey crunchy pearls, meant for decorations or inclusions, but you can eat them from the bowl (photo © The Nibble).

[6] You can find dark, milk, white, and ruby chocolate bars in the U.S. It’s less easy to find blonde chocolate bars (photo of blocks of couverture © Barry Callebaut).

[7] Dr. Louis Camille Maillard, who in 1912 first described the chemical reaction now known as the Maillard reaction (photo Public Domain).

[8] Frédéric Bau, creative director of Valrhona and creator of blonde chocolate (photo © Stéphane de Bourgies | Valrhona).  

[10] Macarons made with Dulcey chocolate (photo © Valrhona).
 
 
4. THE SCIENCE OF BLONDE CHOCOLATE

Unlike standard white chocolate, which relies on a simple blend of cocoa butter, milk solids, and sugar, blonde chocolate undergoes caramelization via the Maillard reaction*.

• Under gentle, prolonged heat, the natural milk proteins and sugars react to produce a rich blonde-tan hue and fundamentally transform the milk flavor.
• The resulting profile features warm notes of toasted biscuit, shortbread, dulce de leche, salted butter, and toasted nuts, rounded out by a distinct pinch of salt that tempers the sweetness.
• Per Valrhona, it’s creamy and melt-in-your-mouth smooth, carrying the comfort of butterscotch without the sharp cloying stickiness of boiled caramel candies.

 
 
What Blonde Chocolate Brings to the Table

Before the introduction of blonde chocolate, confectioners and pastry chefs faced a noticeable flavor gap between sweet, dairy-forward white chocolate and deeper cacao-bean chocolates.

Standard white chocolate is frequently criticized for being flat, excessively sugary, and lacking complexity (but check out our favorite white chocolate bars, which are not).

Caramel and dulce de leche can be tricky to work into delicate pastry mediums because of moisture, stickiness, or instability at room temperature. Blonde chocolate solved these culinary challenges by bringing three essential qualities to the table:

• Nuance Without Cocoa Solids. Blonde delivers deep, roasted, nutty complexity while retaining a completely cocoa-solid-free profile, keeping the color light and allowing delicate companion flavors to shine through without competing against the assertive bitterness or tannins of dark chocolate.
• Structural Utility in Pastry. Because it behaves with the same exact temper, snap, and fluid fat structure as premium couverture chocolate, chefs can use it seamlessly for truffles, ganaches, glazes, mousses, and enrobing without having to juggle the high water content of liquid caramel sauces. (See What Is Couverture Chocolate.)
• An Exceptional Flavor Bridge. Blonde’s savory, buttery undertones bridge beautifully with contrasting ingredients that struggle next to ordinary white chocolate, making it an extraordinary pairing partner for tart fruits such as passion fruit, raspberries, and apricots, as well as for roasted coffee, espresso, sea salt, toasted pecans, whiskey, and Bourbon.

Today, blonde chocolate has expanded far beyond Valrhona’s original couverture to become a recognized chocolate style across artisan chocolatiers worldwide, offering dessert lovers a sophisticated alternative that is warm, savory-sweet, and thoroughly distinctive.

Get a bar!
 

[11] Chocolate chip cookies made with Callebaut Caramel Aura baking chips (photo © Barry Callebaut).
 
 
5. WHERE TO FIND BLONDE CHOCOLATE

Here are a few places for starters. If you’re going to try blonde chocolate, start at the top. Less expensive bars won’t give you the best experience (with the exception of Trader Joe’s).

In alphabetical order:

• The Chocolate Season: Blonde Bar With Cacao Nibs (photo below).
• Läderach: Blonde Caramel Tablet and Blond Almond Frischoggi.
• Trader Joe’s private label blonde chocolate bar is made by an Italian producer. Find it on Amazon; at Trader Joe’s it’s just $2.99.
• Valrhona Dulcey Chocolate Bar: Valrhona, Amazon, and Worldwide Chocolate.

 

[11] A blonde chocolate bar with cacao nibs (photo © The Chocolate Season).
 
 

†Valrhona Dulcey® vs. Valrhona Orelys®. Valrhona describes Dulcey as buttery and caramelized (think toasted shortbread, warm milk caramel, and a very smooth creamy finish), while Orelys’s muscovado-driven sweetness yields a molasses-like depth, deeper color and muscovado’s characteristic light licorice notes. For pastry, Dulcey pairs with fruits, nuts, vanilla, and straightforward caramel desserts; while Orelys’ darker sugar profile was created to stand out with coffee, warm spices, banana, citrus, or berry flavors. See the different types of sugar.

‡The better milk and dark chocolate bars state their percentages of cacao. A top milk chocolate bar can be 45% or higher; dark chocolate can range up to 100% (no sugar is added). Connoisseur-quality bars are typically 70% cacao, the percentage which shows the finest bars to their best advantage. Here’s more about the percentage of cacao.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

 
 
   ]]> https://blog.thenibble.com/2026/09/10/have-a-mooncake-tea-party-for-chinas-mooncake-festival/ Thu, 10 Sep 2026 23:32:41 +0000 https://blog.thenibble.com/?p=153298
Continue reading "Have A Mooncake Tea Party For China’s Mooncake Festival" →]]>

[1] A plate of red bean mooncakes (photo © Omnivore’s Cookbook).

[2] Traditional mooncakes with a pot of Chinese tea (photo © In Pursuit Of Tea).

[3] A stack of mooncakes with both traditional and modern designs (stack adapted from Vogue).

[4] A traditional mooncake—lotus seed paste and duck egg yolk—from Hong Kong’s most famous mooncake brand, Mei Xim, pronounced MAY-shin (photo © Yami).  

The Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Mooncake Festival, is one of China’s most traditional holidays.

It occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, a time-tracking system that matches both the monthly phases of the moon and the yearly seasonal cycle of the sun.

This year, the festival falls on September 25th in the Gregorian calendar*.

Much like Thanksgiving in the U.S., it’s a time for family reunions, giving thanks for the autumn harvest, and gathering to admire the bright full moon.

Below:

> What are mooncakes?

> Mooncake gift-giving.

> The world of mooncake flavors.

> Have a mooncake tea party.

> Where to buy mooncakes.

> Mooncake recipes.

> The history of mooncakes.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 15 Chinese food holidays.
 
 
1. WHAT ARE MOONCAKES?

Mooncakes are a traditional Chinese pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As you can see from the photos:

• Shape: Traditional mooncakes can be round or square. The thin, soft crust is baked to a golden brown.
• Made in special molds, the top has raised designs: the Chinese characters for good luck, flower shapes, patterns, etc.
• Fillings: Traditional fillings are lotus seed paste, red bean paste, or black sesame paste. A counterpoint to the sweet paste, a salted duck egg yolk is often placed in the middle to look like a full moon. Mixed nuts, seeds, or even pork can be added.
• Contemporary versions fill mooncakes with chocolate, fruit jellies, or ice cream, and pastry chefs show off their skills in the design.
• Size: Traditional mooncakes are rich and heavy: dense, sweet, and oily. The standard size measures approximately 4 inches (10 cm) across and 1¼ to 1½ inches (3–4 cm) thick. Mini or bite-sized versions typically measure 1.75 to 2 inches (4.5 to 5 cm) in diameter.
• That means they’re high in calories and fact. But this is a once-a-year celebration: Enjoy it.

 
How To Eat Mooncakes

• Traditionally they’re paired with hot green tea to balance the intense sweetness.
• Tradition dictates cutting the cake into small wedges—often quarters or eighths—to share with family and friends.
• Mini sizes are now made so that you simply cut them in half and share (or not).

 
 
2. GIVING MOONCAKES AS GIFTS

Giving someone a mooncake means wishing them health, happiness, completeness, and a happy family reunion.

You can begin giving mooncakes two to four weeks before the Mid-Autumn Festival. A typical schedule:

• 2 to 4 weeks before: Give mooncakes to business clients, bosses, and extended family members.
• 1 to 2 weeks before: Give mooncakes to close friends and immediate family, so they can eat them during the actual celebration.
• You can still gift them for up to a week after the festival.

Traditional baked mooncakes may keep for several weeks, depending on their packaging and ingredients. The newer style, fresh snowskin mooncakes, spoil quickly and require refrigeration.

Give perishable types closer to the actual holiday date.
 
 

The classic Cantonese-style mooncake usually has a thin, golden-brown baked crust, decorative mold pattern, and a dense sweet filling. Each region has its favorites. Traditional fillings include:

• Black sesame: Used alone or combined with fillings such as glutinous rice (mochi) or salted duck egg yolk.
• Five-kernel/five-nut filling (wǔrén): A textured mix of nuts and seeds, commonly including walnuts, sesame, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, peanuts, or almonds. Recipes differ by region.
• Jujube-date paste: Dark, fruity, and lightly tangy.
• Lotus-seed paste: Often considered the most luxurious classic filling, particularly white lotus paste.
• Mung-bean paste: Smooth, mild, and sweet.
• Red bean paste: Earthier and more bean-forward than lotus paste.
• Salted duck egg yolk: Typically set inside lotus or bean paste; its round golden form represents the full moon. One or two yolks are common, and some elaborate versions use more.
• Savory fillings: Particularly in regional styles: minced pork, ham, dried shrimp, mushrooms, and other savory ingredients.

What’s with the egg yolks?

The yolk tempers the sweetness and gives the pastry a sweet-salty contrast. The best-known Cantonese combination is white lotus paste with salted egg yolk.
 
Regional Variations

Long before modern bakers put a 21st-century spin on them, mooncakes varied greatly across China. Beyond lotus paste and egg yolks, even the “classic” mooncake flavors have varied, with bean-based, floral, fruit-adjacent, nutty, and savory styles. Examples:

• Cantonese: Lotus paste, red bean, egg yolk, five-kernel, mixed savory-sweet fillings.
• Suzhou: Flaky, layered pastry with sweet fillings but also savory minced pork and ham versions.
• Teochew: Often flaky; taro/yam, mung bean, and salted egg yolk are common.
• Yunnan: Can feature rose, nuts, or local ingredients.
• Fujian: Often larger and more rustic, with nuts, sesame, jujube, candied winter melon, and lard-rich pastry.
• Shanghai/Jiangnan: Savory fresh-pork mooncakes are a major seasonal specialty.

 

[7] Purple sweet potato is one of the more contemporary flavors. Here it’s filled with blueberry ice cream (photo © Suncore Foods).
 
The Modern Flavor Diaspora

As mooncake traditions moved beyond China, they evolved in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and overseas Chinese communities. Bakers used familiar local ingredients to appeal to younger generations and customers outside of the community.

First came tropical and other Asian-influenced flavors:

• Durian: A major Southeast Asian adaptation, especially popular in Malaysia and Singapore.
• Fruit pastes: Lychee, melon, mango, and other translucent fruit pastes turned up in contemporary chilled styles.
• Pandan: The “vanilla of Southeast Asia” is, not surprisingly common in Southeast Asian mooncakes. Grassy and vanilla-like, pandan is often paired with lotus, mung bean, coconut, or egg yolk.
• Pineapple: Especially linked to Taiwanese baking traditions, including the popular Taiwanese pineapple cake. In a mooncake, it provides tartness that cuts through the richness; it can be paired with salted egg yolk.
• Taro/yam: Now widespread, if not purely “new.”

 

[8] Matcha snowskin mooncakes filled with red bean paste. Here’s the recipe (photo © Cooking Therapy).
 
The Creation Of Snowskin Mooncakes

The biggest leap forward was the emergence of snowskin mooncakes in Hong Kong in the 20th century.

Unlike the traditional baked wheat pastry, snowskin mooncakes are not baked. They cover the filling with a soft, chewy glutinous-rice exterior (like mochi) and are served chilled.

These lighter, contemporary pastries were especially well-suited to flavors that would feel unusual in an old-style lotus-paste cake:

• Chocolate
• Coffee
• Cream cheese
• Custard
• Ice cream
• Lychee
• Mango
• Matcha
• Molten lava
• Passionfruit
• Strawberry

The lighter style also begat colorful skins: pale pink, green, yellow, purple, blue, and other shades, made with natural ingredients or food colorings. (Matcha, for example, can tint a skin green, while fruit and vegetable ingredients can create pink, purple, or yellow tones.)

Are you ready to have a Mid-Autumn Festival tea party? (We just created the idea; it’s not a thing in Asian communities.)
 

[9] A tray of mooncake molds with different designs (photo © Constellation Inspiration).
 
 
4. HAVE A MOONCAKE TEA PARTY

Get different flavors of mooncakes—including traditional and modern varieties. Put on the tea kettle, pop the bubbly. And decorate.

• String colorful paper lanterns. In many Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, lanterns brighten the night and symbolize the moon’s glow..
• Eat mooncakes. Sharing round pastries symbolizes wholeness and family unity.
• Gaze at the moon. Gather outdoors to admire the beauty of the full moon, sip tea, and share festive foods.

If weather obscures the sky and prevents moon-gazing, the celebration simply shifts indoors. The cultural essence of the holiday remains unchanged.

Beverages

Because traditional mooncakes are rich, dense, and sweet, the best drinks will have acidity, herbal lightness, or crisp effervescence to cleanse the palate.

Non-Alcoholic Drinks

• Apple Cider with Ginger: Warm or chilled spiced apple cider lightly infused with fresh ginger.
• Green tea or tisane (herbal tea): hot definitely; iced optional.
• Sparkling yuzu or pomelo/grapefruit soda.

Alcoholic Options

• Dry Gewürztraminer, such as an Alsatian: floral and lychee-scented.
• Sparkling wine.

 
Party Soundtrack

The playlist should balance gentle, reflective evening tones with warm, celebratory energy.

Popular Selections

• “Dancing in the Moonlight,” King Harvest
• “Fly Me to the Moon,” Frank Sinatra
• “Harvest Moon,” Neil Young
• “Moondance,” Van Morrison
• “Moon Song,” Phoebe Bridgers
• “Pink Moon,” Nick Drake
• “The Whole of the Moon,” The Waterboys

 
Classical Selections

• “Clair de Lune,” Claude Debussy
• “Moonlight Sonata (Piano Sonata No. 14),” Ludwig van Beethoven
• “Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21,” Arnold Schoenberg
• “Song to the Moon” (aria from “Rusalka”), Antonín Dvořák
• “Vaga luna, che inargenti (Lovely moon, who sheds silver light, arietta),” Vincenzo Bellini

 

[10] These mooncakes from Lady M bridge the traditional and the contemporary, in pistachio, yuzu cheesecake and red bean (photo © Lady M).
 
 
5. WHERE TO BUY MOONCAKES

A starter list:

• Ăn Xôi: traditional mooncakes with Vietnamese-influenced flavors.
• Kee Wah Bakery: lotus seed/egg yolk, red bean, date paste, mixed nuts with ham.
• Lady Wong, elegant packaging.
• Mariebelle: lotus seed and pineapple flavors in contemporary designs.
• Lady M.: Traditional shapes with modern flavors (photo #10, above).
• Weee: This online grocer specializing in Asian foods, has a broad selection.
• Also check at Costco and Walmart.

 

[11] A Vietnamese-style mooncake with festive accoutrements (photo © Mooncakes by Ăn Xôi).
 
 
6. MOONCAKE RECIPES

Prefer to bake rather than buy? Mooncakes are not very difficult to make, but the process has many steps and takes patience.

• Red bean and other flavors from Omnivore’s Cookbook (photo #6).
• An assortment of recipes from different bloggers.
• Matcha red bean mooncakes (photo #8).
• Mini mooncakes.

 
 
7. THE HISTORY OF MOONCAKES

A mooncake—yuèbǐng—literally “moon cake” or “moon pastry”—is a traditional food of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The connection between round cakes, moon worship, and the autumn harvest is ancient, but the precise origin of the modern mooncake is difficult to pin to one date or dynasty. What we do know:

• Early roots: Autumn moon offerings were part of longstanding Chinese ritual. Round cakes became associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival and its themes of harvest and reunion.
• Tang dynasty (618–907): Many accounts place recognizable festival mooncakes in this period, although origin stories vary and should be treated as tradition rather than a fully documented single invention.
• Yuan-to-Ming transition (1368): A popular legend says rebels hid messages inside mooncakes to coordinate an uprising against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. It’s an enduring story, but historians generally treat it as folklore rather than settled fact.
• Regional development: Over centuries, different regions developed distinct pastries—especially the glossy, molded Cantonese mooncake; the flaky Suzhou mooncake; and varieties from Beijing, Yunnan, Chaoshan/Teochew, Fujian, and elsewhere.
• Modern gift culture: In the 20th century, mooncakes increasingly became premium seasonal gifts. Their packaging, branded collections, and creative flavors have become almost as significant commercially as the cakes themselves.

 
 
The Mid-Autumn Festival spread through Chinese communities across East and Southeast Asia, so mooncakes developed local identities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and beyond. Asian Inspirations gives a useful overview of that broader regional evolution.

For the origin story—the legend of the moon goddess and the rabbit—see “The Romantic Myth of Moon Fest.”
 

[12] Taiwanese mooncakes and a pot of tea (photo © The Foundry Bakery).
 

---

 
*The 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar falls between September 7th and October 8th in the Gregorian calendar.
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

 
   ]]> https://blog.thenibble.com/2026/09/03/welsh-rarebit-or-is-it-welsh-rabbit-for-welsh-rarebit-day/ Thu, 03 Sep 2026 19:14:55 +0000 https://blog.thenibble.com/?p=161386
Continue reading "Welsh Rarebit…Or Is It Welsh Rabbit…For Welsh Rarebit Day" →]]>

September 3rd is National Welsh Rarebit Day, a dish that should be called Welsh rabbit.

A beloved comfort food in Wales, which originated as supper, it’s also delicious as a lunch or brunch dish.

Take a bite: Consider rarebit vs. rabbit, enjoy the recipe, and discover why someone changed the name because he felt that a dish could not be called “rabbit” if it contained no rabbit.

> What is Welsh rarebit?

> The name “rarebit.”

> The recipe.

> Cheese sauce tips.

> The history of Welsh rarebit.

> Other dishes that don’t contain their “name” ingredient.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of cheese.

> The history of Cheddar.

> The different types of cheese: a photo glossary.

> Sourdough bread, an ideal base for Welsh rarebit.

> The year’s 30 cheese holidays.

> The year’s 28+ sandwich holidays.

 
1. WHAT IS WELSH RAREBIT?

Welsh rarebit is far more than melted cheese on toast. It even has its own food holiday: September 3rd.

The beloved Welsh dish consists of a slice of hearty toast topped with a rich cheese sauce, usually made with sharp Cheddar.

Into the sauce goes ale or beer, mustard, and seasonings such as Worcestershire sauce or cayenne. The cheese sauce is poured over toasted bread, then goes under the broil to get bubbling and golden (photo #2).

The result is a comfort-food supper: crisp at the edges, molten in the middle, and substantial enough to turn a few basic ingredients into something memorable.

Welsh rarebit began life in print as Welsh rabbit. The folklore is that when a husband went out hunting and failed to catch a rabbit for dinner, the wife had to use cheese and bread to put food on the table.

Welsh rabbit is close to fondue, but rather than dipping bread in a communal pot, the molten cheese is poured over the bread.

You can also think of it as an open-face grilled cheese sandwich, elevated enough to be dinner.

 
2. THE NAME RAREBIT

There is no evidence that “rarebit” was the original name of the dish. In 1785, cookbook author Francis Grose described a “Welch rabbit” as “a Welch rare bit,” apparently offering “rare bit” as an explanation of the name.

But that wording may itself be an attempt to rationalize an already puzzling expression. It’s a humble dish, not exactly a rare bit (i.e., a choice morsel).

The dish was first recorded as Welsh rabbit in 1725 and it appears in Hannah Glasse’s 1747 cookbook; the altered form Welsh rarebit appears later, around 1781.

No one knows exactly why the name changed. It may have been an effort to clarify that the dish contained no meat, or simply to fix a name that seemed too absurd to take literally.

Whatever the reason, rarebit never became a general culinary term; its only usage is in the name Welsh rarebit.

Later commentators often reversed the direction and claimed that rabbit was the corruption of rarebit, not vice versa. However, the earlier printed evidence points to rabbit.

As Henry Watson Fowler (1858—1933), an English lexicographer and commentator on the usage of the English language, famously put it in 1926:

“Welsh Rabbit is amusing and right. Welsh Rarebit is stupid and wrong.”

It captures the central point: The absurdity of “Welsh rabbit” was probably deliberate, while “Welsh rarebit” looks like a later attempt to make the name sound logical.
 

[6] A Welsh rarebit topped with sliced tomatoes isn’t a stretch from our basic Cheddar-and-tomato grilled cheese (photo © Suzy Hazelwood | Pexels).
 
 
3. RECIPE: WELSH RAREBIT

While the classic recipe is made with sharp Cheddar, you can use any semi-hard cheese, or a blend. Like fondue, Welsh rabbit is a great way to use up scraps of cheese.

Beer adds richness and flavor. If you don’t want to use alcohol, use a good non-alcoholic beer; or substitute chicken or vegetable broth.

Some older recipes include an egg yolk; this one doesn’t.
 
Ingredients For 4 Servings

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup dark ale or other beer
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups sharp Cheddar, shredded
• 4 slices sourdough or country-style bread
• Optional: sliced tomato, bacon
• Optional garnishes: fresh snipped chives or thyme
• Optional: fried or poached egg (this is called a buck rabbit or golden buck rabbit)
   

[1] The humble Welsh rarebit—cheese sauce on toast—makes a tasty lunch or dinner (photo © The Nibble).


[2] The cheese gets bubbly and brown under the broiler (photo © Richard L | Pexels).


[3] A sturdy piece of Italian bread holds up this rarebit, topped with microgreens and accompanied by tomato relish and a glass of dark ale (photo © Jonathan Hidalgo | Pexels).


[4] Dress it up with a mixed garnish: here, a macédoine (small dice) of red bell pepper, chili flakes, minced herbs, and frizzled onions (photo © Nadin Sh | Pexels).


[5] Fancy schmancy: a rarebit surrounded by cherry tomatoes, topped with baby arugula, and crowned with a frico (photo © Larysa Stratiichuck | Pexels). ________________
 
*You can use a different bread, but a thick, sturdy, crusty artisanal loaf works best here. You need bread that won’t get soggy.
 
Preparation

1. MELT the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is sizzling, whisk in the flour and cook for a minute, stirring until smooth (you have just created a roux: equal parts flour and fat used as a base and thickening agent).

2. STIR in the ale. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir for two minutes, or until it thickens.

3. REDUCE the heat and slowly whisk in the ale; there should be no lumps. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, paprika, cayenne, and salt.

4. STIR in the cheese with a spatula, continuing to stir until it is completely melted and the sauce is smooth. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl to slightly cool and thicken (if you have a pitcher, use that: It makes pouring the cheese sauce over the toast easy).

5. PREHEAT the broiler. Separately, toast the bread.

6. PLACE the toast on a heatproof pan. If you’re using the optional tomato and/or bacon, place them on top of the toast. Pour the cheese sauce over each slice of toast. Broil until bubbly and browned. Garnish with the optional herbs and serve immediately.

Variations

The first-known printed recipe appears in 1747, in The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse. She offers four variations:

• Welch rabbit: toasted bread with slices of melted cheese and mustard.
• English rabbit: toasted bread soaked in red wine† with slices of melted cheese.
• English rabbit: toasted bread soaked in red and white wine† with slices of melted cheese and mustard.
• Scotch rabbit: toasted bread with slices of melted cheese.

Additionally, there are:

• Blushing bunny, made with tomato (or tomato soup/ketchup) added to the cheese sauce, giving it a pinkish-orange blush.
• Golden buck rabbit (or simply, buck rabbit), topped with a poached egg.
• Yorkshire buck rabbit, with bacon added.

 
We invite you to create your own rabbit. Our neighbor first puts ‘nduja, a spicy sausage spread, on the toast. When we don’t have a fresh tomato, we use sautéed mushrooms and onions.

If you want to host a rarebit brunch, lay out a variety of toppings and let participants customize their own.
 

[7] A “buck rabbit,” also called a golden buck rabbit (a buck is a male rabbit) is rarebit topped with a fried or poached egg (photo © Nadin Sh | Pexels).
 
 
4. CHEESE SAUCE TIPS

The first requirement when melting cheese is to prevent it from becoming greasy (from separating) or clumpy. The key is low heat.

1. Shred, grate, or finely chop the cheese rather than adding large pieces.
2. Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
3. Heat a splash of milk or cream in the saucepan over low heat until steamy.
4. Gradually stir in the shredded cheese a bit at a time.
5. Stir continuously, preferably with a whisk, so cheese does not settle and overheat on the pan bottom.
6. Keep the heat low and stir gently until the cheese completely blends into a smooth sauce.

 
We’ve found no meaningful difference among various suggested stirring patterns—zigzag, circular, or always in one direction. The important thing is to keep the sauce moving.
 
 
5. THE HISTORY OF WELSH RAREBIT

Welsh rarebit began life in print as Welsh rabbit, a name first recorded in 1725—although the dish has never contained rabbit.

The later term “rarebit,” which appears in the late 18th century, seems to have been an attempt to make sense of a deliberately absurd old name.

One enduring (and endearing) piece of folklore says the meal was what a Welsh household ate when the hunter came home without a rabbit. Having no meat, the wife pulled together bread and cheese for supper.

The dish belongs to a very old British tradition of eating roasted or melted cheese with bread. Wales had a strong dairy culture, and cheese was a practical, sustaining food: it preserved milk and supplied protein in places and seasons where fresh meat was less dependable.

A Welsh term, caws pobi—“baked” or “roasted cheese”—appears in 16th-century references. That establishes a cultural connection with Welsh melted-cheese dishes, although it does not prove a direct, uninterrupted line to the particular recipe now called Welsh rarebit.

1785, the recipe was familiar enough to appear in Hannah Glasse’s influential cookbook, “The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy” (1747), which gives recipes for Welsh rabbit as well as English and Scotch rabbits.

The term “Welsh rarebit” came later, often dated to 1785. “Rarebit” has no established independent meaning outside this dish.

Thus, most modern dictionaries and food historians treat it as a later alteration of “rabbit,” perhaps prompted by diners or publications who took the joke too literally and assumed the original name must be an error.

By the 19th and 20th centuries, “rarebit” became common on menus and in cookbooks, while many writers defended “rabbit” as the older and wittier form. We concur; although Welsh rarebit is now the more usual menu name.

 
6. OTHER DISHES THAT DON’T CONTAIN THEIR “NAME” INGREDIENT

There’s a rich culinary tradition of dishes named after ingredients they do not actually contain.

Many originated as humorous, satirical, or frugal substitutions—often mocking regional diets or making a modest pantry meal sound grand—while others stem from historical culinary shorthand or visual mimicry. Consider:

• Boston cream pie is not a pie, but rather a two-layer sponge cake filled with vanilla custard and topped with chocolate glaze. It was named during an era when cakes and pies were baked in the same shallow tins.
• Cheesecake is not a cake, but a single-crust custard pie. The custard is flavored with cream cheese.
• Grasshopper pie contains no insects, taking its name solely from the bright green color imparted by crème de menthe (many grasshopper species are green).
• >Head cheese is not a dairy cheese but a seasoned meat terrine or aspic made from the cooked edible parts of a pig or calf head.
• Mock apple pie, popularized on the back of Ritz cracker boxes during the Great Depression, contains no apples. The buttery crackers are soaked in a syrup of sugar, water, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and cinnamon, meant to replicate the tender texture of spiced apples.
• Mock turtle soup was created in the 18th century as an economical substitute for green sea turtle soup. It uses calf’s head, brains, and organ meats to approximate the gelatinous texture and flavor of actual turtle.
• Plum pudding (also called Christmas pudding) contains no plums. In 17th-century English, “plum” was a generic term for dried grapes (raisins), which form the base of the steamed fruit cake. (In Britain, “pudding” refers to dessert.)
• Rocky Mountain oysters, sometimes called prairie oysters, are breaded and deep-fried bull calf testicles.
• Scotch woodcock contains no game bird whatsoever. It’s simply scrambled eggs enriched with butter and cream, served on toast spread with anchovy paste or Gentleman’s Relish‡”.
• Sweetbreads are neither sweet nor bread, but are the thymus or pancreas glands of young calves or lambs.

________________
 
†In this older preparation, the bread was toasted on both sides, placed in a dish, and wine was poured over it to absorb—enough to flavor and soften the bread, but not enough to make it collapse. The wine-absorbed bread was covered with thinly sliced cheese, often laid on quite thickly; and the dish was put before a fire or under a broiler until the cheese melted, browned, and bubbled.

The initial toasting helped the bread retain some structure, while the wine softened the interior and gave it a rich, savory flavor. The finished texture would be crisp or browned on top, tender and wine-scented underneath, with melted cheese binding everything together.

If you want to use wine, brush or spoon it over the toast, one or two tablespoons per slice, before topping with cheese and broiling.

‡Gentleman’s Relish has bit the dust: The iconic 198-year-old Patum Peperium anchovy spread was retired in early 2026 by its manufacturer, AB World Foods, due to declining retail sales. It was a strongly flavored anchovy paste made primarily from salted anchovies blended with butter and a “secret mixture” of herbs and spices. Intensely salty, savory, and fishy, it was typically spread thinly on toast or crackers.

The closest currently available alternative appears to be Fortnum & Mason’s Fortnum’s Relish, an anchovy-based spread in the same pungent, highly seasoned tradition. It’s flavored with dill, garlic, and Sarawak pepper, so it will not be identical to Patum Peperium, but it should give Scotch woodcock the required salty, savory underpinning.

Or make your own with this quick recipe: Mash or blend anchovy fillets with softened butter, a small amount of fine breadcrumbs, and pinches of cayenne, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper. This recreates the buttery, spiced character that regular anchovy paste lacks.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

 
 
  

 

]]> https://blog.thenibble.com/2026/08/21/festive-spumoni-baked-alaska-recipe-for-national-spumoni-day/ Sat, 22 Aug 2026 03:56:43 +0000 https://blog.thenibble.com/?p=161031
Continue reading "Festive Spumoni Baked Alaska Recipe For National Spumoni Day" →]]>


[1] This spumoni ice cream cake recipe inspired us to make our easy loaf cake version (photo © The Nibble).


[2] Our Spumoni Baked Alaska hack. The recipe follows (photo © The Nibble).


[3] Spumoni for four. You can purchase it here (photo © Lezza).


[4] Make an easy meringue with liquid egg whites (photo © The Nibble).  

August 21st is a special day for us: National Spumoni Day.

Growing up, we couldn’t wait to go to our local Italian restaurant with our parents. It wasn’t for the Italian food: Mom was a great cook and made the Italian-American repertoire as fine as any restaurant (no one has ever topped her lasagna).

But at the restaurant, we couldn’t wait to get through the meal to order dessert: spumoni!

To a child, this Neapolitan specialty, with layers of three different colored and flavored ice creams—chocolate, pistachio, and cherry—was the best dessert ever‡.

Sure, we had plenty of ice cream, sundaes, and that American invention, Neapolitan ice cream bricks, three layers, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. (These seem to have disappeared as standalone bricks, but can now be found in ice cream sandwiches.)

But that restaurant’s spumoni contained maraschino cherries, pistachios, and chocolate chips.

Then one sad day it happened: The restaurant closed. That spumoni was no more, and any spumoni we encountered elsewhere was commercial fare, purchased by restaurants from a supplier. Meh.

Years later, we found a recipe for Spumoni Baked Alaska—an exciting concept, but the recipe was labor-intense.

So we created this hack with store-bought ingredients, and it’s been one of our signature special occasion desserts ever since.

Below:

> Spumoni Baked Alaska recipe: the easy hack.

> How to brown the meringue if you don’t have a kitchen torch.

> More uses for a kitchen torch.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The different types of ice cream: a photo glossary.

> The history of spumoni.

> The history of the ice cream cake.

> The history of ice cream.

> The year’s 50+ ice cream and frozen dessert holidays.
 

[5] A kitchen torch is relatively inexpensive, and has numerous uses beyond browning meringue. See them below (photo © The Nibble).

 
 
RECIPE: EASY SPUMONI BAKED ALASKA

We use an uncooked French meringue—our quick meringue—made with pasteurized liquid egg whites. There’s no saucepan, thermometer, or heating over the stove.

You can use whatever three flavors of ice cream you like. We chose the three flavors most often found in classic Italian spumoni.

If you can’t find either cherry or cherry vanilla ice cream—or if you prefer to do it—stir chopped brandied cherries into regular vanilla ice cream (regular maraschino cherries if children will be sharing). You can buy them or make them.

The ice cream cake needs to be frozen overnight. It can be prepared several days in advance.

Ingredients

• Pound cake loaf
• Pint of chocolate ice cream
• Pint of pistachio ice cream
• Pint of cherry or cherry vanilla ice cream

 
For The Meringue

• 4 pasteurized egg whites*, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ¾ to 1 cup superfine sugar†
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
 
Preparation

Soften the ice cream on the countertop for 10-15 minutes. Note that you will not use the entire pints

1. LINE an 8 x 4 inch, 8½ x 4½ inch, or 9 x 5-inch loaf pan pan with plastic wrap, leaving enough overhang to form handles to lift out the frozen dessert.

2. SLICE the pound cake into 1-inch-thick slices. Arrange enough slices in the bottom of the loaf pan to create a snug, even cake base. Trim pieces as needed to fit.

3. ADD the bottom layer of ice cream. We typically start with chocolate on the bottom, pistachio in the middle, and cherry on top, but the order is up to you. Smooth with a spatula. Freeze until firm, about 10 to 15 minutes.

4. REPEAT with the middle layer of ice cream. Freeze until firm.

5. REPEAT with the top layer of ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight. When ready to serve, proceed with the meringue.

6. MAKE the meringue. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Beat until the meringue is thick, glossy, and holds stiff peaks.

7. SPREAD the meringue completely over the frozen ice cream cake, sealing it all the way to the base so that no ice cream is exposed.

8. BROWN the meringue quickly with a kitchen torch. Immediately bring your dessert to the table.
 
 
BROWNING MERINGUE WITHOUT A KITCHEN TORCH

Whatever browning technique you use, we must reiterate: the ice cream cake must be completely frozen and 100% covered in meringue.

The Broiler Technique

A torch gives you the most control over browning, but the broiler is the second-best option. It’s faster than the oven.

Use a shallow metal pan or baking sheet that is safe for both freezer and broiler. Do not place a frozen glass or ceramic dish directly under the broiler unless its manufacturer specifically states that it is safe for that use.

• Preheat the broiler fully.
• Place the Baked Alaska on a broiler-safe pan, with the rack several inches below the broiler.
• Broil while watching constantly, rotating the pan as needed, until the meringue is golden. This is quick: 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Do not turn away, because meringue can scorch quickly.
• Remove immediately and serve.

 
The Oven Technique

At 500°F, the oven gives more even overall browning; under the broiler, browning generally takes only 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

As with the broiler technique, use a shallow metal pan or baking sheet that is safe for the freezer-to-oven temperature change.

• Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C), or as high as your oven safely reaches.
• Place the completely frozen, fully covered ice cream cake in the hot oven for approximately 3–5 minutes. Watching it closely is essential, until the meringue is golden brown.
• It is now officially “Baked Alaska.”

 
 
MORE USES FOR A KITCHEN TORCH

Beyond crème brûlée and meringue-topped pies, a kitchen torch comes in handy for:

• Charring Vegetables and Fruits: Quickly blister the skin of tomatoes, bell peppers, or chili peppers to help with peeling and impart a smoky flavor, or caramelize the surface of grapefruit halves sprinkled with sugar.
• Melting and Browning Cheese: Quickly melt Gruyère, provolone, or Parmesan on top of French onion soup, hot sandwiches, or gratins.
• Melting Marshmallow Toppings: Toast marshmallows for s’mores, and brown marshmallow fluff, mini marshmallows, or marshmallow crème on sweet-potato casseroles, dessert bars, other desserts, and hot chocolate.
• Releasing Molded Desserts: Gently apply brief heat to the outside of metal molds or ramekins to easily release frozen desserts or aspics.
• Searing Meats and Fish: Quickly brown the exterior of sous-vide steaks, pork chops, and other proteins. The torch can also add color to firm fish fillets, but delicate fish can overcook quickly.
• Sugar Crusts: Caramelize sugar to make crispy toppings on cheesecakes, custards other than crème brûlée, and tarts.

 
Treat yourself to a kitchen torch!

________________
 
*Working with pasteurized egg whites: Use a product labeled pasteurized and suitable for whipping. Some products contain stabilizers or other ingredients that can make whipping more difficult.

The carton will typically give a serving size, such as 3 tablespoons (about 46 g) per serving, sometimes described as “the equivalent of one large egg white.” The carton will typically provide a serving size and may state an equivalent number of egg whites. For this recipe, use the carton amount equivalent to four large egg whites—commonly about ½ cup— but follow the package’s conversion if it differs.

†If you don’t have superfine sugar, pulse regular sugar in a spice mill to a fine consistency.

‡Spumoni is not invariably made from three flavors of ice cream or specific flavors. Traditional and regional versions vary and often include candied fruit and nuts.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

 
   ]]> https://blog.thenibble.com/2026/08/20/fun-with-bacon-for-national-bacon-lovers-day/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:38:46 +0000 https://blog.thenibble.com/?p=160950
Continue reading "Fun With Bacon For National Bacon Lovers Day" →]]>  
August 20th is National Bacon Lovers Day, one of 11 annual bacon holidays and a nudge for us to round up some of our favorite bacon recipes.

Did you know that you can make bacon jam from bacon drippings? It’s not the same texture as turning chopped bacon into jam, but it delivers the aroma and flavor with no extra expense. The recipe link is below.

Below:

> Breakfast recipes.

> Appetizers and condiments.

> Salads, sides, and soups.

> Main courses.

> Desserts, snacks, and sweets.

> Drinks.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The different types of bacon: a photo glossary.
 
> The history of bacon.

> The year’s 11 bacon holidays.
 
 
50+ FUN RECIPES WITH BACON
  
Breakfast

• Beef & Bacon Hash
• BLT Eggs Benedict
• BLT Pancakes
• Maple Bacon Muffins
• One-Pan Bacon, Egg, & Sausage Skillet Scramble
• Turkey Bacon Pancake Strips

 

[7] Bacon jam is delicious on biscuits or toast. We haven’t yet tried it on a bagel and cream cheese (photo © Smithfield).
 
 
Appetizers & Condiments

• Bacon & Eggs Deviled Eggs
• Bacon Jam Made With Bacon Drippings
• Blue Cheese & Bacon Pigs In A Blanket
• Bourbon-Roasted Oysters With Spicy Bacon Butter
• Creole Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp
• Figgy Blue Cheese Bacon Bites
• Homemade Bacon Jam
• Skillet Bacon Jam

 
 
Salads, Sides, & Soups

• Bacon Salad With A Twist
• Bacon Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
• Brussels Sprouts With Bacon Jam
• Chili Cornbread Layered Salad With Bacon
• Dijon Potato Salad Recipe With Bacon, Watercress & Green Beans
• Green Bean Salad With Bacon Vinaigrette & Garnish
• Grilled Potato Salad With Bacon, Blue Cheese & Bacon Dressing
• Loaded Bacon Cheese Fries Recipe For National French Fry Day
• Roasted Beets, Brussels Sprouts, & Bacon
• Spicy Potato Soup With Bacon

 
 
Mains

• Bacon, Apple & Cheddar Grilled Pizza
• Bacon Flag Pizza
• Beer Battered Grilled Cheese & Bacon Sandwich
• Butternut Squash-Pancetta Pizza
• Coq Au Vin With Bacon
• Curried Chicken Salad Wrap With Cocoa Glazed Bacon
• Spaghetti Carbonara, The Classic Bacon Pasta
• Pasta Carbonara With Bacon & Apples
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Bacon Cheeseburger
• Peanut Butter, Bacon & Banana Sandwiches With
• White Cheddar Pizza With Bacon & Walnuts

 
 
Desserts, Snacks & Sweets

• Apple Pie With A Bacon Lattice Top
• Bacon Brittle
• Bacon Marshmallows
• Bacon Rose Bouquet
• Blue Cheese With Bacon Praliné
• Bourbon Vanilla Bacon Lollipops
• Chocolate Bacon Bunnies & Bacon Easter Grass
• Chocolate Bacon Potato Chips
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies
• Chocolate Soufflé With Bacon
• Maple Bacon Garnish For Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
• Sriracha Bacon Candy Bites
• Stout Donut Holes With Bacon Jam & Caramel Glaze

 
 
Drinks

• Bacon Tequila Cocktail
• BLT Bloody Mary
• Surf & Turf Bloody Mary
 


[1] BLT pancakes are sophisticated enough for lunch or “brinner.” Here’s the recipe (photo © Wisconsin Cheese).


[2] What’s better than cheese fries? Bacon cheese fries! Here’s the recipe (photo © Idaho Potato Commission).


[3] Celebrate July 4th with a bacon flag pizza. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Nibble).


[4] Beef and bacon hash is an elevated alternative to corned beef hash. Here’s the recipe (photo © Lodge Cast Iron).


[5] Bourbon-roasted oysters are a cousin to Oysters Rockefeller (which adds spinach and removes the Bourbon). Here’s the recipe (photo © James Antrim | iStock Photo).


[6] Brussels spouts with bacon jam might turn ambivalent Brussels sprouts eaters into fans. Here’s the recipe (photo © Pampered Chef).  

[8] Candied sriracha bacon bites are a sweet-and-salty treat with cocktails, wine, or beer. Here’s the recipe (photo © Time Home Entertainment).
 
_______________

*Brinner is a playful slang term for eating breakfast foods for dinner, a portmanteau of “breakfast” and “dinner.” A portmanteau is a linguistic and morphological term, where parts of both original words are blended together to create a brand-new meaning. (Morphology, a.k.a. lexicography, is the scientific study of how words are built and structured in a language.)
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

 
   ]]>