Cafe Liz

Dulce de leche liquor

I first encountered dulce de leche liquor when I was around 20, on a trip to Buenos Aires. Always one to travel light, I went with only a small backpack, which made my mother all the more amused when I returned home, having managed to stuff five bottles of wine and two bottles of dulce de leche liquor into that little bag. (Ah, the good old days, when you could still bring liquid onto flights). Shortly after, she “confiscated” one of the dulce de leche bottles, ostensibly because I was underage. What can I say? My mom likes my taste in liquor. I think she still has some left.

That was years ago. I finished my bottle, and never saw dulce de liquor again — until last month, when I found myself at the Jaffa Market with Eitan’s sister-in-law. Yaakov Lavie of Efrat had set up a stand for his award-winning liquors, and was offering tastes. Hoping not to spend money, I turned him down — I knew that once I tasted it, I wouldn’t be able to resist buying a bottle. But one thing led to another, and I found myself with half a liter of dulce de leche liquor for a very reasonable 50 shekels.

The liquor was nothing short of wonderful, and I should have asked Lavie for a percentage of sales, because I quickly had half a dozen friends wanting their own bottles. The catch? In theory his liquors are sold at chocolate shops around the Tel Aviv, but in practice, you can’t find them anywhere. Except for the Jaffa Market. Which is in the Jaffa port. Only on Fridays. And it’s one hot half-hour bike ride at this time of year.

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Amaretto french toast

This burst of cold weather we’ve been having is making me want heavy, sweet foods for breakfast, which we eat at an hour that others would consider lunch. Hence, brunch. I recently bought a bottle of amaretto, and I’ve been looking for ways to use it — I bought it with baking in mind, far be it from us to actually drink liquor. So I added a bit to my french toast. By adding amaretto and milk, I came up [...]

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Chocolate souffle a.k.a. fondant

I started making these because they’re the ubiquitous dessert in restaurants around here, and we really enjoyed finishing our meals with a steaming burst of molten chocolate. Who wouldn’t? In any case, I’ve never seen any reason to leave all good things to restaurants; I’d much rather enjoy them here at my house. This allows me to correct what would be the restaurant souffle’s most common fault: way too much solid cake and way too little liquid inside. While I [...]

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