Memorial Day - the unofficial start of summer

After a long winter, summer is finally upon us here in Maine!  We were starting to forget what the sun looked like after the last few weeks of rain.  The forecast for the weekend is looking decent so we are getting ready to celebrate.  Memorial Day is celebrated across the country through local parades, barbeque's and family parties to remember those who have served our country.

Are hosting a barbecue this weekend? Or are you in charge of bringing a dish with you to a barbecue?  If you are close to one of our warehouse stores, make sure you stop by and pick up some goodies during our Memorial Day Sale! 

Stop by our Rochester Warehouse Store, North Conway Outlet, or our Avon Outlet Store from Thursday, May 26th through Monday, May 30th to receive an additional 25% off all sale items.




Making a day trip out of it?  Here are some local events taking place near our outlet stores this weekend;

 Memorial Day Parade in Rochester NH
Concerts, Cookouts, Sidewalk sales and more in North Conway, NH
Ceremony and Parade in Avon, CT

Our Chocolate Covered Winner and a recipe courtesy of your great ideas

We are happy to see that everyone enjoys chocolate as much as we do!

The winner of our Chocolate Covered Giveaway is;

Great idea Jeanine!  please comment again to provide us a way to contact you. And don't worry, we won't publish the comment with your contact info, we just need to verify that it's you!

Everyone had such great ideas of how to use our chocolate sauces, from swirling it into homemade ice cream to using it as a fondue.  Another great way?  Ice cream cake!  I had the chance to try my hand at my first ice cream cake this past week and I couldn't believe how easy it was.  I simply lined a cake pan with saran wrap, spread a softened quart of vanilla ice cream, added a layer of crushed chocolate wafers and a jar of warmed Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce and then added a layer of softened chocolate ice cream.  I put it back in the freezer for a few hours, flipped the cake onto a cake board and frosted it with a little fresh whipped cream.  Quick, easy and tasty!

Here is a great recipe for ice cream cake from our website that uses the Raspberry Liquor Hot Fudge Sauce.  Enjoy!

Ice Cream Sundae Cake

Ingredients:

for the crust
- 2 1/4 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
- 9 Tbsp. butter, melted
- 6 Tbsp. confectioners' sugar

for the cake;
- 1.75 or 2 quarts ice cream, such as black raspberry, chocolate chip or your favorite to compliment
- 1 jar of Stonewall Kitchen Raspberry Liqueur Hot Fudge Sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the bottom of a 9" spring form pan with wax paper

2. For the crust, combine the chocolate graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and confectioners' sugar.  Mix until uniform.  Reserve 3/4 cups of the crumb mixture for the sides of the cake.  Press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared spring form pan.  Bake in preheated oven 8-10 minutes.  Remove and cool completely.

3. Allow the ice cream to soften about 15 minutes.  Spread ice cream over crust making sure that the top of the ice cream layer is smooth.  Place pan in the freezer for at least 3 hours making sure the ice cream is frozen solid again before putting on the next layer.

4. Stir the jar of Stonewall Kitchen Raspberry Liqueur Hot Fudge Sauce.  If it is not pourable, heat it in the microwave or on the stove top in a small saucepan.  Before pouring the sauce over the top of the ice cream, make sure it is room temperature and will not melt the ice cream.  Smooth the sauce over the entire top of the ice cream layer and return the pan to the freezer.  This dessert can be kept in the freezer covered for 3-4 days before serving.

5. Decorate the top of the ice cream cake with raspberries just before serving.  Remove from spring form pan (making sure you remove the wax paper) and place on a serving dish.  Press the reserved crumb mixture onto the sides of the cake and serve immediately.