20 Tasty Green Foods For St. Patrick's Day

The theme of today's post is GREEN. That's the color associated with St. Patrick's day, and the color of all the food you should eat on March 17. Here are 10 green foods that can help you celebrate. Pairing with green beer optional. 

1. Mint chocolate chip whoopie pies

Whoopie pies are great. But whoopie pies inspired by the prettiest ice cream flavor? All the better, and very appropriate for St. Patrick's Day. Recipe here. 

2. Watergate cake

The connection to the scandal is tenuous at best. Following Watergate, many foods flavored with pistachio (said to be a favorite of Richard Nixon's) were dubbed after the scandal. This cake is only scandalous in its deliciousness. Recipe here. 

3. Green Irish soda bread

Well, this one's easy. Take your favorite Irish Soda bread recipe...and add green food coloring. I much prefer this method to letting it mold over. The food coloring is a more delicious variation of green. Recipe here (untinted). 

4. Candy salad

Possibly the tastiest method of eating your greens, ever. That isn't actual salad - it's candy and cake configured to look like it! Recipe here. 

5. Princess cake

I can't say with 100 percent certainty why it's green, but it typically is, and it's a fun and fancy food. Featured in my second book, The Secret Lives of Baked Goods.

6. Shamrock shakes

Photo via Flickr member vasenka

It's not up to me to judge whether you make a homemade version or buy it at the evil empire fast food retailer. But it is a classic green food around this time of year. Homemade version recipe here.

7. Pistachio chocolate chip cookies

This is one of my favorite cookie recipes in the world. Find out why...Recipe here. 

8. Something healthy

You can consider this intermission, or consider the fact that I made a banana and kale smoothie, and it actually tasted good. Recipe here.

9. Avocado cake

This remains one of my favorite recipes for Serious Eats. It basically employs avocado wherever a normal recipe would call for butter (I actually used butter, too, though). Recipe here. 

10. Green tea ice cream

Photo via Flickr member Dong Kwan

I seem to see green tea ice cream on frequent offer at sushi places, but not so much at ice cream parlors. If you want, make your own, for a dignified green treat. Recipe here. 

11. Mint oreo stuffed brownie cupcakes

Go ahead. Stuff your cupcakes with mint fudge covered Oreos. It's only St. Patrick's day once a year. More info here.

12. Butter mint bars

A sugar cookie base with a thick, rich buttercream topping. I don't care that they're a Christmas treat. They're tasty right now, too. Recipe here. 

13. Pistachio pudding pops

So simple. So perfect. This is my favorite flavor for Jell-O pudding pops. Or, fancy them up and make a two-tone variation. Recipe here. 

14. Avocado pie

Pie? With avocado? Believe it. It's actually quite good. Recipe here. 

15. Mint chocolate chip ice cream  

Photo via Flickr member aukirk

If you are one of those people who prefers the white variety of mint ice cream, then please, stay in bed all day on the 17th. I suggest, for the full experience, going to a local ice cream shop and picking this up. Read about how I shipped a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone to myself. 

16. Mint Nanaimo bars

Nanaimo bars are delicious any time of year, and making them minty gives you a reason to make the middle green and to call them St. Patrick's day appropriate. Recipe here. 

17. Frog cupcakes

I suppose that you could make these sweet treats, but it's more fun to find them in their natural element. Read my essay about the Curious Case of the Frog Cupcakes.

18. Green buttercream

If you're making cupcakes on March 17, I don't care what flavor they are. Tint your buttercream green. That's all.

19. Mint chocolate chip cookies

All it takes is some doctored up cookie mix to make these tasty green cookies, which are inspired by the ice cream flavor. Recipe here. 

20. Green bagels

 

It's possible that your local grocery store or bagel shop has green bagels on the 17th. If they do, buy them. You must! Or, tint a batch of your own. (Untinted) Recipe here. 

BONUS: rainbow cookies

They're a treasure, and they're not at the end of the rainbow: they ARE the rainbow. Or, make them all green for a St. Patrick's day treat. Recipe here. 

What's your favorite green food?

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Love CakeSpy

Photo: flickr user Dragons and Beasties

Happy St. Patrick's Day, sweet ones. Here are some links that I think you'll enjoy!

Homemade Shamrock Shake. YES!

Forget Red Velvet. Today, it's Green Velvet!

This cake is also very magical.

A rather magical St. Patrick's Day Cake.

Meet the Irish Potato Candy!

Chocolate Irish Cream Pie. YUM.

Wearing o'green cake, by Taste of Home!

SpyMom's Irish Soda Bread. It's tasty.

Chocolate Mint Pie. Yum again.

Peanut Butter St. Patrick's Day Truffles. Yum!

Make Irish Soda Bread Awesomer.

You know, Nanaimo Bars would taste great with some Irish Cream...

Or just pick up an Irish Cream Donut.

The Curious Case of the St. Patrick's Day Frog Cupcake.

The Curious Case of the St. Patrick's Day Frog Cupcake

It's a funny thing about regional baked goods. Sometimes, you don't realize they're regional until you move away from an area. And for me, one such baked good is the St. Patrick's Day Frog Cupcake.

I grew up in a magical part of the world known as the Jersey Shore. And every year around the first of March through St. Patrick's day, local bakeries such as Freedman's Bakery would bake up a very interesting confection: the frog cupcake.

Let me explain a bit further, though. A frog cupcake is NOT simply a cupcake decorated with a frog face. Its construction is like so:

When assembled, it looks like this:

Now, chances are, if you aren't a local in the NY metro area, you may never have seen this glorious confection. For me, it wasn't until I relocated to Seattle for a time that I realized that this wasn't an everywhere treat. So what gives?

Well, I have to say, this is a moment where I want to say "Bless the Internet", because, as it turns out, there's an entire website dedicated to the subject  (and preservation of) these delightful frogs. It's called Follow Your Frog. It even has a page dedicated to the evolution of the frog. The research isn't scientific, but references that the frog pheneomenon could date back to the 1920s, in Australia:

A place called Balfours, which evidently still has them today. These Froggies are quite different than their American cousins (well, OK, we haven’t tasted met them yet, but from what we've read). These are tea cakes, originally just green, then also pink and chocolate coated (yes, chocolate!). Were these the frogs that came to America and were supersized? Or are the Frogs that settled in the New York metro area instead from Europe? Frog historians (ok, there really is no such thing...crazy people obsessed with Frogs) are attempting to trace their path…

But then the page goes on to say, 

Next sighting - bakeries in the NY Metro area in the 1960s-70s. These are the frogs of our childhood, and all the local bakeries (Coquelle’s, New Garden) in the Newark NJ area had them for St. Patrick’s Day (and ONLY then).

Newark area bakeries disappear over time, with Coquelle’s ending in the 90s, and we thought they were extinct. Uncontrollable sobbing continued every St. Patty’s Day. Until…

Frogs found in Central Jersey! In fact they were there all along, probably as long as the Northern NJ frogs – we just didn’t know. Vaccaro’s in Clark NJ saves St. Patty’s Day!

Frogs go mainstream with the Wegmans supermarket variety – although for the last 2 years in NJ they were MIA… so hopefully they have not gone the way of the dinosaur…

An internet search leads to the discovery of La Delice in NYC – another older bakery which has had them for a long time. And these frogs don’t hibernate – they proudly show their googly eyes every day of the year.

The fantastic creators of the Follow Your Frog site have even started something called FrogFest, which pits frog cupcake makers from NY, NJ, and PA against one another to see whose frogs are the finest. My goodness, why haven't I been to one of these?

As the site notes, and as I can attest, the frog is a dying breed. When I visited Freedman's in Belmar recently, which is under new ownership since my childhood, the employee had no idea what I was talking about when I inquired about frog cupcakes. A longtime employee's face, however, lit up as she said "Oh my god! I remember the frogs. They were like sugar bombs! So good!". 

However, in nearby Spring Lake Heights, the frogs are available at a bakery called What's For Dessert. Their specimen is a fine one, with a decadent edge owing to a butter cookie leprechaun hat (adhered with a birthday candle!). And by a "fine" specimen I mean a true and complete sugar bomb of a delight. It's not fancy eating but it sure is fun. Here is my nephew about to dig into one:

It is humane to remove the eyes before eating, but that's not to say you can't have a little torturous fun with your frog. Sensitive readers may want to skip the next few photos.

OK, OK. I hope I've expanded your sweet horizons by offering you the fable of the Jersey Shore frog today. If you're curious, I highly suggest visiting the Follow Your Frog website, where you can find frogs and report sightings!

It may not be easy being green for these frogs, but life is certainly sweet for the eaters of these treats. 

Everyone's Irish: Chocolate Irish Cream Pie for Serious Eats

Chocolate cream pie is undoubtedly a thing of beauty, especially when it is encased in a chocolate cookie crust. But when a celebration is in order, you can make it even better by adding a little bit of booze. A simple splash of Irish cream gives this already delicious triple chocolate pie an intoxicating upgrade, adding a creamy and slightly bracing (in a good way) flavor contrast.

Not into alcohol? Not a problem. Simply skip the strong stuff in favor of heavy cream sprinkled with a shake of cocoa powder, or whip up a batch of non-alcoholic Irish cream.

Between the buzz of the spirits and the sugar high from the chocolate, one slice of this pie may find you doing an Irish-style jig.

For the full post and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

The Bomb: Filled Cupcakes a la Smitten Kitchen for Serious Eats

Here in Seattle, every March something extremely joyful happens: all of the cupcake shops debut their individual takes on boozy Irish-themed cupcakes.

However, for those of you not in Seattle (or someplace that embraces Irish-inspired cake flavors as readily), fear not, because I've found a recipe to share.

It's an adaptation of the now legendary version first found last year on Smitten Kitchen, with some small liberties taken. Amazingly, while the alcohol is very much present in these cakes, it somehow manages to not be overpowering, instead imparting sophisticated flavor to the frosting and filling and a decadent fudgy texture to the cake.

For the full writeup and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet St. Patrick's Day Recipe Ideas

Photo credits, from top left clockwise: South in Your Mouth, King Arthur Flour, CakeSpy.comSeeing Green: Green Velvet Cupcakes from South in Your Mouth.

You may not be Irish, but pretending to be is fun while eating Bailey's Irish Cream Fudge, via Cookie Madness.

In the most recent issue of Bon Appetit, Andrew McCarthy (yes, the actor!) shares a lightly sweet and delectable Irish Soda Bread recipe.

Speaking of Soda Bread, remember when CakeSpy tried to make it awesomer?

How about some Shamrock Chocolate-Mint Brownies, via Wilton?

Even if you don't make it, simply looking at the pictures of this Chocolate Stout Cake via King Arthur Flour is a delight.

This easy Irish Whiskey Cake comes with a warning: "This has significant (uncooked!) alcohol content and is not appropriate for non-drinkers." Translation: good times!

Speaking of beer-based desserts, Peabody, who is a genius, has a recipe for a chocolate stout creme brulee.

What exactly is the difference between Irish and Scottish shortbread? Not sure, but this Irish Shortbread sure does look good.

Little Shamrocks has a sweet collection of Irish dessert recipes, including Irish Cream Pudding Parfaits. 

It may not be easy being green, but it sure is easy to eat green, when it is in mint ice cream form. Via Blondie and Brownie.

Who could forget this monstrosity of a homemade shamrock shake?

Bakerella's Shamrock Cake Truffles: a St. Patty's classic!