Upper Midwest Gourmet

Upper Midwest Gourmet

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Upper Midwest Gourmet is a one-stop, wholesale distributor of specialty food service ingredients, Flamenco fair trade organic coffee, Italian gelato ingredients and equipment, hundreds of other gourmet beverages and foods, café equipment and machines, and environmentally-conscious supplies like cups, napkins, and eco-sleeves.

Upper Midwest Gourmet

1901 Traffic St. NE Minneapolis, MN 55413

Office: (612)728-7208 / Fax: (612)728-7227 / E-mail: info@uppermidwestgourmet.com

Hours: Monday-Thursday 7am-5pm / Friday 9am-1pm / Saturday & Sunday Closed (Central Time)

See About Us for more. Our UMG Blog starts below. Thank you.

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May 4th, 2011

Fabbri Showcase Delipaste Flavor: CROSTATA GELATO

Crostata (Pastry Tart/Cake) delipaste is an amazing flavor option that can transform any gelato or ice cream to taste like a cake! This can be great when making creative flavors like “Birthday Cake Gelato” topped with sprinkles (kids love it!) or to make my personal favorite, “Wedding Cake Gelato!” This one is close to my heart as I made it for my own wedding reception and for our roaster, Alan’s, wedding reception as well.

This is our Fabbri flavor of the season and can be used to create hundreds of new gelato flavors with ease.

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

April 28th, 2011

Blueberrry White Chocolate Scones

Don’t forget, we still have scone mix. One packet, a little milk and butter (or shortening), 30 minutes and you’ve got a half a dozen fresh scones ready to sell. They only take a few minutes to prep and cook in 15! I found that they are easier to mix and shape when using shortening, but you can use whichever you prefer. The cost per scone is approximately 32 cents, even after adding high quality inclusions, such as chocolate chips, fruit flavoring or nuts, your cost should still be under 50 cents per scone. Today, I made blueberry white chocolate chip scones in about 30 minutes from start to finish. For the blueberry, I added about a tablespoon of Fabbri blueberry delipaste to a double batch.

April 4th, 2011

New Barista Fria flavors in stock now: Peach & Spiced Chai Tea

That’s right, just in time for smoothie season, Barista Fria introduces two new awesome flavors.

The peach is a must-add to any fruit smoothie line and with the success of hot chai tea in the colder months, an ice blended chai tea in the  warmer months sounds perfect!

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

February 8th, 2011

Monin Gourmet Flavorings & Sauces

After many requests over the years we have decided to bring in Monin Gourmet Flavorings and Sauces. We will even be stocking their organic line of flavoring syrups! Please click on the images below for more flavor information:

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

January 20th, 2011

Valentine’s Day Special

Please enjoy this awesome offer from UMG.

$10 off per case of Cappuccine Red Velvet.

It can steamed for a hot drink or made cold by blending with ice.

Must be purchased before February 14th, 2011. Limit (3) cases per customer.

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

December 9th, 2010

New Brewsletter – Winter 2010 – Volume 42

Winter is upon us! Warm up with a blanket next to a fire and enjoy our newest brewsletter.

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 42 – Winter 2010

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!

September 21st, 2010

Crisp Air. Hot Drinks.

It’s that time again:

Hayrides, pumpkin picking, visits to the apple orchard, crackling bonfires. Mmmm. I love fall, don’ t you?

Bring a little fall flair into your cafe this season by adding custom seasonal drinks to your menu. Here’s a few ideas.

Using our Mountain Cider concentrate (It’s pure and all natural!):

Caramel Apple

1 ounce cider concentrate
1 ounce caramel syrup
6 ounces hot water
Whipped cream on top.

Hot Apple Pie

1 ounce cider concentrate
1 ounce butterscotch syrup
6 ounces hot water
Whipped cream on top.

There’s even some adult versions you can try:

Hot Buttered Rum

1 ounce cider concentrate
1 ounce dark rum
6 ounces hot water
Butter pat optional

Broken Leg

1 ounce cider concentrate
1 ounce ginger brandy
6 ounces hot water

Also, try some variations on your flavored lattes and mochas with seasonal flavors from Artista Gourmet Syrups.

Toasty Marshmallow Mocha (16 oz drink):

1 ounce Toasted Marshmallow Artista Gourmet syrup

1 ounce Chocolate Artista Gourmet syrup

2 shots of espresso

10 ounces steamed milk

Top with whipped cream, chocolate shaving and mini marshmallows!

Or try flavoring your lattes with Artista Gourmet butter rum, hazelnut, praline or cinnamon.

Top with ground cinnamon, nutmeg or cinnamon sticks for a beautiful beverage.

Big Train‘s Maple Vanilla is great both hot and cold!


(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

September 14th, 2010

Gelato Experiments: A Success!

Today was a day of experimentation.

Cappuccine’s  Red Velvet Cupcake made an excellent gelato!

Red Velvet Cupcake Gelato

Big Train’s Chai came into the mix next.

Gingerbread Chai Gelato

We had to get in a tried and true Fabbri favorite as well.

Amarena Cherry Gelato

But, after all was said and done- I am fairly certain that this twist on Fabbri’s Caramel was today’s winner!

Salted Caramel Gelato

We added sea salt to a recipe using Fabbri’s Caramel delipaste. Also, we left the sea salt grinder out to garnish at will. The result was euphoric. Two UMG employees have walked by to dish up 2nd servings just as I typed this sentence. No joke. I won’t be the one to name names though…

September 13th, 2010

Big Train’s Seasonal Flavors!

Fall is almost here with Winter on the way. Make sure that you are promoting seasonal beverages.

If you are looking for something new that is sure to impress your customers, look no further than Big Train’s impressive seasonal options:

Pumpkin Spice Ice Rage, Peppermint Mocha Ice Rage, and Gingerbread Chai are great made hot or cold!

September 2nd, 2010

Red Velvet Cupcakes: Now Drinkable!

By now it is no secret that I love cupcakes, but imagine this- Red Velvet cupcakes are now drinkable, thanks to Cappuccine!

The best part is that they really do taste (just like a red velvet cupcake), smell (cupcake aroma even from powder), and look (bright red) just like the real thing!

Cappuccine even has a great recipe for an amazing cream cheese whipped cream to top the drink!

(For pricing or additional product information, please Contact Us. Thank you.)

September 1st, 2010

New Brewsletter – Volume 41 – End of Summer 2010

Summer is almost over with Fall on the way!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 41 – End of Summer 2010

Also, please go to the Brewsletters Page on our website to download and read previous Brewsletters. They contain lots of useful information!

Enjoy and thanks again from all of us at UMG!

August 11th, 2010

Sorbet Day

This week I experimented with several sorbet flavors. Two were standard Simple flavors, Mojito, which is a new flavor from Fabbri and Lemon. The other two were made using the Fabbri Simple Neutral base, Cola and Wild Berry. The Cola was flavored by an Amoretti extract and the Wild Berry was made using a combination of fresh fruit and Fabbri delipaste. Check out these photos of the finished product. When your mouth starts watering, give us a call for recipe ideas and product ordering. Remember, summer’s not over yet!

 

   

August 3rd, 2010

Cupcake Love from Amoretti

Amoretti has a large line of Pastry ingredients. I have been playing with some of their compounds and extracts lately.

It’s kind of like my own little cupcake heaven.

If you would like to play too, give us a call. All their ingredients can be drop shipped to you. Let us know if you would like to experiment with any bakery, pastry, beverage, gelato or ice cream applications. I promise you. It is a lot of fun.

Here’s the basic cupcake recipe that I have been using for my experiments (makes a dozen):

1/2 cup butter (room temp)

2/3 cup granulated white  sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (also try subbing sifted cake flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

Be sure to add your favorite flavoring ingredient (See below inspiration).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease 12 muffin cups.

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla, beat until well blended.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture and milk. Mix thoroughly.

Evenly fill cups and bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

For Orange Cream Cupcakes:

Add 2 tablespoons of Amoretti’s Blood Orange compound and the zest from 1 orange.

Top with Cream Cheese frosting! (See recipe below)

For Blackberry-St. Germain Cupcakes:

Add 2 tablespoons  Amoretti Blackberry compund, 1 teaspoon Amoretti Elderberry Blossom extract, and 1 teaspoon Amoretti Champagne extract.

Top with Berry Buttercream (See recipe below).

For Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes:

Add 2 tablespoons Amoretti Strawberry compound.

Top with Champagne buttercream!(See recipe below).

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese,  1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar,  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Berry buttercream:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons Amoretti Blackberry compund, 3-4 tablespoons of milk

optional: 1/2 cup of fresh blackberries and/or raspberries whipped into frosting. Yummmm.

1. Beat butter until creamy, scrape bowl.
2. Add 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar, one tablespoon of milk and blackberry compound, beat until combined.
3. Add more powdered sugar (One cup at a time) along with milk (one tablespoon at a time) as needed to get to whatever consistency/sweetness you wish to achieve.

***Champagne buttercream: Sub 2 teaspoons Amoretti Champagne extract for blackberry compound.

July 23rd, 2010

Berry Ricotta Gelato

I recently found myself craving a “berry cheesecake” style desert and promptly decided to make some gelato with our Fabbri Ricotta base. I used blueberries, because this craving was a very specific one, but there are several berry options that would do quite nicely in this recipe, namely Fabbri’s Amarena (Cherry), Frutta di Bosco (Wild Fruits) or Fragolosa (Strawberry) Variegates. Luckily for me I have Fabbri’s imported Italian gelato ingredients and a Bravo Trittico 18 Mechanic “hot process” batch freezer at my fingertips.  (You may also obtain these ingredients, this batch freezer, and a plethora of other products and equipment by contacting our office @ 612-728-7208, hint. hint).

For one 5 liter batch of the Ricotta gelato you will need:

750 grams Fabbri Ricotta base

1500 grams milk

175 grams sugar

200 grams fresh ricotta

Directions:

Add ricotta powder and sugar into milk, mix well. If using a cold process machine, heat milk so that the powders dissolve completely.

Once powders are mixed well, add in fresh ricotta and again mix thoroughly.

According to your machine,  hot process your mix or move directly onto freezing.

When extracting the gelato from your batch freezer, stop half way through and layer in the fruit/berry variegate of your choice.  Finish extracting the second half of the gelato, then layer your remaining variegate on top in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.

Proceed to serve this tasty treat to the delight of all!

June 23rd, 2010

Ghiradelli Sunrise Recipes.

Here at Upper Midwest Gourmet, we carry Ghirardelli sunrise unsweetened cocoa, and as a baker looking to expand my horizons, I couldn’t help grabbing a sample of sunrise cocoa to try a few new recipes. (If you find that you have a similar urge, give us a call and we can send you a sample of your very own.) So, I decided on Red Velvet cupcakes and after finding them to be delicious, used some of the ingredients I had on hand for another recipe- buttermilk brownies.

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 fluid ounce red food coloring*

* This amount of red food coloring is required to get that pure “red” color, but I did not use nearly this much. It is a matter of looks and totally up to you, the baker to decide

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup Ghirardelli Sunrise unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

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