Upper Midwest Gourmet

Whether you are trying to think up summer drink ideas, or you are just wondering what to do with your extra Mountain Spiced Cider concentrate, fear not, we’ve got a list for that:

Summer Cider Drinks

Sparkling Cider
1 oz. Cider concentrate
7 oz. Sparkling water

Cider Float
1 oz. Cider concentrate
7 oz. Ginger ale
Scoop of vanilla ice cream

Apple Raspberry Cooler
1 oz. Cider concentrate
1 oz. Raspberry syrup
6 oz. Sparkling water

Apple Pie A la Mode Milkshake
1 oz. Cider concentrate
1 oz. Caramel syrup
4 oz. milk
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1 piece of graham cracker
Blend until smooth

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UP Cafe Grand Opening Party and Flamenco Organic Coffee Release

Presented by Upper Midwest Gourmet

We will have live music (Zorongo Flamenco Music & Dance and our very own Eric and Pat’s band, Woodshop), free food, drinks, and gelato (café drinks from UP Café and hopefully, HammerHeart beer, if they have it brewed in time), and a bunch of our vendors (Crazy Boy Farm, Autumnwood Farm, Fabbri, Cherrico Pottery, Extraction Coffee Co., Umpqua Oats, and more) with booths selling and giving stuff away to celebrate the Grand Opening of UP Café. The event will also be a release party for one of Flamenco Organic Coffee Company’s newest offerings.

When – Friday, May 3rd, 2013

Time – 10am-4pm

Where – UP Cafe – 1901 Traffic St. NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Open to the public, we hope you can make it!

Please RSVP on our Facebook Event Page or by emailing Party@UPcafe.us.

Here comes warmer temperatures and hopefully a lot of snow melting!

We are really proud of our new training cafe, UP, along with many other improvements we have made to Upper Midwest Gourmet and Flamenco Organic Coffee Company in the past few months!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 49 – Spring 2013

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!

Ciao Ciao everyone!  2013 is off to a great start at Upper Midwest Gourmet.  Bethany and I traveled to Italy last month.  Our first stop was Riccione where we met up with everyone from Fabbri in order to attend the SIGEP show.  SIGEP is the largest gelato and pastry show in the world!  While it’s a bit chilly in this NE coastal region in the winter, it was really warm compared to what was going on in Minneapolis, so the timing couldn’t have been better.  We spent three days touring the show and eating (and drinking) our way around the town.  SIGEP is always a great time and we were impressed with all the presentations put on by some of the best pastry chefs in Italy.  Fabbri presented a number of new items that we’ll be able to start importing sometime this Spring that we’re really excited to show everyone.  The pistachio and amarena cherry gelato pops in particular are going to be a great addition to many cafes in the USA.  Fabbri hosted a large banquet with top notch entertainment and the Italians really know how to put on a party!  Fabbri took that opportunity to present awards to some of their staff and distributors from around the world.  To my surprise, Upper Midwest Gourmet was presented with the award for Best Distributor in North America in 2012!  It was a complete shock, but we were honored to receive the award.  No distributor has ever won the award more than once so now I have a new mission for the future.

There are a bunch more pictures from the show at the end of the blog post.

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We had an awesome Holiday dinner at George & the Dragon this year!

Please enjoy some pictures of the crew:

Thanks again to David and Bethany for such a fun evening!

Here comes cooler temperatures and increased hot drink sales!

We have been really busy making some serious improvements around here with a focus to better serve you, and want to let you all know again how much we appreciate your business!

Please check out our newest Brewsletter – Volume 48 – Fall/Winter 2012

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!

Looking for some new, creative recipes that you can make with your Vitamix blender? Well, here you go!

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

Cappuccine has come out with some great, new posters and signs that are sure to entice your customers!

Click below to see your new POS options:

If you are currently buying your Cappuccine from us and want some of these cool, new posters,

just let your sales person know and we will be sure to order them up right away for you and will ship them to you on your next order.

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

As gelato and ice cream sales start to slow down a little bit in the cooler months, please remember that we carry the 2.5L pan liners that will split your 5L pan into two flavors.

We also carry the 2.5L shallow pan liners that is another great way to make smaller amounts of gelato while still filling your display case.

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

Right now until November 16th, 2012 we are running an awesome promotion on Big Train “Specialty” Chai flavors like:

Caramel Chai, Raspberry Chai, Chocolate Chai, No-Sugar-Added Vanilla Chai, Pumpkin Pie Chai, and Gingerbread Chai.

Buy 3 bags, get 1 FREE! Must mix flavors!

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

We now stock the most popular new flavor around, Salted Caramel from Monin!

Monin Salted Caramel Syrup combines the indulgence of caramel with a light, smooth salt accent in a flavor that is versatile in countless applications from specialty coffee beverages, to cocoas, shakes, cocktails and much more.

Made with select ingredients and pure cane sugar, Monin Salted Caramel Syrup is a highly concentrated, authentic flavoring offering exceptional versatility for creating specialty beverages.

Order yours today!

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

      These are so simple! I just prepared the crust then used our Fabbri Amarena Cherries in syrup as a filling.  After folding them up, it’s off to the oven!

Amarena Cherry Galettes:

yield: Makes 8 servings

active time: 25 minutes

total time: 3 Hours

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Blend flour and salt in processor. Add butter and blend, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and blend just until dough begins to clump together, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep dough chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Here, I divided the dough into four large portions (you could make 8 smaller ones, if you wish) and them out. I did rough circles of dough, filled the  center with Amarena cherries and folded the edges of the dough over. Make sure to pinch any cracks to that the syrup does not seep out. You could also use a tart pan or circular cookie cutter for a more precise look.

Bake galette 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until crust is golden, about 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven. Slide long thin knife between pan and galette. Let stand at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature and enjoy!

The basic crust recipe was pulled from this galette recipe on Epicurious.

Taste the ultimate Happy Holidays seasonal drink and refresh your body and soul with a delightfully delicious blend of honey, creamy pumpkin, black tea and exotic spices. In addition to being Kosher Certified, Big Train‘s Pumpkin Pie Chai is gluten free, contains no hydrogenated oil and can be made with water or your choice of milk. Enjoy hot, over ice or blended. Cheers!

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

As we all know too well, the cooler temperatures will be here soon and it is a great idea to start stocking some new seasonal products.

Remember that chai teas, hot cocoa, oatmeal, apple cider, and steamers (many blended powders can be used to make steamers) are all going to start picking up in sales soon, as well as, all coffee and espresso drinks!

Here are some of the other great flavor options we have currently available:

From Artista Gourmet:

Gingerbread Syrup – 750 ml bottle

Peppermint Syrup – 750 ml bottle

Pumpkin Pie Syrup – 750 ml bottle

Toasted Marshmallow Syrup – 750 ml bottle

From Amoretti:

Peppermint Syrup – 25.5 oz bottle

Pumpkin Spice Syrup – 25.5 oz bottle

From Monin:

Peppermint Syrup – 1L bottle

Pumpkin Pie Syrup – 750 ml “glass” bottle

Toasted Marshmallow Syrup – 1L bottle

From Torani:

Pumpkin Pie Sauce – 6/64oz jugs per case

From Big Train:

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, Chocolate Mint Ice Rage, Gingerbread Chai, and Pumpkin Pie Chai are great made hot or cold!

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

Yesterday we had a few customers in to demo gelato. Tom Trieschmann, our ever-gracious Fabbri rep was on site to talk us all through some recipes. Over the years, Tom has fine-tuned many recipes. For instance, we made a Strawberry Sorbet that will knock your socks off. It’s creamy and delicious. From the taste and texture, you might never know it was a dairy-free product.

Here’s a few more. Also, check out our facebook page for the full photo album