Freshmen15: Sweet Tooth Solutions pt. 1-Frozen Treats

Hello again my freshmen and returning nomsters,

I hope you found some solid suggestions from our first Freshmen15 post. While savory sandwiches and pizza delivery is important to the student foodie experience around G'town, satisfying solutions for a sweet tooth are equally crucial to a student's survival. So here we are with some of our favorite frozen sweet tooth solutions around G'town's campus. And not to self advertise too much, but considering Nightly Noms is a late night, bakery delivery service, if you need to solve a baked good craving, we're not a bad place to start! Not to mention we cater to birthdays, dinner parties, meetings, and groups of students who are in need of a fresh, homemade, baked good that reminds them of home! But, we'll talk more about Nighty Noms in our Freshmen15 post about on-campus options.


Frozen Treats:

T Sweets Wisconsin & P Street

T Sweets: Thomas Sweet (Wisconsin & P) is home to some of the best sweets in the Georgetown area. With ice cream, malts/shakes, frozen yogurt, and fudge, you'd be hard pressed to not find something you want to devour on their menu. Now, you really can't go wrong with any of your options, but my personal favorite is the Peanut Butter Oreo Swirl frozen yogurt (so amazingly nom-worthy!). The frozen yogurt is silky smooth and quite creamy! Ice Cream at T Sweets is also very tasty and with waffle cones and numerous topping options, how can you go wrong?! In addition to all of the above, T Sweets also has their signature "Blend-In" option (~DQ's Blizzard), meaning you can have a taste of every option with ice cream, froyo, and toppings all in one if you so choose.

Fun fact: they also make ice cream cakes!
$3-$7 Website

Sweetflow, courtesy of Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen: Locally sourced organic ingredients made into salads and wraps an tart froyo (aka "Sweetflow") with toppings ranging from fresh fruit and nuts, to chocolate chips and baked apples? What's not to like about Sweetgreen's healthy approach to fast food dining? Created and operated by three former Georgetown students (Woo! Go Hoyas!), Sweetgreen provides the Georgetown area with custom made salads and tart froyo. The ingredients are fresh and provided from local farmers, making the veggie options at this salad bar to die for! They also have a location in Dupont Circle and a Sweetgreen truck that serves up salads, froyo, and warm oatmeal to waiting customers.
Fun fact: you can use the froyo toppings/salad toppings interchangeably, meaning granola or baked apples can be added to a salad visa versa. 
Online ordering available.
$4-$11Menu/Website



Wingo's: (Wisconsin & O St.)Known for their wings and variety of sauce options, Wingo's acts as one of Georgetown's hotspots for late night/delivery dining; but did you know they also have awesome milkshakes!? Thick and creamy, a Wingo's milkshake is sure to satiate any craving for ice cream/dairy (but watch out for the "dairy coma" aftermath!). While Wingo's has the traditional offerings of chocolate, vanilla, etc, if you're looking for something with a larger "wow factor" go for the Coffee Oreo or Cookie Dough. They also offer an "extra thick" option if you're looking to really up your calcium intake.
 $4-$12 Website/Menu



Enjoy the warm weather!

Nightly Noms Recipe: Blueberry Stuffed Graham Cracker Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Hey Nomsters,

I'm back for more. I know, two posts in one week? It's a bit of a shocker, but with so many blogs out there  I have to give you a a good reason to stay up to date with The Georgetown Foodie. I'm sure you're sick of hearing about cupcakes, but there's a recipe at the end of this post, so it's worth your time!

In the past couple of years the "Cupcake Craze" has taken over bakeries around the country. For DC dwellers, we can barely take a bite out of a baked good without being asked if we've tried a Georgetown Cupcake. For Georgetowners, we like G'twon Cupcakes well enough, but whispers of our devotion to Baked & Wired's Vanilla Chai don't go unnoticed. And then there's the new addition of Sprinkles, which has exponentially increased the amount of lines we must avoid on our cobblestone paths. Same goes for Chicago natives, from Molly's Cupcakes, to the boutique-inspired cupcakes at more, cities are experiencing an influx of cupcake consumers. But how long will the cupcake craze last? Big name publications like WSJ and The Post have been predicting a cupcake cataclysm for the past few months, but with no avail. Our take on the situation? It won't be cupcakes that go out of style (not with the millions of kids that love the individually sized cups of cake and icing) it'll be the fact that cupcake consumers just don't want to shell out $3+ dollars for something we can make ourselves, if we really want to, especially if we're already spending $3 dollars for our latte fix. For those of you who opt for the cupcake fix, keep buying, it's not a sin to enjoy a pricey treat every once in a while; but, if you're looking to take cupcakes to a party or make them for your own, at least consider the value in baking up some of your own tasty treats!

Here's a recipe straight out of the Nightly Noms' test kitchen for some delicious Blueberry Stuffed Graham Cracker Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting. Of course you don't have to stuff them, but it adds a nice touch!

Blueberry Stuffed Graham Cracker Cupcakes 

w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes

Ingredients
-1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour (sifted)
-1 1/4 cup Sugar
-2 Eggs (room temperature if possible)
-8 Tbsp Butter (1 stick, room temperature)
-1/2 tsp Baking Soda (sifted)
-1/4 tsp salt (sifted)
-1/2 cup Graham Cracker Crumbles (sifted, like the Keebler ones used for pie cfrusts)
-1 1/4 tsp Vanilla
-1 cup Milk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard cupcake pan with baking cups (or spray with pam, or use saran wrap and rub butter to avoid sticking).


2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.

3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Stop to add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

4. Combine the vanilla extract and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.


5. Reduce the speed to low. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add one-third of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Add another one-third of the flour mixture, followed by one-third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.

6.Add the graham cracker crumbs, beating (on low speed) just until incorporated.

7. Use a standard-size ice cream scoop to fill each cupcake paper with batter, so that the wells are two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

Ingredients
-4Tbsp Butter (1/2 stick, you can use a full stick if you want a more whipped texture)
-8 oz Cream Cheese (your standard package at the store)
-1 box of Confectioners Sugar (approx 16oz or ~3.75 cups)

Method
1. If you have a mixer or hand mixer, place butter and cream cheese into a bowl and mix on low to medium until incorporated with each other. Add vanilla and mix,

2. Add confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) about a cup at a time and mix into butter/cream cheese mix until the entire box has been mixed in well. Consistency should be light, but not too whipped.
(if you don't have a hand mixer, no worries, that just means a bit more mixing. Make sure you let the butter/cream cheese soften and then used a fork to mix them together. Add vanilla and then start adding confectioners sugar until well incorporated.)

3. Frost the cupcakes, if you want the look that's in the pictures, you can either use a piping bag, OR you can take a large ziploc bag, fill it with the frosting, and cut a hole in one corner.

*if you want your frosting to be a bit firmer as to give the cupcakes a similar appearance as the ones displayed, I would suggest loading your piping bags and them placing them into the fridge for about 20-30mins.

Let us know what you think and be sure to leave a comment :)

Enjoy and keep up the cooking,
-GF