Pru at Perfecting Pru chose this week’s recipe, cabinets. I had never heard of these before! They are essentially a milkshake on top of a sweetened, cooked fruit puree.syrup. Martha says they are from Rhode Island. I visited Rhode Island only once, when I was looking at Brown University (it’s probably where I would have gone had I not met my husband and decided to stay local to be with him). I didn’t have a cabinet when there. About the only thing I remember about Providence was my mom complaining that there was no place nice to stay or eat when we were there, which she found hard to believe with such a prestigious university in town.
I was intrigued at the idea of this drink I had never heard of and did some Googling. From what I read, Martha’s recipe is not really a cabinet at all. A Rhode Island cabinet is actually called a coffee cabinet. They make a drink called “coffee milk,” which is milk with coffee syrup. When you add ice cream to this to make it a milkshake, it’s a coffee cabinet. Fascinating. Now I will have to go to RI to sample one!
Anyway, I’m always excited to try something new and this was definitely new! I made the raspberry/strawberry/cherry fruit mix. I really don’t like raspberry seeds though. I am unsure how you are supposed to eat this. Spoon? Straw? Both? Some of the fruit was too big to make it up the straw. I liked it best when I mixed the fruit in completely because then it tasted like a smoothie and it wasn’t so tart (the fruit on its own just tart compared with the sweetness of the milkshake).
This was really pretty when put together and is a fun way to make a milkshake something 
classier or more grown up!
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I had never heard of this either but we did enjoy it. I still can’t work out the reason for cooking the fruits separately as mine all sunk to the bottom and then I mixed it up anyway, but this was fun and I would make it again. Thanks for doing my pick.
Pru
When I was researching this, the coffee cabinets have it all mixed in together, not separate. Martha took a lot of poetic license with this concept. This is not even close to what a cabinet is supposed to be from what I read, but it was still fun to make and it was not something I would have thought to do.
Interesting. I hadn’t heard of this either. I must say, I do like raspberry seeds. They seem to be one of those food items like cilantro–you either love ’em or hate ’em
I’ll ask my daughter, who went to Brown, if she ever encountered this. I have never heard of it. I like the idea of the coffee cabinet though.
I will be interested to see if she has!
Whoa. I’d never heard of this before, either. But doesn’t that photo look divine!
Sounds interesting, but I’m with you: eat it? Slurp it? Whaa?
I’ve not encountered this (by this name, anyway) but sounds intriguing. I’d add — give Providence another chance! Cabinet milkshakes or no, it’s a great town ot visit.
I’ve never heard of this either. Sounds very interesting, though!
I’ve never heard of cabinet milkshakes. The fruit one doesn’t appeal to me but I could go for the coffee cabinet.
I’m definitely going to try this. Yay, milkshakes!
I’ve never heard of a cabinet in connection with a recipe. But of course, it sounds wonderfully delicious and refreshing for these hot summer days (yes, it’s even hot here in MIchigan). Plus, I still have no kitchen cabinets in this house! I’ll suffice with a cabinet milkshake.
Like the others, I had no idea about this before. But I definitely want to try it. Who wouldn’t, considering it’s a milkshake and has raspberries. (I’m fine with their seeds.) Yum.