Tropical Slushie

The weather here hasn't made up its mind yet. One day it's sunny and 70, and the next, we have predictions of snow flurries. I waffle between want to make soup and thinking about churning ice cream.

Summer isn't here, winter won't leave, and spring has completely let go of the rudder and is letting this seasonal ship lurch from one temperature range to another.

This cocktail reminds me of summer weather, beaches, tropics ... warm things. But that doesn't mean I have to drink it during warm weather - these flavors are welcome when there's a chill in the air, too. I mean, who doesn't want to think about summer when spring is threatening to spit snow at you?

Thanks to Smirnoff for continuing to support this blog.

Tropical Slushie
Makes 2 drinks

1 ripe banana
1 1/2 cups orange juice (or any orange/tropical blend)
3 ounces Smirnoff Sourced Pineapple flavor
1 generous cup ice

Place all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. The drink is likely to separate in layers as it sits, so portion it into two glasses before that happens. Serve with straws.

If you're into garnishing, a wheel of fresh orange or a skewer of fresh pineapple would be lovely.

Products and companies I love:
The FTC says that bloggers should disclose their relationship with companies, including when a blogger has purchased a product from a company where a previous relationship existed. I've worked with a lot of companies in a lot of different ways over the years, (some sponsored posts, and some products sent for review) and I continue to use - and buy - products from these companies because I like the products.

For this post, products from companies I have (or had) a relationship with are liquor from Smirnoff, Ball drinking jars, a Vitamix blender, Casabella ice cube trays, and straws from Bambu.

Sunset at the Beach Cocktail

I've fallen in love with the idea of color-changing cocktails and layered cocktails. This time I decided to up the ante by creating a layered cocktail that has a color-changing component.

My friends at Smirnoff challenged me to create a "Day at the Beach" themed cocktail featuring their Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka. Well, okay then.

I decided that my drink should not only be drinkable on a sunny, beachy day, but that it should also look like a day at the beach. But it also had to taste really good.

I decided that butterfly pea flower tea would represent sea and sky, and pineapple juice would represent sand. But that wasn't enough. I wanted the drink to represent sunset - that time when the sun suddenly turns the water and sky colors, and the sun itself is a glowing red ball.

I have round ice cube molds, so I simply added syrup from dark red cherries to the water in one of my ice ball molds to create a red sun. Easy peasy.

This drink requires some planning, because you need to freeze the tea and the pineapple juice in ice cube trays, and make as many ice balls as you'll need. But then assembling the drink is simple.

I could imagine these being the special drink of the day at a beach bar.

Before the vodka is added, on the left. Finished drink on the right.

As far as what this tastes like, the main flavors are pineapple juice and citrus, while the tea adds a light floral flavor - not as ... perfumy ... as lavender, though. Round ice cubes melt very slowly, and the drink itself is very cold because it's made entirely from crushed ice, so the cherry flavor doesn't become noticeable unless you let the ice melt a lot before the drink is finished.

Sunset at the Beach

For the prep:
Brewed butterfly pea flower tea
Pineapple juice
Syrup from Amareno, Luxardo, or other dark cherries
For the cocktails:
1 ounce Smirnoff Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka

Prepare ahead of time:
Freeze the butterfly pea flower tea in ice cube trays (as many as you need) and freeze the pineapple juice in separate trays.

You'll use about 1 part tea to 3 parts pineapple juice. To figure out how much ice you'll need per drink (since ice cube trays hold different amounts) crush a tray of plain ice and see how it fits in a glass along with a round ice cube.

If you freeze extra, I'm sure you'll find uses for the ice cubes or crushed ice later.

Combine cherry juice with water to create a red liquid and use it to fill round ice cube molds.

To make the drinks;
Blend the blue ice cubes in your food processor or blender until you have blue "snow." Transfer it to a container. Rinse the blue out of the food processor or blender. Blend the pineapple juice cubes in the same way.

Place the pineapple juice "snow" in your glass, filling it about 2/3 full. Place the ice ball on top of the pineapple slush. Ideally, you want the ice ball peeking above the top of the glass, so how full you need to fill the glass depends on how big your ice ball is.

Add blue "snow" around the outside of the glass, surrounding the ice ball, making sure to leave some of the ice ball uncovered. Now you've got sand, blue water and sky, and the sun starting to set.

Now comes the fun part. Pour the Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka over the top of the ball and over the blue ice, and it will immediately change color.

Serve. A paper umbrella is optional, but highly recommended.

Thanks to Smirnoff for supplying me with tasty beverages.

Sweet Tea No-Churn Ice Cream

I have an ice cream maker, so I usually use that to churn ice cream, and that's the sort of recipes that I tend to post here.

But I realize that not everyone has an ice cream maker. And not everyone makes ice cream often enough to want an ice cream maker. But maybe they want to make ice cream once in a while.

This recipe is amazingly easy, and I think most folks who taste it would be surprised to learn that it was made without an ice cream maker. It's light and fluffy and really really good.

It's got more air whipped into it than the ice creams I make in my ice cream maker. If this was churned normally, I'd end up with about a quart of ice cream. This made about 1 1/2 quarts (six cups) of finished ice cream.

The Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka adds subtle flavor to the ice cream. No one will jump up and down and insist that it tastes like a cup of tea, or like vodka. They'll know there's "something" there that makes this more than just sweet, though.

Vodka adds another benefit to ice cream, though. You know how ice cream can turn rock-solid in the freezer? This little bit of vodka changes the freezing point of the mixture just enough so that it doesn't freeze quite that solid. It's not soft, but it won't take a jackhammer to scoop the ice cream.

It's calling you!

Sweet Tea No-Churn Ice Cream
Makes about 1 1/2  quarts

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka
2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

Combine the condensed milk, salt, and vodka in a large measuring cup (for easy pouring). Stir to combine and make sure the salt is dissolved. Set aside.

In a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the cream until it reaches stiff peaks. Don't overbeat.

While continuing to beat at very low speed, pour in the condensed milk mixture. Continue beating just long enough to make sure it's all combined. You can finish mixing it in by hand, if you like. The point is to mix it in thoroughly without deflating the air bubbles in the cream.

Transfer the mixture to a storage container and freeze until firm.

I received the Deep Eddy Sweet Tea vodka as a sample, at no cost to me.

Baileys and Chai! Oh My!

I've been a fan of Baileys Irish Cream for a long time. Although I've had it mixed with coffee as an after-dinner drink, and I've mixed it into hot chocolate as an evening treat, it never dawned on my to create a warm cocktail with Baileys.

But once the idea hit, I had to give it a try.

I didn't want to just warm the Baileys though - I wanted more depth of flavor. I wanted something that would pair well with the Baileys, but not overpower it.

I chose chai. I used an instant chai mix (add hot water and stir), but you could certainly brew your own.

Oh, and I used the salted caramel Baileys. The regular Baileys would be just fine, as well. Your choice

This would be nice for a cozy brunch or for a quiet evening at home. A box of chocolate covered caramel candies on the side wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

You know, for that holiday where people tend to give boxes of chocolates?

Baileys and Chai (oh my!)

6 ounces prepared chai tea (hot)

1 ounce Baileys Salted Caramel Irish Cream 

1/2 ounce Smirnoff Caramel-Kissed Vodka

Prepare the chai tea in the mug of your choice. Add the Baileys and vodka. Stir and serve.

This would be good with a dollop of whipped cream, if you like. It would also be good cold. But hey, it was snowing and a hot drink was absolutely the right idea.

Anti-Disclaimer. See that bottle of Baileys? I bought it. And the Smirnoff has been hanging around here for quite a while, so I'm not sure which door it entered by. But it's mine, now.

Chocolate Eggnog

I've made several batches of eggnog already this season. Usually I like it fairly plain - with vanilla or maple or a little cinnamon or nutmeg. I'm not a fan of the super-spiced pumpkin-pie flavored eggnogs, or other wacky flavors.

But then I had an idea that I couldn't shake. It kept nagging me.

Why not make a chocolate eggnog?

Doesn't that sound good?

When I was brainstorming it, I thought about using a Mexican cocoa that included cinnamon, but then I decided that I wanted a clean chocolate flavor. And then when I started thinking about that clean chocolate flavor, I decided I didn't want a flavored alcohol, either. So I made this one with vodka.

If you're making this strictly for adults, you can add the alcohol to the whole batch, but if you have kids in the house (or at the party) then it's probably better to add the alcohol to each drink, as you serve.

Chocolate Eggnog

Makes about 12 5-ounce servings

2 cups milk

2 cups half-and-half

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used black cocoa, but use what you like)

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

6-12 ounces Ketel One vodka (to taste)

Combine the milk, half-and-half, cocoa powder, and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat to a vigorous simmer, stirring as needed to get the cocoa well-mixed into the milk.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar together.

When the milk is happily simmering, slowly add scoop-fulls (about 1/2 cup each, but you don't need to measure) of the hot liquid into the eggs, whisking the eggs as you add the hot liquid. This keeps the eggs from curdling and keeps them smooth.

Continue adding the hot liquid until you've added about 2 cups of hot liquid and the eggs are very warm. It's fine if you add more, but you really just need the eggs to be nicely warmed.

Now, while you stir or whisk the milk, slowly pour the egg-milk mixture into the pan. Keep stirring. You'll feel the mixture thicken slightly right away, but keep cooking until the mixture is barely simmering.

Pour the mixture through a fine strainer into a storage container. You can add the vodka now, or as you serve.

Cheers!

I received a bottle of Ketel One vodka at no cost to me from the manufacturer.

Cocktails: Apple Pie al la Mode

Hoo boy! Another flavored vodka for me to play with!

I'm really getting giddy about all the flavored vodkas that are available these days. And it's not just, hey, we added some lemon zest to this one and chocolate syrup to that one. The flavors are getting pretty creative.

The vodka du jour is Dutch Apple courtesy of my new friends at Ivanabitch.

Read that brand name a couple times, and if you still don't get it, say it out loud. I'll wait.

Done? Okay, then.

So, with a name like that, I was a leetle bit skeered of the vodka. I mean, what if it was harsh and weird. So I tasted a little. Hmmm. Well... sip-sip-sip. Nice and smooth. That's a pleasant surprise. This is the sort of stuff you could sip over ice, maybe. Or mix with a little splash of something.

But oh, no. My plans involved much, much more than that. I wanted PIE.

Apple Pie a la Mode


For the mulled cider:
1 quart apple cider
2 tablespoons mulling spices

For the cocktail:
Mulled cider - cold - to fill glass to about "there" (Yeah, I didn't measure. Shoot me.)
1 ounce Ivanabitch Dutch Apple vodka
1 ounce heavy cream (go big or go home)

To make the mulled cider:
Pour the apple cider into a medium saucepan. Add the mulling spices. You could tie the spices in a piece of cheesecloth, but eh, this works, too.

Bring the cider to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the cider cool to room temperature, then strain into a storage container. Refrigerate until cold.

To make a cocktail:
Pour the mulled cider into the glass, leaving room for the vodka and cream. Carefully pour the vodka on top of the cider to create a clear layer. Ooooh, nice!

Carefully pour the cream on top of the vodka to create the final layer.

If you think I'm a genius of layered drinks, think again. I cheat and use one of these. You still need to figure out which layer will float on which other layer (and some things won't layer at all) but this thing makes it a lot easier.

If you're into it, grate a little nutmeg on top. Or not. Serve.

I was a little concerned that the apple cider would be too acidic and would cause the cream to curdle when it was stirred together - which, really, is the best way to drink this. But it didn't. And the flavor was an awful like like apple pie and ice cream.

Obviously, you'll have plenty of mulled cider left over. It's great as-is, or just make another cocktail for yourself.

I received the vodka, mulling spices, and layering tools from their respective companies. I was not required to write a post about them.