Yule Mule (Cocktail)

Ever since I made this delicious Dutch Orange Bitters, I've been keeping an eye out for cocktails to use it in. This Yule Mule is (as you can tell by the name) a traditional Yuletime cocktail, but really is great any time of the year. It's incredibly refreshing on a hot Australian summer day, so bring it out at your family Xmas this year. You could even give gifts of little bottles of home made Orange Bitters to family with a copy of the recipe for this cocktail so they can replicate it at home.

How are you going for Xmas gift ideas? If you're a bit stumped, or are looking to add in some home made edible stocking fillers then Gormandize has definitely got you covered! Small edible gifts are also great for colleagues, teachers or neighbours who you want to give a gift to but don't know that well and don't want to spend too much on. All this month starting tomorrow, I'll be sharing Christmas Gift ideas on the Gormandize facebook page. Don't worry, they're not all just different types of biscuits in jars - they're very varied. Follow the page on facebook to get all these nifty ideas in one place. 

Yule Mule

Ingredients

1 1/2 measures of vodka

1/2 measure fresh lime juice

1/2 measure cranberry juice

Dash of orange bitters 

3 measures ginger beer

To Make

1. Combine vodka, lime juice, cranberry juice and orange bitter. Shake well and strain into a highball glass half filled with ice.

2. Top up with ginger beer and serve. 

Makes 1 drink - multiply by however many people you're making it for.

Tomato Vodka Pasta Sauce Gift Packages

Edible gifts are always my favourite things to give at Xmas time, but over the last couple of year I've realised just how unhealthy all the traditional ones are! Mostly its chocolates, lollies, biscuits, jams and desserts in jars. So much sugar! I know a lot of people in my family and friends are trying to have less sugar in their lives which is a wonderful thing and the last thing I want to do is discourage them by piling them with sugary treats at Xmas. No matter how well intentioned, I know I'm not really doing them a favour.

Last year I shared with you gorgeous jars of bean soup mix, which has turned into one of my favourite healthy (and so easy!) gifts. I also shared 2 types of Cornbread in a Jar - Chilli Cornbread and  Za'atar Cornbread. I've started to realise since then just how many wonderful home made edible gift ideas there are which aren't piles of sugar.

This one is my new favourite, mostly because I'm a pasta fanatic. It's very adaptable - you can use any pasta sauce you like. If you've got a fabulous signature sauce use that, if not give this recipe a go. Then, go and buy the fanciest pasta you can find in the most fun and exotic shape you can. Sure, it'll cost you $6 instead of 99 cents, but that still works out as a pretty cheap present! It really won't be the same if you use cheap penne, as the exotic pasta in spectacular shapes will be a real treat.

 

Tomato Vodka Pasta Sauce

 

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 kg ripe tomatoes, chopped roughly

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stick, chopped

1 cup vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

1 cup loose basil leaves, torn up

1 cup vodka

1/2 cup blanched almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

 

To Make

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onions until soft. Add the garlic, tomatoes, carrot, celery, vegetable stock and bay leaf and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are completely cooked through.

2. Remove from the heat and take out the bay leaf. Stir through the basil leaves, vodka and blanched almonds. Season with salt and pepper, if you like. Allow the sauce to cool a bit and then put in a blender and purée until completely smooth.

3. Transfer to washed large jars and put the lids on tightly.

 

Now - if you're giving these away straight away, you can give them just like this & tell your recipient to store in the fridge and use within  a few days. If you're not sure when they'll use it, or if you'd like to make them up in advance, then just quickly sterilise and seal the jars after you make them. Then they'll keep in the cupboard for months. To do this, line the bottom of a really big saucepan with a tea towel (so that the bottoms of the glass jars aren't touching the bottom of the hot pan) and place your jars in (make sure lids are on as tight as you can). Fill with enough cold water to completely cover the jars and turn on the heat. Bring to a boil and boil for about 20 minutes. Then turn off the heat and allow to cool.

 

Makes approximately 2 large jars.



 

To make up your gift packs, simply cut a piece of hessian or something suitably rustic and pie it on the top of your jar using black or brown twine. Label your jars and use twine to tie the jar to a packet of gourmet special pasta. You may also like to include a used by date on your label.

 



 

Oranjebitter - Dutch Orange Bitters (Vegan Virtual Potluck 5)

Remember when we had Netherlands month on the blog? Of course you don't, it was ages ago! This recipe for Oranjebitter (Orange Bitters) is from way back then but I was holding onto it for a special occasion. The return of the spectacular Virtual Vegan Potluck is the perfect time to share this one with you, not only because I'm in the beverages category - but also because the (optional) theme ingredient this time around is Citrus.

Cue: Orange Bitters. You might be wondering what orange bitters is, and thinking that the use of the word "bitter" in the title is not so appealing. Ever had a Lemon, Lime & Bitters? They use Angostura bitters. Dutch Orange Bitters (Oranjebitter) is another type of bitters, but an orange flavoured one - pretty self explanatory.

Their uses are very broad, they make a great aperitif, digestif and cocktail ingredient. One of the easiest ways to use your orange bitters is to make yourself a Lemon, Lime & Orange Bitters. Just swap out your angostura bitters for orange. There are many cocktails which specifically used orange bitters, but you can also use it to drizzle over ice cream, to flavour cakes and desserts or just to drink on ice if you love the taste of bitter orange (if you're a marmalade lover, then you probably do love the taste of bitter orange!). If you're keen to just drink it as a dessert, you can whip up a simple sugar syrup (gently heat 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar to dissolve and then cool to room temperature) and then add the orange bitters to taste.

Because it's been such a long time since Netherlands month, I'll remind you of some of the delicious vegan recipes I shared:

Lazybones Buns (Luilakbollen)

Speculaas (Spice Biscuits)

Hollandse Stroopkoek (Syrup & Beer Cake)

Gevulde Speculaas

Naked Babies in the Grass

Dutch Orange Bitters (Oranjebitter)

Ingredients

1 lemon, washed

1 orange, washed

5 cardamom pods

3 tbsp sugar

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1/3 vanilla bean

2 cups vodka

To Make

1. Use a potato peeler to thinly peel the orange and lemon. Juice them both and then set the juice aside, but save the seeds. Lay the peel and the seeds out on a tray and dry them in a warmed oven until dried out and crisp.

2. Place the peel, seeds, cardamom pods and sugar in a mortar and pestle and crush up just a little bit.

3. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized jar and pour the reserved orange and lemon juice and the vodka over the top. Shake well and put the lid on nice and tight.

4. Leave in a cool, dark place for 2-3 weeks to infuse, taking it out and shaking it up every couple of days.

5. You can leave it as long as you like, and taste it every so often until you get it as strong and bitter as you like. When you like how it tastes, strain through a tea strainer lined with filter paper to get a clear golden liquid. Stores in the cupboard for 12-18 months. 

Makes 2 1/2 - 3 cups. 

A quick note- I've photographed mine before I strained it out, to show the ingredients infusing in the jar, which is why it's still quite cloudy in my pictures. The final result after straining will be clearer.

Cocktails using Orange Bitters:

Yule Mule

This is part of the Virtual Vegan Potluck #5, so please use the buttons below to check out what other delicious recipes have been brought to the potluck:

Or, if you'd like to start at the beginning and work your way through, click here.

Thanks for stopping in and enjoy the potluck! If you like what you see on the blog and want to keep in touch, I recommend liking the Gormandize facebook page so that you can get my new recipes all up in your feed!

In case you're interested.... this month is Myanmar (Burmese) Food Month on the blog.

This month I'm featuring vegan recipes from Myanmar (Burma).

Check out my other Burmese recipe posts:

Vegan Fish Sauce

Ohn No Khao Swe with Chickpea Tofu

Burmese Tomato Salad

Gin Thoke (Ginger Salad)

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Chilli Vodka (Easy Home Made Christmas Presents!)

People who love chilli are great to have in your life when it comes to gift giving season - they're so easy to make presents for! I'm big on home made gifts, it's a win win in most cases. Making infused alcohols has to be one of the easiest home made gifts to make, and I've done a few over the years! They're quite possibly also the most fun to receive :)

Strawberry & Lime Infused Vodka, Raspberry Vodka & Pineapple & Basil Vodka have featured on the blog in past years as edible gifts (or just great things to make for yourself!).

I'm adding to that list now with Chilli Vodka! Simple, yes. Done before, certainly. But the chilli loving vodka drinker in your life will think of no better gift you could possible have given them, it is always a hit! It looks beautiful and keeps on giving, as you can instruct the recipient to just keep topping the bottle up with vodka as they use it to keep the supply coming. Eventually the chilli will turn completely white and it might be time for a new one, but that will take quite a while.

Chilli Infused Vodka Gift Bottles

This is not really a recipe, as you can probably work it out for yourselves!

1. Get a nice bottle to put your gift in.
2. Take 2 long red chillis (you can use small red chillis or green ones, but long red ones look elegant in the bottle) and wash well. Make a slit in each one without cutting the chilli completely in half, just to allow the vodka to soak all through the chilli.
3. Place the 2 chillis in your gift jar and fill to the top with vodka. 
4. Seal well, decorate with festive ribbons or labels as you choose and attach a card. Done.

This is best done 2-3 days in advance, to allow the chilli to infuse the vodka, but not so early that the chilli starts to lose any colour.

Have fun with combinations, try:
~ Chilli & Lime Infused Vodka
~ Chilli & Lemongrass Infused Vodka
~ Chilli & Watermelon Infused Rum or Vodka

Any other cool ideas? :)

Roasted Tomato, Chickpea and Vodka Soup (Guest Post by The Kitchen Crusader)

Today I have the first of the delicious guest posts which my awesome blogging friends were kind enough to contribute! This one comes from Heather at The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader - if you haven't checked out her blog yet then you should jump over and have a browse, she comes up with some seriously awesome and inventive ideas! Thanks Heather for contributing this soup recipe!

Roasted Tomato, Chickpea and Vodka Soup

Yeah, that's right, it's a soup with vodka in it. Look, in case that freaks you out, it's not exactly compulsory vodka, but it does enhance the flavours of the dish. Vodka is often used with tomatoes in dishes, it marries well with the fresh zestiness and adds an interesting depth of “savoury-ness.” I first discovered the wonder that is vodkas and tomatoes not, as you may think, in a Bloody Mary, but rather in Rachel Grisewood's cookbook Manna from Heaven. That cookbook is full of the kinds of cooking I adore, unusual flavour combinations that teach a cook a lot about how flavours work and how to think about them differently. Grisewald's “Absolut Tomatoes” recipe is still one of my Summer dinner party favourites, it takes little effort and not much vodka, leaving plenty for cocktails with dinner.

During Summer tomatoes are abundant at my local farmer's market, so much so that I purchased a 10kg box of tomatoes for $10. This recipe is designed for tomato season, for when we can get tomatoes at great prices and in great quantities. It might seem a little mean, then, that I'm posting this recipe at the start of Winter, when tomato season is quite far off and soups are staple fare... but put this baby away in your memory banks. I promise come next tomato season, you'll be thanking me.

Serves 4 (depending on serving sizes, of course)

Ingredients

2 kg tomatoes, washed and halved (no need to remove the tops/core)

2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 tbsp sugar

salt and pepper

2 tbsp vodka

1 small bunch of well washed and roughly chopped silverbeet or English spinach

1 400g can of chickpeas, drained (or 1 cup of dried chickpeas, rehydrated)

parsley or some “poor man's parmesan*” to serve

*poor man's parmesan is just bread, crumbed roughly, fried in a pan with some olive oil and salt until is crispy and crunchy and golden brown. If you have never tried this, you need to remedy the situation... plus it's the kind of vegan fare I love, the kind that ANYONE, vegan or not can enjoy and drool over. It's also great with pasta.

Method:

1)Preheat oven to 180C.

2)Place the halved tomatoes in a large baking dish, scatter with garlic. Drizzle the olive oil over the top, sprinkle with sugar and salt.

3)Toss to coat the tomatoes in oil.

4)Bake the tomatoes for 1 and a half to 2 hours, they should be cooked through and browning on the edges.

5)Blitz the tomatoes, their juices and the garlic in a blender or food processor with the vodka, silverbeet/spinach and half of the chickpeas. This will probably need to happen in batches. Blend until the soup reaches your desired consistency.

6)Reheat the soup in a pot on the stove and add the remaining chickpeas while this occurs.

7)Serve hot, topped with the parsley or poor man's parmesan (or both). Some toasted crusty garlic bread would also be lovely with it. 

Turkish Delight Martini

I'm participating again in one of my absolute favourite blogging events - the Vegan Virtual Potluck. I almost didn't make it in this year, as I've been flat out and almost didn't get time to make my drink. So much travel planning to do! I'm heading overseas in July for almost 6 weeks so I have so much to organise and think about! I'm also looking for guest posts to help keep my blog from dying while I'm away - so if you are a blogger and you enjoy my blog, please think about contributing a guest post (I'll be happy to return the favour). Get in touch with me if you're interested. Enough about that - now to the cocktail!

In last year's potluck I brought a dessert - my Choc Banana Ice Cream Pie (Vegan & Sugar Free!). This time I thought I'd change it up a bit and bring a beverage, so that I could try out a new cocktail on you all. It's called a Turkish Delight Martini, even though it doesn't actually contain any of the ingredients of a martini. But let's not let nitty gritty get in the way of a good cocktail name. 

Turkish Delight Martini

Ingredients
3 measures vodka
2 measures Frangelico
2 tsp rosewater
2 drops pink food colouring (optional, just for colour)
1 cup ice
Pieces of Turkish Delight

To Make
1. Combine vodka, frangelico, rosewater and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into martini glasses.
2. Place a small piece of Turkish Delight in the bottom of each glass. Enjoy!

Makes 2.

Variation:
You'll notice that this cocktail is just straight booze. Don't worry it tastes incredibly sweet and smooth. If, however, you'd like to thin out the booze a bit you can replace one of the measures of vodka with 2 measures of simple syrup.

This is the virtual vegan potluck, which is so much fun so make sure you check out everyone else's posts too!

To start from the beginning and work your way through head to the very first blog in the chain by clicking right....... here. If you've already worked your way through all the recipes before me then I hope you're enjoying all the dishes. I can't wait to sit down with a cup of tea and go through them all!

What's next in beverages? Time to move on to the next Potluck Offering. 

Hit this button to go to the previous post (Walnut Date Smoothies by Gazing in) or click here:

Hit this button to go to the next post (Citrus Glow Smoothie by Almost Raw Vegan) or click here:

How to make your own raspberry infused vodka!

You might have noticed a few infused alcohol posts on this blog. The first time I infused my own alcohol I fell in love with the simple and elegant process of taking gorgeous fresh fruit which is in season and infusing it in spirits. It is a great way to make your vodka a bit more special and personalised, and also a great way to keep enjoying seasonal fruit throughout the colder months. During December this year, when the raspberries were at their most vibrant (and cheapest!) I bought up big and not only ate (almost) my weight in them but set a few punnets aside for vodka.

It's a simple process, so instead of a recipe I'll just give you some basic instructions. Take 2 punnets of fresh raspberries. Rinse well and then pat them dry. Place them in a large jar and cover with 750ml of vodka (or as much as you can fit in the jar. Keep the empty vodka bottle so that you can put the finished product back into it.

Store the jar in a dark cupboard for at least 4 weeks, or up to 2 months. By the end the raspberries should be completely white and the vodka will be a luscious red (this photo was taken about a week into the infusing, so the raspberries are losing some of their colour and the vodka is slightly tinged pink).

After it is sufficiently infused , strain the liquid through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. You should end up to with a clear deep red liquid. Pour back into your empty vodka bottle and you're ready to go!

Even though this tastes quite strongly of raspberries, don't forget it is still straight vodka - so don't go too crazy with it. If you're the kind of person that likes doing vodka shots then you'll love these shots. If you like your vodka a little less hardcore then I highly recommend having this on ice with topped up with soda water. It's spectacular! It's also a perfect way to enjoy delicious summer fruit into the cooler months, I'm going to be drinking raspberries all winter long :)

Summer's Glow (Yellow Watermelon Cocktail)

You know how I've been posting and tweeting about improving my food photos? Well, this one is shamefully a testament to how far I had to go. Sadly, food photos take patience and sometimes I just want to put down the camera and eat or drink whatever is there immediately. In some cases, if I failed to get any good shots then I make the recipe again and have another go. In this case, that wasn't possible.

Why? Because it contains a somewhat obscure ingredient. Yellow Watermelon! My lovely partner currently works in the fruit and vegetable department of a supermarket, and one day when they were cutting up the watermelons they cut one open to find that it was bright yellow inside! The staff immediately bought all the pieces of it and my partner proudly brought it home, knowing I would be excited by a somewhat exotic ingredient! In another sad photography fail, I didn't actually take any photos of the yellow watermelon, but you can check out what a yellow watermelon looks like here.

Most of it I just chopped up and ate. But I thought it would be silly of me not to blog something about it, and it just so happens that the Eat the Alphabet challenge bloghop is on it's last hop for the year. That means it's X, Y and Z time. Somewhat challenging letters, but luckily I can show you my Yellow Watermelon Summer Cocktail.

Summer's Glow Cocktail

Ingredients

500g yellow watermelon

2 cups vodka

1L lemonade

Juice of 2 limes

Fresh mint

Ice, to serve

To Make

1. Chop the watermelon and remove the seeds.

2. Place in a blender with the vodka and a few pieces of ice. Blend until completely liquid.

3. Add the lemonade, lime juice and plenty of torn fresh mint. Stir gently and transfer to a large jug or glass bottle to serve. Serve over ice, with additional mint sprigs, if desired.

Serves 6.

NOTES:
~ You can, of course, make this with pink watermelon instead. It will be just as delicious, although I would suggest calling it a Lover's Glow, to suit the pink colour.
~ It is preferable to chill the watermelon, lemonade and vodka before hand, so that the drink will be nice and cold when you serve it.

Celebrating Spring with Strawberry Lime Infused Vodka

I've been a little lax with posting this month! It's already 10 days into the month and I've only posted once - whoops! I have a few feeble excuses. I've been very busy at work (which has been wonderful!) but mostly I've just been too busy enjoying SPRING to want to sit indoors in front of the computer typing up posts. The sun has been shining all week and the days are warm and sparkling, it's just absolutely wonderful.

I'm not a fan of winter, I'm prone to a bit of S.A.D. so the start of spring is always a huge cause for celebration for me! It means that I've made it through another winter (this sounds dramatic but I find them a genuine struggle) and I can start enjoying myself and living it up again! I love the day when you find you can wear a t-shirt and feel the sun on your skin again. I also love transitioning into light salads, fruit salads and fruity cool cocktails.

So, I'm celebrating spring with this delicious and simple infused vodka. I first tried infusing vodka earlier this year, when I made Pineapple and Basil Vodka. It was delicious, although somewhat strong on the basil flavour, so it wasn't something I could drink a lot of. My second attempt, however, was absolutely fantastic. This vodka is infused with Lime and fresh Strawberries and it's phenomenal. The strawberries turn the vodka a gorgeous rich red colour and this vodka tastes so good that you can just drink it straight (if you like strong drinks!). It's perfect on ice topped up with a splash of chilled soda water and a slice of fresh lime.

Ingredients
750ml vodka
2 punnets fresh strawberries, washed and chopped in half
6 limes, peeled and sliced

To Make
1. In a large jar with a sealable lid (with a wide top so that you can get the stuff back out again!) place the strawberries and the lime slices.

2. Pour the vodka into the jar and shake it up gently.
3. Seal the lid on the jar and set aside in a dark cupboard to infuse for 1-3 weeks, getting it out occasionally to shake it (but ensure that the fresh ingredients are covered by the vodka before putting back in the cupboard) and taste it to see if it is infused to your taste yet. Gradually the strawberries will lose all their colour to the vodka. When you have pale white-ish strawberries in the jar you know it is done!
4. When you get it to the strength you like strain the whole jar through a strainer lined with muslin or cheesecloth.  Discard the strawberries and limes and put the vodka into a bottle.

*TIPS*
~ Best served with fresh lime juice, to get the fresh tang of the lime
~ If you can think of a use for the pale vodka soaked strawberries then put them to good use! I couldn't really think of anything, so if you do let me know what it was!
~It is best to keep the vodka refrigerated, as the fruit content of this vodka means it could possibly go bad. I say possibly, because it lasted fine in my fridge for a couple of months and you'll probably drink it all up before it gets a chance!

Easy Basil Vodka Pasta

Back in March of this year I made my own pineapple and basil vodka. It was pretty unique and delicious, but admittedly it was very, very basil-y. The pineapple taste was somewhat overpowered by the basil, making it a sort of savoury vodka rather than a sweet one. Because of this I tend to refer to it as being simply Basil Vodka, because that is pretty much what it is. Since then I have drunk some on a few occasions, it's very nice with some soda water and a generous squeeze of lemon. However, you have to be in the right mood for a tall glass of basil flavoured soda water, so more than half of the bottle is still sitting in my fridge.

I figured I would have to come up with some new ways to use it, and I decided that since it was pretty savoury I would use it in my savoury cooking. However, if you don't want to make a whole batch of basil vodka (although, once you realise how good it tastes in pasta sauce then you might!) you can make a quick substitute. Just take the 1/4 cup vodka needed for this recipe and put it in a glass jar with a lid. Finely chop some fresh basil leaves (I'd say at least 7-8) and put it in the jar with the vodka. Put the lid on and shake well. Leave for a minimum of 2 hours, overnight would be best. Shake it up whenever you remember. Then just add both the vodka and the basil to the recipe at step 3.

Ingredients

400g pasta, I used fusili

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

6-8 mushrooms, washed and chopped

1/4 cup basil vodka

1 tin diced tomatoes, including the juice

1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp soy sauce

To Make
1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is transparent and softened.
2. Add  the mushrooms and sauté until they have cooked down and released their lovely mushroom-y juices.
3. Add the vodka, tomatoes, herbs, tomato paste and soy sauce and simmer briefly. All you really want to do it cook the herbs sightly, so only 1-2 minutes.
4. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta for a minute less than it tells you to on the back of the packet (pasta never needs to be cooked for as long as the packet says!).
5. Drain the pasta and stir through the sauce. Add cracked black pepper to taste (but you will not need salt because you have added soy sauce instead!).
6. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Pineapple & Basil Vodka

Pineapple and basil infused vodka? Possibly one of the best ideas ever? This amazing concoction was inspired by a recipe in Matthew Teacher's great little book The Home Distiller's Handbook for Pineapple and Basil Cordial. My version is a bit stronger on the vodka :) The basil in this one came fresh from my beautiful garden where the basil is growing like crazy because all of the rain we have been having. Overall the basil flavour in this infusion is stronger than the pineapple, however, although the pineapple flavour is subtle it serves a great purpose to provide a sweeter undertone to the strength of the basil.

Infusing my own spirits is something I plan to get into a lot more and the success of my first try has only inspired me even more! This infusion makes a wonderfully fresh tasting vodka which needs nothing more than some soda water and a squeeze of lemon to drink with!

Ingredients
750ml vodka
1 small pineapple, peeled and chopped
1 bunch basil, washed

.....that's it!

To Make
1. In a large jar with a sealable lid (with a wide top so that you can get the stuff back out again!) place the sliced pineapple and the bunch of basil (tear up the basil leaves slightly so that the flavour infuses easier).
2. Pour the vodka into the jar and shake slightly. Tip: poke the basil leaves under the vodka so that they don't dry out or become too brown.
3. Seal the lid on the jar and set aside in a dark cupboard to infuse for 1-3 weeks (the longer you leave it the stronger the basil flavour), getting it out occasionally to shake it (but ensure that the fresh ingredients are covered by the vodka before putting back in the cupboard) and taste it to see if it is infused to your taste yet.
4. When you get it to the strength you like strain the whole jar through a strainer lined with muslin or cheesecloth. Put the soaked pineapple pieces into the muslin and squeeze to get as much of the pineapple-y-ness out of it as possible. Discard the basil and pineapple and put the vodka into a bottle.

Serve with lemonade, soda water (with a squeeze of lemon juice), pineapple juice or just on ice with water and a slice of lemon (simple - but actually very delicious).

Black Forest Shots

Black Forest Cake always reminds me of my childhood because my mum made the best one ever and my brother used to request it as his birthday cake every single year without fail. However, doing shots doesn't remind me of my childhood at all because I had good parents. So... I guess this recipe is like combining the past with the future. Or something wanky like that. Really though - all you need to know is that these are sooo much easier and faster to make than a Black Forest Cake. Plus, what could be cooler than eating a whole (mostly liquid) cake in one mouthful? There is also something quite fun about shots which you have to chew as you take them. So, with that random group of good points about these shots, you can see that you obviously have to try them. I'm also planning Lamington Shots and Tiramisu Shots to go up at some stage in the same series.

Ingredients (per shot)

1 pitted morello cherry (see note below - for the love of god read the note!)

½ measure vanilla vodka

½ measure cherry brandy

2 tsp of the juice from the jar or can of morello cherries

1 tsp chocolate ganache (see recipe below)

2 tsp coconut milk

Chocolate Ganache (makes quite a big batch so if you are only making a few shots you may want to halve it)

1/3 cup soy milk

100g dark chocolate, broken up into small pieces

To Make

1. To make the ganache, heat the soy milk in a small saucepan until small bubbles start to appear on the outer edge of the milk (don’t let it boil). Remove from the heat and stir in the broken up chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is all melted and the ganache is deliciously glossy (don’t put it back on the heat!). Allow to cool slightly.

2. Put the morello cherry in the bottom of the shot glass.

3. Add the vanilla vodka, cherry brandy and morello cherry juice.

4. Add a generous teaspoon of chocolate ganache to each glass (it will sink into the middle of the booze).

5. Pour the coconut milk over the shot glass over the back of a teaspoon to make it sit at the top of the shot.

6. Consume immediately and make another :)

NOTE: I would highly recommend checking each cherry to make sure that it is in fact pitted before putting it in the shot, as my experience of buying jars of pitted morello cherries is that roughly 1/4 of the cherries in the jar actually still have pits in them. So - if you don't want your cocktail party guests choking on cherry pits I recommend checking by inserting a sharp knife or skewer into the cherry first.

This post is part of the Death By Chocolate Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, click on the list of posts below or on this badge to see all the other entries submitted to the hop:

P.S. I can't even tell you how many times I accidentally typed shit instead of shot when writing up this post - hopefully I noticed them all and changed them......