Birthday Caketini

Hey everyone!

I wanted to make a birthday cake inspired cocktail that reminded me of a cake when looking at it. I used Pinnacle Vodka in Cake flavor & Whipped. It's a really indulgent drink, and every birthday girl (over 21 of course), deserves to feel as fabulous as possible on her special day. 

Ingredients For Cake:
2 oz. Pinnacle Cake 
1 oz.  Milk
1 oz. Heavy Cream
or 2 oz Half & Half  (it's half heavy cream half milk)
Splash of Strawberry Liquor
Sprinkle in a pinch of Pink Sugar for color

Fill shaker up with ice. Add ingredients, and shake 

Ingredients for Whipped Cream:
2 oz. Heavy Whipping Cream
1 oz. Pinnacle Whipped
Confectioners Sugar (your preference of sweetness)

Combine heavy whipping cream & confectioners sugar first. Then gently fold in vodka. Do not mix all at once, or your whipped cream will break.


Take your martini glass, and glide a strawberry around the rim. Dip your glass in pink sugar. At the bottom of your glass, soak a little pink sugar and Pinnacle Cake. Gently pour in cake cocktail, and gently add spiked whipped cream. Using the end of a spoon or a chopstick, create little swirls as you would see on a birthday cake. Add a fondant flower for garnish to complete your cake cocktail.

This drink really tastes like a birthday cake!

Enjoy, and Happy Birthday!


Amber~

Blood Orange & Coconut Mojito

I know I don't have the best picture of this drink, but there's nothing with an "action" picture, right?
 A common misconception is people thinking in order to make a drink, you simply pour, stir, and drink. I never try to complicate things. I'm just trying to do things correctly. That way, you get the full experience. The aromatics, the balance of flavors, and all of the other unnecessary ways to articulate enjoying a drink. Moving along... here is what I do when making a good mojito:


Ingredients:

Fresh Mint
2 T Fresh Lime Juice
2 oz Coconut Rum
6 oz Blood Orange Soda
Ice


In a bottom of your glass, add your mint. A couple of leaves are fine. Use the handle of a wooden or plastic spoon, and muddle the herb gently at the bottom of your glass. Add your lime juice.

Hopefully you have a cocktail shaker of some sort. Add your ice, rum, and blood orange soda. Shake vigorously for about 20 seconds. Add everything into your glass.

Have you ever gone to a bar or restaurant, and noticed a bunch of shredded mint floating around your glass? That means the bartender added mint to the cocktail shaker, and didn't know wtf he/she was doing. Don't add mint to your cocktail shaker. We want the cocktail to have some dignity.

Finally, everything is added. The colors are sort of blending together. The mint is floating, but under the ice. Take a mint leaf, twist it a bit, and give it a cruse around the rim of your glass. This will add an aromatic to your cocktail, so you get the full experience of mint. When garnishing with mint, take a few of the prettiest mint leaves you can find, and with your thumb nail, which I know is extremely clean, clip the mint leaf as close to the stem as possible. This will prevent it from oxidizing, and maintaining it's elegance. Ok, mint isn't THAT special, but serving a beautiful drink that tastes just as good, is important.

What are some of your favorite cocktails to make? Be sure to share some pictures of them on Facebook!

Enjoy!

Amber~

Lemonade

Hey everyone! I know it seems kind of silly to blog about how to make lemonade. Honestly though, I remember failed attempts before I knew the wonders of simple syrup, and before I realized that lemonade needs lemons and water. Years ago, I sadly squeezed the shit out of a billion lemons and mixed in sugar and thought, "BOOM! Done!" That was a disaster... 

My kids and I made some lemonade today, along with some experiments. I was inspired to blog about it and share with you guys.  We learned why we (as in ME) should make simple syrup instead of mixing, or shaking in sugar. This was a really fun project. So simple, and such a good memory. I love fun projects like this to share with my kids. I do not allow my kids to be near the cooking process when using sugar. Even though a simple syrup does not need to be at 212 degrees F/100C (boiling point) it is still dangerous. I allowed my kids to measure out the sugar and water (always a 1:1 ratio). For example: 1 cup of water & 1 cup of granulated sugar/ 2 cups & 2 cups etc.  

Do not allow children in your kitchen when cooking sugar. 

Ingredients:

For Simple Syrup: 1 cup sugar (granulated or raw not powdered) & 1 cup water

4 Cups Water (Bottled or filtered preferred) 

1 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)

Add your simple syrup ingredients to a small pot. 1 cup of water and 1 cup sugar. Stir gently, and add to a very low heat setting on your stove. This does not need to ridiculously reduce for this recipe. It just needs to heat up, and sugar should be dissolved completely. Set aside and let cool. It will not thicken up like a caramel. It isn't even close to that stage. 

If you're using fresh lemons, make sure all seeds are discarded. Combine everything together once simple syrup is cooled down (about 10 minutes or so) and enjoy! 

Why Simple Syrup? Why Can't I just add sugar? 

We make a simple syrup when sweetening any drinks such as cocktails, sweet teas, etc. No mater how long or quickly you shake or stir in sugar, it won't completely dissolve. This is the experiment I showed my kids today:

I mean, I admit, as a kid, this was awesome at the bottom of my cereal bowl. (yea I was one of those kids who snowed my Cheerios in sugar) My kids do not even know such an idea exists *crosses fingers* 

So there you have it. If you want to class up your lemonade, I suggest adding things like, a sprig or two of fresh French lavender. (French lavender is light in color and not potent like the darker version (Spanish lavender). You could use that if you wish, but don't use more than one sprig per gallon. Yes... I know this from experience. 

You could also add fresh basil leaves, and or fresh basil leaves and watermelon juice, omitting the 4 cups of water. You could use Meyer lemons if available in your area. They are darker in color, and have a slight different taste and aroma. Almost like an essential oil potency which is really gorgeous. I didn't use Meyer today. 

Meyer lemons are to the left. 

So many possibilities. That's one of the beautiful things about simplicity. You can leave it alone in it's pure state, or you can be inspired. 

Enjoy! 

Amber~