Strawberry & Cream Daiquiri

I'm back, after a lovely Easter break with family.  It's been slow on the cocktail scene, but my excuse is that it was Good Friday and I couldn't stomach a seafood cocktail! 

 

My baby sister and her family came to visit over Easter to join in on our annual family camping trip.  And because Mr Thermomix Me A Drink believes that camping should be a survival activity, complete with dug in latrines and rations, my thermomix was not allowed to come. 

 

So as soon as we arrived home, and so as not to neglect my cocktail duties, I created this treat for my sister who has always been known as Strawberry Shortcake amongst our family.  And while this isn't quite cake, it is definitely strawberry and cream flavoured.

 

 

 

Ingredients 

500gm ice

200gm frozen strawberries

100gm strawberry syrup *

4 shots Whipped Cream flavoured Vodka

Liquid sweetener to taste

100gm pouring cream

 

Method

Add ice, strawberries, syrup and vodka to your TM bowl

Blitz on speed 10 for up to 1 minute, helping the mixture with your TM Spatula.

Taste the mixture for sweetness and add some liquid sweetener to break through any tartness.

Add cream and mix on speed 5 for 10 seconds.

Serve in a pretty glass and garnish with a lolly!

 

 

This would be sooooo good as ice cream, the vodka would keep it soft and scoopable, if you can resist the temptation to lick the bowl!

 

 I hope you've had a relaxing Easter break. Stay classy!

 

 * I made a batch of Strawberry syrup a few weeks ago, you can find the recipe here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drunken Grasshopper

Kiss me I'm Irish! It might be a little late, but the sun hasn't quite set on St Patrick's Day yet. This is my favourite holiday. Not only does it give me an excuse for cocktails, but it's the only day of the year I can truly celebrate my red hair and freckled complexion!

Standard practise suggests you must consume something green and with potatoes, well vodka is kind of like potatoes and green is the colour of creme de menthe.  Must be a lucky charm.

In keeping with my frozen theme, I've elected to deviate from the normal Grasshopper you would find in cocktail bars all over town. My version is more like a frappe and I've doubled the alcohol content so you don't have to make another round, making more room for Irish Stew!

Ingredients

500gm vanilla icecream 

500gm ice

3 shots Creme de Menthe

3 shots White Chocolate Liquer (see my recipe here)

1 shot Peppermint Vodka

25-50gm thickened cream 

Chocolate flakes and mint for garnish

Method

Add ice cream, ice and alcohol to TM bowl.

Blitz speed 9 for 40 seconds.

After 20 seconds, gently pour cream, a tablespoon at a time until you have a achieved a milkshake texture.

Serve in a milkshake glass, sprinkle with chocolate flakes and add a sprig of fresh mint.

Disclaimer: Kiss Irish people at your discretion!

Limincello

I've had this little baby steeping away since January and figured that I might as well show you all just how easy it is to make, and drink at home!

Limoncello is a traditional Italian liquor, made with Lemons.  It is made by everyone in places like Tuscany or Sorrento and is a staple in rustic farmhouses all over the hills of Italy. And well let's face it, I'm not gonna get to Italy anytime soon (read ever) so I decided the next best thing would be to make Limincello and bathe under the QLD Sun (with plenty of SPF 50+)

There is not much to this recipe, but it can be a little tricky to get the quantities right.  Lots of authentic recipes call for 100 proof grain alcohol or Vodka, but you can't get alcohol this strong commercially in Australia.  So if you don't know a bootleg distiller who is willing to pour off a batch of houch, then you are left with only two options.  Buy the bottled product sold at all good bottle shops, generally imported and ready to drink, or find yourself a bottle of Vodka strong enough to put you in hospital and follow these instructions.  (Medical alert: the alcohol content is cut down significantly through mixing, as to avoid having to get you stomach pumped)

Ingredients 

8 fresh lemons (washed well)

Vodka (500ml of very strong stuff >70%, or about 750ml of regular vodka (40%)

Sugar - see quantity guide below

Hot water - see quantity guide below

Method

You start by peeling about 8 lemons, use a vegetable peeler and take off just the yellow skin.  Avoid the whit pith as this will make your Limincello bitter.  

Add the lemon peelings to a clean glass jar or bottle and pour over your Vodka.  If you have very strong vodka, you will only need half as much than if you are using standard strength stuff.

Seal jar and let the mixture steep for about a month in the far reaches of space (aka the pantry).

The lemon peels will start to leach all of their colour and oils into the alcohol after about a week.  Give the mixture a little shake every week or so.

This is the mixture after 5 weeks:

The next bit is essential for giving your mixture the sweetness required but it also dilutes the alcohol content significantly.

If you have strong vodka (over 70%) use these quantities:

500gm hot water

300gm caster sugar

If you are using commercial vodka (40%) use these quantities:

100gm hot water

150gm caster sugar

Mix the water and sugar together in the TM bowl on speed 3, 80degrees, for 2 minutes or u til dissolved.

Pour off the Limincello from your lemon peels, add it to the TM bowl with your sugar syrup and mix on speed 2 for 10 seconds.

Your mixture will be cloudy because of the heat in your syrup, but it won't effect the flavour.

Pour the mixture through coffee filter into bottles and store in your freezer forever!

Serve it chilled or over ice, or use it  to make a Lemon Lime & Bitters, like I have!

This is easy, to a glass of ice, add a shot of Limincello, a dash of bitters, a slice of lime.  Top with lemonade or soda water.

Chocolate & Raspberry Spider

Today's cocktail comes courtesy of a marvellous little blunder.  Having realised that I've run out of Vodka (eeeeek) I sent Mr Thermomix Me A Drink to the store to stock up.  In his all seeing wisdom, he elected to shake things up a little and grabbed the first bottle that looked right.  It was wrong! Instead of Vodka, he grabbed Whipped Cream Vodka.  Now I'm not one to nag (except on days that end in "y") so I've made the best of it.  And please don't tell him, but I actually think he got it spot on!

This week, I've been searching for inspiration and I stumbled across a recipe from www.maebells.com for raspberry red wine slushies with chocolate cream.  I'm not a red wine drinker, but I am a vodka fan and I'm also a big fan of raspberries and chocolate, so I've tweaked it a little and present you with my Chocolate & Raspberry Spider.

As well as vodka, I've used Chambord which is a Black Raspberry Liquer, seriously delicious.  I've also used a splash of chocolate Baileys and the combination tastes like heaven, not at all alcoholic.  You could omit all of the alcohol if you wanted and this would still be devine.

Ingredients 

Serves 2

60gm Chambord

60gm Whipped cream Vodka

150gm frozen raspberries

300gm ice

60gm lemonade

For the chocolate cream

125gm Cream

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1tablespoon chocolate powder or cocoa ( I used the YIAH Raspberry chocolate powder)

30gm Chocolate Baileys

Method

Add raspberries and lemonade to your TM bowl, blitz on speed 7 for 30 second.

Push the mixture through a fine seive to remove the seeds and set aside in the freezer.

Scrape as much of the seeds out of your bowl but do not rinse, this way you can flavour the cream slightly with raspberry.

Insert your butterfly and add cream, sugar and chocolate powder to your bowl.

Whip for 20-40 seconds on speed 3 until thick.

Add baileys to the cream and whip another 5 seconds to combine, speed 2.

Transfer chocolate cream to a bowl and set aside.

Rinse your bowl.

Add ice, vodka, Chambord and raspberry mixture to your bowl.

Blend on speed 10 for 20-30 seconds, until it resembles a slushie.

Pour into a milkshake glass that has been drizzled with chocolate sauce, top with chocolate cream and garnish with a raspberry.

TGIF Margaritas

Thank God it's Frozen Maragaritas!

As I may have eluded to on Facebook a few weeks ago, February 22nd is a special day for me and many others. It is a celebration of all that is good in the world.  It is International Margarita Day.  Where we pause not for a minute's silence but a whole happy hour. Where we reward our hard earned thirsts with a frozen tequila slushie and say to hell with the calories. The day that screams to the world "It's 5 o'clock somewhere!"

Now I'm going to ease you in gently because I know that not everyone has a positive relationship with Tequila. Granted Tequila and I have had our differences, but now that I have learned to steer clear of cute bartenders and body shots, I think we have a mutual respect.

This recipe is for a Classic Margarita. One you can enjoy while shaving your legs and bitching about your boyfriend.

Ingredients 

Serves 2

3 shots Tequila (the good shit)

1.5 shots Triple Sec (or Cointreau if you've got money)

500gms Ice

Juice of 2 lemons

1 tsp Coconut Sugar 

Method

Add Ice, Tequila and Triple Sec to the TM bowl. 

Mix on speed 10 for 20 seconds.

Add lemon juice and coconut sugar.

Mix on speed 6 for 10 seconds.

Rim your fancy margarita glass with lemon juice and salt.

Stay tuned for the next instalment. 

Fig & Honey Gin Cocktail

Break out the Cucumber sandwiches. Let's get Sophisticated just for a minute.

Apparently Gin is making a come back to Aussie backyards and BBQ's around the country.  Now I didn't think I was old enough to drink Gin just yet, but the lady behind the counter didn't ask me for ID so maybe I got away with it.

A Gin & Tonic sounds about as appealing as a tepid glass of soft drink, but this drink builds on the subtle flavours of Expensive Gin, even if you cheap out and buy the crappy bottle. (Which is what I did!)

Capturing that tiny miracle that is Figs and Honey (how good are figs right now!), this cocktail will add an element of class to your boozy sausage sizzle. Add a hint of fresh Thyme and you might just hear one bellow "About figgin thyme!" (Come on that had to be said)

Ingredients 

Fig and Honey Syrup

300gm fresh figs

150gm honey

50gm raw sugar

250gm water

Splash vanilla essence

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Gin cocktail

2 shots Gin

2 shots fig and honey syrup

Juice of half a lemon

Ice

Method

Fig and Honey Syrup

Place figs, honey, sugar and vanilla in TM bowl.

Purée on Speed 7 for 10 seconds.

Pour water into TM bowl and add fresh thyme.

Set the timer for 10 minutes, 95 degrees, speed 3.

Push through a fine seive and allow syrup to cool in the fridge.

Gin cocktail

In a pretty glass, pour 2 shots gin over ice.

Add 2 shots fig syrup and juice of half a lemon.

Stir and garnish with fig slices and thyme.

Add more syrup if you prefer a sweeter drink.

The best part is, the syrup makes about 600mls and will keep sealed in the fridge for up to a month, so you can make as many cocktails as it takes to become unsophisticated!

Watermelon Mojito

I have a list of favourites that I rely on when it comes to cocktails.  Well I might have to add this one to the list. I was asked recently about a classic Mojito recipe, but for the life of me I can't serve up something without a twist.  I hope that this one at least lets the basics of this classic shine through.

Ingredients

300gm Ice

300gm watermelon

2 teaspoons sugar (I used a mint flavoured sugar)

3 shots Bicardi (or your favourite white rum)

12 mint leaves

Juice of 1 lime

Method

Add ice and watermelon to your TM bowl and mix on speed 9 for 20 seconds.

Add Rum, sugar, mint and lime juice and mix on speed 5 for 10 seconds.

Serves 2, garnish with fresh mint and watermelon slices.