Adventures with Alcohol

I mix drinks. I make jell-o shots. Sometimes I even bake with alcohol. It's fun -- join me! (Moving from what is now ethanophile-old.tumblr.com...)

[ethanophile]

Get [Cranberry] Sauced with this Sangria! Cranberry Pomegranate Mulled Red Wine Sangria 1 bottle strong, slightly spicy red wine 2 cups Pama pomegranate liquor 1 cup Jagermeister Spice 1/2 cup apple pie moonshine 1 bag fresh cranberries 1 pomegranate worth of arils (seeds) 2 cups cranberry pomegranate juice 1 package mulling spices 1 cup club soda Mix liquors and wine in a large pitcher. Add fruit and allow to sit (refrigerated) for as long as you like up to 1 week. Boil mulling spices in juice as directed on packaging. Add club soda and mulled juice to pitcher. For extra spice, leave a fresh infuser of mulling spices in the pitcher for an additional 1-2 days before serving. Enjoy your holiday in a glass!

[ethanophile]

Apple Cranberry Spice Cupcakes Filling, Step 1: Cut up a bunch of apples (and pears, in my case) and put them in a mason jar. Leaving the skin on or off is up to you. Pour your desired ratio mixture of Fireball (or any other cinnamon liquor), apple pie moonshine (I used Ole Smoky) and -- if you're feeling adventurous -- Bacardi 151 over top. Store, shaking occasionally, for 1-2 weeks. Be sure that all apples remain submerged. Filling, Step 2: Pour half the apples and ask of the liquid into a saucepan. Add 1 cup of fresh cranberries. Boil until applesauce consistency, stirring often. Store in refrigerator. Cake: Make Spice mix according to directions, replacing water with fresh apple cider. Add remaining soaked apples before baking. Frosting: Cream 4 sticks of softened butter with 1 cup brown sugar. (If you don't want it to be as sweet, which it is extremely, cut the amount of brown sugar.) Add 1/2 cup Fireball and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Beat well. Slowly add 4 cups of powdered sugar while continuing to beat the mixture. Core the baked cupcakes, add filling, and top with frosting. I made 50 cupcakes and still had frosting left over, so you can cut the recipe down if you aren't into excess amounts of it. Top with apple slices and microwaved cranberries (trust me on the microwaving) and enjoy the taste of fall!

[ethanophile]

Super Boozy Knock-Em-Out Celebration Cake I made this for a coworker's retirement, and I just about knocked out 25 people with 2 cakes. As a three-layer cake there's about two shots per serving (assuming ~12 servings per cake) so it's pretty heavy. Chocolate cake: Make two devils food cakes per directions, substituting coffee liqueur for water. Yellow cake: Make one yellow cake power directions, substituting vanilla cream liqueur for water. I used Tippy Cow Vanilla Soft Serve Cream Rum. Glaze 1: Make 2 cups of coffee (I used Starbucks espresso roast). Add 2 cups Irish cream liqueur. Mix well. Glaze 2: Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into a bowl. Add 1 cup vanilla liquor of choice... I used Tippy Cow again. Filling 1: Hershey's Hot Fudge. That's it. Don't do anything to it, it's perfect. Filling 2: 1 large package vanilla instant pudding mi 1 cup vanilla or other cream liquor of choice (yup, still Tippy Cow) 1/3 cup milk of choice 1/4 tsp vanilla 1 tub Cool Whip, thawed Whip together all ingredients except Cool Whip, then fold in the Cool Whip to create a mousse. (Adapted from the root beer mousse recipe I used from wildflourskitchen.com) Ganache Icing: 7 oz bittersweet chocolate bits (or more, I won't judge) 1.5 oz butter 3 oz heavy whipping cream 2 oz Godiva chocolate liqueur (again, I was a bit liberal in my pour) Heat chocolate and butter together in a saucepan until melted. Add cream and liqueur. Whisk until smooth. (Adapted from sweetandcrumby.com/2012/05/16/the-girl-who-cried-wolf-chocolate-Kahlua-cake-drizzled-with-kahlua-ganache/#more-8024) Put one chocolate cake down in a pan (you're going to need the ability to... basically create a basin) and pour glaze #1 over it. Spread filling #1 on top. Add your yellow cake next. Pour glaze #2 on top, then spread on filling #2 liberally. I promise, it'll stand up to stacking better than you expect especially if you've kept it refrigerated while you work. Place the last chocolate cake on next, then pour the icing over top. Sprinkle on a mix of cinnamon, white sugar, brown sugar, coffee, and cocoa powder over the top, and serve to a very hungry crowd!

[ethanophile]

I'm only ridiculously late at posting this, but as promised! Coney Island Hard Root Beer Float Cupcakes Cake: Make a standard yellow cake, substituting Coney Island Hard Root Beer for water Filling: 1 large package instant vanilla pudding mix 1 cup Coney Island Hard Root Beer 1/3 cup milk or milk substitute of choice (I used almond milk) 1/4 tsp vanilla 1 container of cool whip, thawed Whisk together all ingredients except cool whip. Fold in cool whip until combined. Set aside. (Adapted from wildflourskitchen.com/2013/08/09/old-fashioned-root-beer-float-cake-with-creamy-root-beer-float-mousse-filling/ ) Syrup: Boil 1 bag of root beer barrel candies in 1.5 cups of Coney Island Hard Root Beer. Allow to cool. If it turns into spun sugar and tries to eat your spoon (as mine did to me numerous times), reheat and add more liquid. Repeat until you get an actual syrup at room temperature. Bake cupcakes, core, and fill with mousse. Cover with small circles of fondant, a root beer barrel, and a straw. Drizzle syrup over top, and enjoy!

[ethanophile]

Pumpkin [Beer] Cheesecake Cupcakes These might be some of the best cupcakes I’ve ever made… or had. So good. Pumpkin Spice Cake: 1 box spice cake mix 18 oz pumpkin puree 1/3 cup sour cream 1/3 cup pumpkin beer (I made one batch each of Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale, Sam Adams Pumpkin Batch, and Jack-O Traveler Pumpkin Shandy) 4 eggs 2/3 cup white granular sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling: 24 oz cream cheese 1 cup sweetened condensed milk 1 cup pumpkin puree 1 tsp pumpkin spice ½ cup pumpkin beer (I used a combination of the three) Mix together your two batters. Later cupcake tins with cake batter, cheesecake batter, and then another layer of cake batter. Bake at 350*F for twenty minutes. The cupcakes will collapse in on themselves. Top each with a large marshmallow. Broil on low for a few minutes until the marshmallows are toasted, then remove and smash the now gooey marshmallows with your hand or a spoon. Be careful, a spoon will get sticky and start to take marshmallow tops with it! Have an extra clean spoon on hand. Drizzle caramel sauce on top, and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. The leftover filling (there will be a lot of that) makes a great dip for fruit or graham crackers too... Or just a spoon. Enjoy!

[ethanophile]

Coney Island Hard Root Beer Float Cupcakes (pre-drizzle)! Full recipe will be posted soon. .

[ethanophile]

Jell-O Shots!!! Left to Right: Moscow Mule, Dirty Arnold Palmer, Strawberry Lemonade, Peach Cocktail Moscow Mule 1.5 cup Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer 1 package lime Jell-O 2 tbsp lime juice 1 cup vodka (I used Absolut Hibiskus) Boil 1 cup of Crabbie's with 1 tbsp lime juice. Mix into Jell-O and allow to cool. Once cooled, add the remaining Crabbie's and lime juice then the vodka. Distribute into cups and refrigerate until hardened. Dirty Arnold Palmer 1 cup Twisted Tea Half & Half 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 package lemon Jell-O 1 cup Sweet Tea Vodka (I used Deep Eddy) Boil Twisted Tea. Mix into Jell-O and allow to cool. Add lemon juice and vodka once cooled, then distribute into cups and refrigerate until hardened. Strawberry Lemonade 1.25 cup strawberry lemonade 2 tbsp strawberry purée 1 package cherry lemonade Jell-O 1.25 cup Limoncello Boil 1 cup lemonade with purée. Mix into Jell-O and allow to cool. Once cooled, add remaining lemonade and Limoncello. Distribute into cups and refrigerate until hardened. Peach Cocktail .5 cup strawberry lemonade .5 cup sour mix 1 tbsp lime juice 1 cup Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer 2 packages peach Jell-O 1 cup Triple Sec 1 cup Peach Schnapps Boil all non-alcoholic liquids together. Mix into Jell-O and allow to cool. Once cooled, add liquors. Distribute into cups and refrigerate until hardened. Enjoy!!

[ethanophile]

Spiceberry wine-sicles! Same recipe, but in popsicle molds! I'll let you know how it turns out :)

[ethanophile]

Spiceberry Spritzer 8 oz peppery red wine (I used Apothic Dark) 2 oz seltzer water 2 oz Jagermeister Spice 1 oz strawberry purée Shake together and pour over frozen berries. Enjoy!

[ethanophile]

Whisky Bacon Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes!!! I wanted to make thank you cupcakes for some of the guys at work, so I decided to do something stereotypically manly. Whiskey and bacon. The salted caramel is a nice complement to the saltiness of the bacon and adds a different depth of flavor to the profile. 1. Bacon Fry bacon in a pan. I know, shocking. I overdid it a bit to make sure it'd be crumbly. 2. Frosting Add whiskey to half your bacon grease in a pan (carefully!!!) And about half a cup of sugar. Let it boil down into a syrup. Add syrup and 2 sticks of softened unsalted butter to your mixer, and beat until light and creamy. Add powdered sugar a cup or so at a time while mixing until it's at your desired consistency and sweetness (do taste it, the syrup is pretty sweet to start out with). For me that was about 2-3 cups. Add 1/2 cup melted chocolate (or more to taste, for me it wasn't terribly chocolatey) while you continue mixing. Lastly add heavy cream a tablespoon at a time until the mixture is at your desired consistency. Adapted from http://www.thekitchenprepblog.com/2012/08/chocolate-whiskey-cupcakes.html?m=1 3. Cupcakes Bake dark chocolate cake mix according to directions, substituting 1.25 c Jamieson Irish whisky for water. 4. Salted Caramel Sprinkle a tablespoon or so of sugar on the bottom of a pot. Heat on medium high, occasionally lifting the pot to shake/swirl it. When it has all melted, add more sugar and repeat. Continue until you have a dark amber melted sugar liquid in your pot (1 c of white sugar total). Add 6 tablespoons of butter, cut into individual pats, and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp salt (I used a pink Himalayan grinder), 1/2 c heavy cream and 1 tsp vanilla extract, whisking vigorously. Pour into a secondary container to cool. http://www.thebakerchick.com/2014/05/salted-caramel-sauce-how-to/ When the cupcakes (and caramel) have cooled, pipe frosting on top. Drizzle caramel on top of frosting, then add crumbled bacon pieces. Enjoy!!

[ethanophile]

More boozy cupcakes :)

[ethanophile]

Definitely one of the best yet. Angry balls cupcakes! Cake: normal yellow cake mix made with angry orchard cider Filling: soak 2 small apples (chopped) in a combination of a bottle of angry orchard and a cup of fireball whiskey. After 24 hours soaking, cook down apples ( drained of liquid) with butter, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt according to the recipe at https://ifyougiveablondeakitchen.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/hard-cider-cupcakes-with-whiskey-frosting/. I cooked them a lot longer than it suggests after adding the mix of cornstarch and the liquid from the soaked apples (instead of straight whiskey). I think more like 45 minutes as opposed to like ten. Frosting: Again, make according to the recipe from Blonde. No variations this time. I also made little logo toppers on fondant circles. They were a huge hit! I only made 16 and I'm pretty sure they weren't more than 10 people who ate them all. Ha enjoy!

[ethanophile]

Working on something delicious (and drinking the leftovers)!

[ethanophile]

Molten Mexican Hot Chocolate Lava Cupcakes - Beer edition These are barely even worth mentioning because of how strange they turned out, but they have potential anyway. Soak cinnamon and red pepper flakes in Samuel Adams Cream Stout (or another dark beer of your choice) overnight. Melt down one box of hot tamales in water (red hots would probably work better, but I couldn't find any) and remove the gelatin centers once the shell has melted off. Continue to boil it down until it becomes gelled, then add to a container of dark chocolate icing. Add 4 tbsp (yup) of cinnamon, mix well, and refrigerate. Bake your cupcakes using chocolate cake mix, with the filtered stout instead of water. Drop a small amount of fudge (store bought hot fudge is just fine) on top in the center before baking. You'll note that I made mostly mini cupcakes -- don't be like me. The molten center drops out completely. Once done, frost and decorate as desired!

[ethanophile]

Rebel IPcAke

Make white cake mix according to box instructions, replacing water with Samuel Adams Rebel IPA

Cut up 1 grapefruit, 2 oranges, 1 lemon and 1 lime so that they are completely free of peel, seeds, and membrane (start at 1:10 in this video for instructions on how to section a citrus fruit). Save the sections in a pot for the jelly filling, and the remnants in a muslin filter bag for the buttercream. You may want to save less peel for a more citrusy flavor, it's a matter of personal opinion.

Add 3/4 cup of butter and 1/2 cup heavy cream to a pot. Bring to a boil, and add the muslin bag of citrus peels. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the bag. Drain the excess liquid from it, and allow the liquid to cool. Discard the muslin and peels. Allow the liquid to cool in the fridge. Add 5 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk, 1/8 cup of sweetened lime juice, a dash of cloves and 1/4 tsp of ginger. Mix thoroughly until your buttercream frosting is at the appropriate consistency. Keep it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Add 4 cups of sugar, 2 cups of water, and an appropriate amount of gelatin or pectin to the pot with your citrus sections. Boil for 5 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of citra hops into a muslin filter bag and place the bag in the boiling citrus mixture. Continue boiling for an additional 5 minutes. Discard the bag of hops. Pour the citrus jelly into a secondary container and allow it to cool in the fridge. 

Once your jelly is cooled, use a BBQ flavor injector (seriously, it's the best thing ever -- trust me on this) to inject jelly into the center of each cupcake, then frost them with the buttercream. 

Voila! Dry-hopped citrus jelly-filled IPA cupcakes. 

[ethanophile]

{Samuel Adams Stony Brook} Red Velvet Cupcakes

Make dark chocolate cake according to instructions, substituting Samuel Adams Stony Brook Red (flemish sour red-style beer).

Mix dark chocolate fudge frosting with one container of cream cheese, 1/4 cup strawberry puree, and a few drops of raspberry flavoring. 

Top with strawberry slices as well as a mix of sugar, espresso and cinnamon. 

Enjoy!

[ethanophile]

So so sorry for being so absent. Numerous updates will follow. Update #1! 

I was a bartender for a day at a local winery happy hour (Franklin Hill Vineyards)... 

-2 parts "Passion" Strawberry Kiwi wine

-1 part Strawberry Liqueur (I would suggest one that's more sour than sweet, to offset the sweetness of the other ingredients)

-1 part Strawberry Puree

Mix and enjoy!