Cadbury Creme Egg Vodka Martini

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This weekend is Easter, so it will be a nice long weekend for many of us. If the weather we had last weekend is repeated then it will be a great Easter all round. We have family coming to stay but haven't made great plans that involve relying on the weather, as it's been so unpredictable recently, and I'm not quite convinced that Spring is here just yet.

Whatever the weather we can still enjoy the many bonuses that come with the Easter holidays - roast lamb and Easter eggs, to name two. My sister in law gave up chocolate for lent so we've stocked up ready for the moment she lets herself loose, and I also thought it would be nice (as she likes to enjoy a drink or three when she has a few days off work) to create a little chocolate based cocktail that she can enjoy whilst staying with us. I've made various flavour vodka's with sweets and chocolate in the past, including Malteser vodka and toffee vodka, so I thought the perfect Easter accompaniment would be a Cadbury Creme Egg Vodka, which I would use as a base for a chocolate Martini.

The Creme Egg vodka is very straightforward to make, and can be made in advance and kept in a cool place for a few weeks or even a few months (if it ever lasts that long!).  

I picked up a selection of Easter treats from my local Tesco store, which has a huge variety of Easter eggs, bags and boxed Easter treats and egg hunt kits in their seasonal aisle along the back wall near the bakery.

Once the Creme Egg Vodka has been made, it's shaken up with Baileys, chocolate syrup and a little milk to make a delicious cocktail that can be served in a number of ways. I quite like the idea of serving it in a chocolate egg, and these foil wrapped Cadbury eggs are the perfect size. Using a warm knife slice the top off the egg and fill with the cocktail, and then sit it on a nest of scrunched foil, or sit in a martini glass. Alternatively, I found these cute Smarties farmyard hollow chocolate figures that can be used as shot glass for either the Creme Egg Vodka or the cocktail. Making a hole in the top large enough for a straw can be done by carefully poking a hot skewer through the top of the figure. I then used a squeezy bottle to fill them up. 

For a more sophisticated looking cocktail it can be served in a Martini glass, drizzled with chocolate syrup on the inside, and topped with half a mini Creme Egg and some grated chocolate.

CADBURY CREME EGG VODKA

• 3 Creme Eggs, chopped
• 300ml vodka (I used vanilla vodka)
• 2 tbps sugar

Add all the ingredients to a wide necked bottle or jar
Place the jar into a bowl of hot water for a few minutes
Shake the jar vigorously 
Place back into the hot water, and shake again
Repeat until the Creme eggs have completely dissolved *

* It may separate again on standing so make sure it's given a good shake before using

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CADBURY CREME EGG VODKA MARTINI - serves 2

• 80ml Cadbury Creme Egg Vodka
• 40ml Baileys
• 30ml Chocolate syrup, plus extra for serving
• 50ml milk
• small handful of ice

Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously

Strain into a Martini glass drizzled on the inside with chocolate syrup

Serve immediately topped with grated chocolate and half a mini Creme egg

How will you be spending your Easter weekend?

Raspberry Chambord and Gin Sour

Well, that's it, Halloween is done & dusted and we're now on the countdown for Christmas. Every year seems to be passing more quickly than the previous, even my 8 year old is saying it (how is he even 8, he was only born 5 minutes ago!) My eldest is 17 next week and starting driving lessons, which is just crazy. How can babies born in 2000 be almost adults! I don't want to think about how old that makes me, so we'll just get back to the subject of Christmas. Unless you're a food blogger it really is too early to start talking about Christmas, but as I was sampling Christmas food back in July it's not too soon for me to be sharing a festive cocktail. Obviously you don't have to wait until Christmas to drink it - hell, I was tasting it at 10am on Tuesday morning!

I discovered Chambord just a few years ago, via the power of social media, and a Chambord Royale has been my festive drink of choice ever since - drop of Chambord, topped up with Champagne, or Prosecco or even Cava if you're a cheapskate like me, and topped off with a frozen raspberry if you dare. Have you ever tried sucking a raspberry up through a straw? Loads of fun but be warned that it is also a very easy way to get very drunk, as you tend to drink your drink very quickly whilst attempting to suck the raspberry. It doesn't work the same with a strawberry, but don't let me stop you trying! Anyway, I digress again. Back to cocktails. I had my very first 'sour' in Portugal on holiday a few years ago. It was an almond sour, made from the local almond liquor (my that stuff is good), lemon juice, sugar, and lots of ice. A couple of years later I went to a cocktail making class in a local bar/restaurant, and learned how to make an Amaretto sour, which I was disgusted to know contained raw egg white. Wow, that cocktail was amazing though, with a lovely foamy top, almost like a meringue. I make myself one once in a while but drank the last drop of Amaretto on New Year's Eve and it hasn't yet been replaced (husband, if you're reading this please add Amaretto (or Aldi cheaper equivalent) to my Christmas list!)

I'm not sure if a Chambord or Gin sour is even a thing, but I do love to try new things out, and love it even more when a plan works, and this one really, really worked. I don't like to blow my own trumpet, but it was amazing. In fact it was just as amazing as that Amaretto sour that the mixologist made at that cocktail night a couple of years ago. 

How gorgeous are these glasses too? I was gifted them from Root 7 and as soon as I clapped eyes on them I just knew that they were made for cocktails - either that or a succulent! They are inspired by the Terrarium and you can get them in either black or gold.  I chose the gold and I'm glad I did as they match my Chambord bottle perfectly. Such a lovely glass that would make a fab gift this Christmas.

Pimms and Elderflower Iced Lollies

Well, summer has FINALLY arrived, and what does everyone do? complain that it's too hot! Such a typically British thing to do, but if you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen, which definitely applies in my case, as the kitchen is the hottest room in the house this time of the year. Even the hamsters have gone on vacation to the deepest, darkest (and coolest) depths of the teen cave to cool down.

This explains why my blog has been quiet for a few days (ok, it was a whole week), because who wants to be stuck in the kitchen when the weather is so nice. I've either been at my desk in the coolest part of the lounge (warmest in winter as it's next to the radiator) or up at the allotment, planting, watering and building (more on my DIY pallet bench another time).

This weekend is set to be another scorcher, so these iced lollies will help to cool you down. If you don't have any sparkling elderflower you can make up some cordial with sparkling water or lemonade, or just use regular lemonade, whichever you prefer. This recipe makes 6 lollies but you may need to adjust the quantities depending on the size of your lolly moulds.

Pimms and Elderflower Iced Lollies - makes 6

100ml Pimms

300ml sparkling elderflower (I used Cawston Press Elderflower Lemonade)

a few thin slices of strawberry

a few thin slices of cucumber

• mix the Pimms and elderflower together
• pop a couple of slices of strawberry & a slice of cucumber into each lolly mould
• fill the moulds with the Pimms mixture & pop a stick in
• freeze overnight

Enjoy! (and no moaning about the weather, we want it to stay like this for a while)

Rhubarb and Prosecco Fizz

There's talk of a Prosecco shortage this summer, but so far I haven't seen any evidence of it. Maybe it will happen when summer does eventually arrive, but hopefully not, as I quite like my weekend tipple.

There are so many ways to drink Prosecco; as it comes, with a drizzle of Chambord raspberry liquor or Creme de Cassis blackcurrant liquor, or even in a sparkling white sangria, which we enjoyed on a recent holiday in Majorca last month.

Last week I had a few sticks of rhubarb, and rather than making my usual pie or crumble I decided to make a rhubarb vodka syrup to use in a cocktail.

Rhubarb Vodka Syrup - makes approx 300ml

3-4 sticks of rhubarb

cold water

200g caster sugar

100ml vodka

• cut the rhubarb into 1" pieces & add to a large saucepan and cover with cold water
• bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer gently (with the lid on) until the rhubarb is completely soft
• leave to cool in the pan
• strain the juices through a jam bag or piece of muslin
• this gave me 600ml of juice, to which I added 200g of sugar (adjust accordingly)
• pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil, and simmer until the juice has been reduced to around 200ml
• stir in 100ml vodka and pour into a sterilised bottle

Rhubarb and Prosecco Fizz

rhubarb vodka syrup

ginger ale

Prosecco

mint leaves

• add approx 10ml of syrup to a champagne flute
• fill to just under halfway with ginger ale
• top up with Prosecco, and add some mint leaves

Ensure that your ingredients are ice cold, and add a small stick of rhubarb as a stirrer