This post was made in partnership with Kerrygold Irish Cream. Recipe and ideas are my own.
This weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. And to send everyone off, I’ve got one last summer drink with Kerrygold Irish Cream headed your way today. But first, a question. Have you ever had salted cream on your coffee or tea?
Right now I’ve noticed a big push at some national coffee chains where they’re advertising cold foam, or sweet cream, salted or unsalted, on their iced drinks. This may be a new concept for a lot of customers at these stores (especially with the near fanatical hype I’m seeing on some social channels for the stuff), but for several years now I’ve been getting salted cream topped tea at a restaurant called Din Tai Fung (which happens to have several locations here in SoCal and more world-wide). I had never heard of it before trying it there, and I have since gotten it every single time I go there for soup dumplings (which is all I want to eat when it’s winter here in LA). It’s basically whipped unsweetened cream that has a nice layer of salt sprinkled on top (and actually it may be lightly sweetened but as I gobble it up so fast every time I haven’t stopped to think about it). I get it atop black tea, but you can also get it with green as well.
Anyways, I also really love a tea syrup or tea infusion in my cocktails and the idea of adding a salted cream on top of one sounded, quite frankly, delicious to me. So, here we are today.
This is also a transitional cocktail in the sense that I’m incorporating tea into it, thinking ahead to cooler temps and warm sips by the fire; but for now I’ll enjoy that tea iced. The resulting flavor is quite unique here with a floral, bright, and fruity forwardness on the palate that finishes smooth with hints of chocolate and spice. Over ice it is light, with hits of salty richness from the cream. Bergamot, the flavor associated with Earl Gray tea, has always tasted a little like Fruity Pebbles cereal to me, and here that citrus/fruitiness provides a nice contrast to the cream found in the Kerrygold and the topping. I think this would be a nice cocktail for happy hour, enjoyed outside during these last few weeks of summer.
Salted Cream Earl Gray Tea Cocktail
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/2 ounces bourbon
3/4 ounce Kerrygold Irish Cream
1/2 ounce Earl Gray tea syrup (recipe follows)
1/3 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice (about half a medium lemon)
pinch black salt or pink salt, optional
- Make your salted cream by beating the heavy cream a few minutes until just about soft peaks form. Stir in sea salt. Set aside.
- Next, in a shaker 2/3 filled with ice, pour in bourbon, Kerrygold Irish Cream, Earl Gray tea syrup, and lemon juice. Shake hard about 20 seconds, and then strain into a highball glass filled with ice.
- Top the cocktail with the salted cream and optionally sprinkle some additional black or pink salt for added saltiness and contrasting color.
Earl Gray Tea Syrup
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
2 bags Earl Gray tea
In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water over high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Bring to just about a boil and then remove from heat. Add in tea bags and let steep, covered, for 30 minutes. Then strain into an airtight container. Use immediately or refrigerate up to one month.
We are back this month with another fun Make or Buy project, which also just happens to be something you can shelve away for holiday presents later this year. Today, we’re talking Luxardo Cherries.
Depending on where you live in the country, cherry season is any time between April and August. So technically we’re really right at the end of the season. Cherries might start to lose some of their flavor now, but fear not, they’ll still be tasty after a long bath in Luxardo.
Homemade maraschino cherries are going to look a bit different from the jarred cherries you might be used to. If I say “maraschino cherry” and you picture something bright red, well, this will be way different for you. If you’re used to Luxardo or Amarena you might be expecting a thick syrup. Well, sorry to say this, but that thick syrup is usually the result of the additive glucose into the mix. The homemade cherries here are in a much lighter syrup but I’ve given a note in the recipe if you’re looking for more viscosity.
Now, even with the note about glucose in the syrup, Luxardo cherries are still a delicious store bought brand and unless you’ve canned a bunch of jars in the summer, you’re going need to restock at the store. Luxardo cherries also feel very luxe, and quite frankly, are really easy to eat. So let’s look at the pros and cons of each.
Homemade Luxardo Cherries
This post was made in partnership with 
Sweet cocktails can many times feel too heavy, like you’ve just drank a bowl of ice cream, and honestly, no one should have to endure that. What I like about this drink is that while it leans towards a dessert it most definitely is not heavy. It walks the line between being light while also having a nice richness to it. That unexpected smoky flavor also gives it depth. Sound good so far?
I’m back again with Kerrygold Irish Cream, who provide some richness with cream and a touch of chocolate to the drink. I thought that those chocolate notes would pair really well with some dried Oaxacan chiles I had in my pantry which have a sweet, smoky aroma to them. If you can’t find any Oaxacan chiles, try guajillo peppers instead. I also wanted to punch up the chocolate factor here and added in some chocolate liqueur (and if you’ve been following along with my summer recipes then here’s another recipe with chocolate liqueur for you to try!). Lastly, to round it out I added in some lime juice for balance.
Kerrygold Chocolate Chile Cocktail
Mint and chocolate are such a perfect pairing in my mind that every time my husband tells me he ABHORS the two flavors together I want to throw a shoe at him. The nerve! It’s SO good! And I hope you all agree with me!
As some of you might know, I’ve teamed up with Kerrygold Irish Cream this summer to create some FUN recipes to enjoy in these warm months (Southern Hemisphere readers, bookmark these for your summer!). And today, Kerrygold Irish Cream is kicking in some creamy, chocolate flavors with a touch of Irish Whiskey with these minty fresh popsicles. To make them extra rich, we’re using two types of coconut milk, and a touch of chocolate liqueur for additional chocolate flavor! These aren’t dairy free (because Kerrygold has cream in it) but I find that using the coconut milk creates a much richer popsicle with a better mouth feel. Sometimes just milk creates an “icy” popsicle and I wasn’t looking for that here. Optionally, I’ve also added as a topping some white chocolate that I’ve colored green… reminiscent of that classic ice cream color. Also, I like any excuse to create some magic shell.
Kerrygold Mint Chocolate Popsicles
In this month’s Make or Buy series we’re thinking ahead to the holidays. Yes… I’m aware that’s 6 months away, but with this ingredient you need to think into the future. Far, far into the future. Because today we’re making vanilla extract.
Before we get into the pros and cons of the homemade versus the store bought, I just wanted to let you know a little about vanilla beans. For one, if you decide to go the homemade route, you may run into some sticker shock when you see bean prices. Vanilla beans, you see, are a huge pain in the butt to grow. They require very high humidity environments, the flowers need to be hand pollinated (where you get a little flower dust from one plant and paint it onto another plant), and the flower blooms in like, one day and you only have that one day to pollinate the plant. Once the pods are picked, they need to cure in the sun for upwards of a year. It’s labor intensive work done by humans, humans who should be paid a living wage for their work, and that comes with a price tag. You will find vanilla beans from places like Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, and Mexico as well as a score of other places. There are two main types of vanilla: Tahitian and Planifolia. However, that in combination with where they are grown produces their unique flavors and aromas. I’d suggest doing some research first and decide what flavor profile you’d prefer before going the homemade route. One last note: grade type. There are Grade A and Grade B vanilla beans. Grade B is for extract, so buy those.
I have two store bought vanillas that I interchangeably use and I thought I’d present both here because they represent two ends of the store bought spectrum, the not too pricey grocery store variety, and the fancier, way more expensive variety. Depending on your budget and need, these are both great buys for a ready made vanilla. I happen to live near the grocery store Sprouts so I’ve been using their organic vanilla extract and that is fine. However, I also occasionally splurge and purchase Nielsen-Massey vanilla as well. There was a time that because of my job, I could purchase this practically at cost and I got very used to their awesome vanillas and other products, but they are definitely on the higher end as far as vanillas go. The Nielsen-Massey vanillas have more varieties to choose from, and therefor one can get more of the type of vanilla they are looking for. For example, their Tahitian is more flowery, while their Madagascar Bourbon is more robust. These flavors do come across in the final products you use them in, but if you’re just looking to add a touch of vanilla to some cookies you’re fine with both. However, if you’re looking for vanilla aromas to use in a cocktail where it needs to work with the other ingredients, you may want to go for the higher end product.