cocktail
Pina Colada Cupcakes
I finally got around to making cupcakes this week – actually it’s the first time since Abby was born, which is not good enough!
Being summer, I thought a cocktail-inspired cupcake was in order, so I came up with the Pina Colada Cupcake. It has chunks of pineapple baked into it and topped with buttercream laced with Malibu.
The recipe is once again based on the awesome Scout’s Cupcake, tweaked for this variation.
Like eating a cocktail!
Pina Colada Cupcakes
Makes 12
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- fresh whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp of vanilla essence
- 3/4 C caster sugar
- 4 pineapple rings, chopped
- 1 1/4 C standard flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
Frosting
This makes enough frosting to cover 12 cupcakes if spreading it on with a knife. Make twice the amount if piping.
- 50 grams softened butter
- 1 Tbs Malibu
- 1 C icing sugar
Method
- Break eggs into a cup measure and fill to the top with cream.
- Pour into a large mixing bowl and beat on high with electric beaters for 1 minute.
- Add vanilla essence and caster sugar.
- Beat for another 3 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped pineapple. (You could try adding in coconut essence or syrup from the tin of pineapple into the batter to strengthen the taste.)
- Sift in standard flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
- Fold to combine taking care not to over mix.
- Spoon into 12 cupcake cases (you can make a few extra if the cases are over 3/4 full).
- Bake for about 15-18 minutes at 180 degrees Celcius until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove from tins (they can be quite fragile for a few minutes after baking) and cool on wire racks.
To make frosting, whip the butter until light and fluffy using an electric beater. Slowly whisk in half the icicing sugar. Add Malibu and whisk well. Keep whisking in small amounts of icing sugar until you get a good fluffy frosting.
I decorated mine with some dessicated coconut and yellow sugar.
Lychee Likey
To accompany the Vietnamese rice rolls we were having for dinner, I decided a lychee cocktail would be a good match.
This is another of my experiments that thankfully turned out really well. It’s a pleasant, thirst quenching cocktail with a subtle lychee flavour and an awesome pink glow.
Lychee Likey
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 mint leaves
- 3 lychees
- 60ml lychee syrup from the can
- 30ml vodka
- 15ml strawberry liquer
- 15ml lemon juice
- 30ml cranberry juice
- ice
Muddle sugar, mint and lychees in a mixer so lychees are mushed.
Add all other ingredients, including some ice, and shake well.
Pour into a tall glass with more ice and garnish with a lychee and lemon slice.
Pretend you are relaxing on a beach somewhere in South East Asia.
Project 365: Week 1
My week in photos as part of Project 365:
Thursday 1 January 2009
I choose to have a virgin pineapple slushy at the bach in Taupo, before driving in to town for the New Year’s Day sales.
Pineapple slushies on New Year's Day
Friday 2 January 2009
We have Mac Donald’s for lunch on a picnic table in Bulls, enroute back home to Wellington.
The hubby having Mac Donald's in Bulls
Saturday 2 Januray 2009
Back to normal life at home. I find a place for the statuette of a Cambodian dancer that my brother gave me for Christmas.
The new addition to my oriental theme at home
Sunday 4 January 2009
Ms Constantine comes over and I give her bangs – that sounds rude! I mean a fringe. I decide that sushi would be a great lunch on a sunny summer Sunday afternoon. There’s lots of leftover surimi mix so I make some more sushi for dinner. And the next day’s lunch.
Pretty and delicious
Monday 5 January 2009
First day back at work – boo! I am tired the whole day. Lunch is the best part of today :D
This doesn't look like a summer holiday anymore
Tuesday 6 January 2009
The hubby’s birthday is celebrated at the Lanes. We choose to go on Ladies’ Night because of the cheap specials they advertise on their website. Unfortunately they tell us they don’t run those anymore, but luckily they honour the specials anyway. We save a small fortune!
Bowling at the Lanes
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Tacos (not fish tacos) for dinner with a jug of frozen margarita (that I share of course with the hubby).
Beef not fish
Frozen Strawberry Daquiri
This is my version of a strawberry daquiri – with added cranberry.
Frozen Strawberry Daquiri
- a scoop of ice (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 large ripe strawberries
- 30ml Bacardi
- 30ml lemon cordial
- 30ml cranberry juice
As with all frozen cocktails, put the ingredients into a blender and whizz until smooth.
Pour, with the help of a spoon, into a 250ml cocktail glass and garnish with a half strawberry.
Yum yum!
Backyard Sunset
I ran out of vanilla vodka and lemon juice so couldn’t make myself a Rosebud. What I came up with instead is a pretty good substitute. It reminds me of a Golden Margarita but without the tequila taste.
Backyard Sunset
- 30ml 42 Below feijoa vodka
- 15ml cranberry juice
- 60ml pineapple juice
- 10ml passionfruit concentrate
- 10ml lime juice
- ice
Fill shaker with ice and pour in all ingredients. Shake then strain into a margarita or martini glass.
Feijoas and passionfruit – two types of fruit that are ever-present in Kiwi backyards. What better way to enjoy their flavours than in a cooling cocktail.
Backyard Sunset
Rosebud – My Way
After having Rosebuds at Chow, I just had to know how to make one.
The last time we went, we made sure to watch the bartender closely to see what and how much he put into it. Chow provides a list of ingredients on their online cocktail menu so that was a good start.
After close observation and a couple of attempts, I’ve come up with the following recipe. The ingredients online say ‘passionfruit’, which is probably passionfruit juice or drink of some sort. I’ve opted for passionfruit concentrate because that’s what we have in the fridge. Being so, I’ve had to increase the other juices to make up the volume that the concentrate lacks.
The concentrate has seeds but you can just strain those when pouring.
Rosebud cocktail
Rosebud (my way)
- 30ml Absolute Vanilla Vodka
- 45ml cranberry juice
- 45ml pineapple juice
- 15ml passionfruit concentrate
- 5ml lemon juice
- ice
Put everything into a shaker. Shake really well and strain into a champagne flute. It’s prettier if some froth sits on top so add some from the shaker if it’s all just sitting there.
Not exactly the same as Chow’s but still delicious and very easy to drink – so be careful!
Update: Please see Kula’s comment below for the ‘real’ version. Cheers!
Jack Frooze
I was wanting a lychee daquiri but couldn’t find any tins of lychees in my pantry. Instead, there was a tin of jack fruit, and I decided to conjure up a cocktail with that instead. The results were quite pleasant.
If you haven’t had jack fruit before, I guess the taste could be described as a cross between mango and pawpaw. Jack fruit is not as strong or sweet in flavour as those, but does have a refreshing taste and beautiful fragrance.
A guy I work with says in India there are a couple of varieties, one of which they use unripe in curries as the ripe fruit is no good for eating. I haven’t had fresh jack fruit but the tinned stuff is pretty good.
The recipe is for two frozen cocktails.
Jack Frooze
- 2 scoops of ice (up to the level of about 3 cups in the blender jug)
- 4 pieces of tinned jack fruit
- 60ml Absolute vanilla vodka
- 60 ml of syrup from the tin
- 45 ml passionfruit syrup
- juice of half a lemon
Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into pina colada glasses (or other 250ml cocktail glass).
Enjoy!
Jack Frooze
Previously on Eggshell Green
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