Eggshell Green » cocktail

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Chickie Little — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:45:35 +0000

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

Chickie Little — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:07:05 +0000

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

Chickie Little — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:05:46 +0000

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

Chickie Little — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:12:22 +0000

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

Chickie Little — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:39:38 +0000

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

Chickie Little — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:22:41 +0000

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

Chickie Little — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:03:23 +0000

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

Stuff I Luff

Chickie Little — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:36:42 +0000

Buses arriving just after you get to the bus stop – hurray!
The impending summer – I’m sure it’s just around the corner, behind those clouds and following the winds…
Cocktails on a school night especially the two for one deals
Getting tipsy and having an hilarious time with your friends
Midland Sushi aka “Crack Sushi” because you always want more, oh yeah :D And now that there’s one in Chews Lane, we have two choices of places to go.
Polka-dots on clothes, underwear and now kitchenware!
Bassett’s Licorice Allsorts – they may be the best allsorts ever. And to think we only saw them at Heathrow on the way out of the UK. If anyone wants to send me some as a gift I promise to give them a good home.

Bassetts Licorice Allsorts