20th July 2020 | Pairings & Recipes | 4 minute read
Many of us are spending more time at home than we’ve ever done before. Now, while it’s all very well and good eating healthily during this time… sometimes you just need to give into those naughty urges! We’re talking cakes, lollies and all sorts of tasty treats – but with a boozy twist (what else would you expect from us?). Check out our tips for getting creative with your spirits at home and having a bit of fun with them!
A gin and tonic is pretty hard to beat. So, why not merge your new-found love of lockdown baking with your favourite drink and try your hand at a G&T cake? Simply add a splash of your chosen gin into a classic sponge mixture, along with plenty of freshly squeezed lime (the perfect G&T garnish). Cover the baked sponge with a layer of syrup made from tonic water, lime juice and a dash more gin, and finish with a lovely thick slathering of lime zest buttercream. We’re loving this recipe from BBC Good Food, but of course, feel free to experiment and chuck in whatever you’d usually garnish your G&T with – as long as the flavours complement each other, anything goes!
You only have to look at social media to see a lot of us have been baking over the last few months. And we can almost hear you thinking “not more banana bread”… but hear us out! Rum and banana is a classic flavour pairing, so adding a dash of spiced rum or golden rum to your loaf not only makes a lot of sense, it’ll take your basic banana bake to the next level.
Golden rums tend to be off-dry (in other words, a very mild hint of sweetness) with wonderfully intense and complex aromas of coconut, toffee and banana imparted from the oak ageing. A spiced rum is essentially a golden rum that’s had additional spices added to it, typically vanilla, ginger, cinnamon and clove. Either style of rum will perfectly complement your banana bread, so we say make a rum glaze for your loaf as well as pouring it into the cake mixture itself.
For those of us who are avoiding anything too naughty, alcoholic smoothies are a nice idea if you fancy a little treat that still counts towards your five a day! The key here is to know the basics in flavour pairing, so you know which spirit to reach for once you’ve chosen your fruit. Tropical fruits like pineapple and banana are a match made in heaven for white rum, while berries and super green smoothies (we’re talking green apple, spinach, kale) are great with a splash of vodka.
Whether you’re a jam before cream or cream before jam kinda person, whether you’ve bought the scones or made them yourself, cream tea is a delicious treat us Brits all seem to enjoy. Strawberry jam may be the obvious choice, but for the rebels among us who like to break away from tradition, there’s alcoholic jam!
If you don’t fancy making your own, we’ve found a few cool boozy jams that are ideal for jazzing up your cream tea. The warming spices of this spreadable rum jam work wonderfully with the clotted cream and complement the raisins in the scones nicely. Or, if you’d rather stick to a fruitier jam, the spreadable Peach Bellini (a Prosecco and peach marmalade) is a pretty delicious option. After all, most of the finest afternoon teas these days feature a bit of fizz, right?
This is certainly a different way to enjoy your favourite spirit on a hot summer’s day. Alcohol famously doesn’t freeze well, as most home freezers are nowhere near cold enough to reach the freezing point for ethanol (-114°C), so to achieve these adult ice lollies you’ll need to mix the alcohol in with another liquid. Clear spirits are best for this, and you want to mix it in with five times the amount of mixer (sparkling water, tonic or lemonade). Add in other flavourings and fruit, and it’s ready to chuck in the freezer.
Believe it or not, whisky is a spirit that pairs quite nicely with chocolate – particularly darker, more bitter chocolate. Opt for a Scotch Whisky and it’ll impart nutty, almost woody notes into your chocolate pudding, along with sweeter flavours of honey and dried fruit. Some will even add a smoky, spicy nuance if peat was used in the kilning of the whisky (which is often the case with Scotch).
If you fancy something softer, Irish Whiskey tends to be unpeated, while Bourbon and Tennessee appears sweeter due to being corn-based and aged in American oak barrels. The oak adds flavours of coconut, toffee and vanilla – all of which pair beautifully with chocolate. So, if a grownup chocolate cake that’s complex in flavour and light on sweetness sounds like your kind of thing, give this a try!
How could we leave out cocktails in a blog about ideas for your spirits? Your concoctions can be as complicated or stripped-back as you like. Our one simple tip for making any homemade cocktail bright and vibrant is to use fresh herbs. Basil, mint, rosemary and coriander are all really great garnishes to experiment with.
