Tag Archives: cocktail

drinks and cocktails, kitchen thoughts

Snowy New Year Cocktail

snowy mint chocolate cocktail

Although we are aware that many people will expect to eat something over the Festive Season, we reviewed what we did last year, which was Christmas lunch for a singleton, and decided that despite all the dating applications at their fingertips and self-help group therapy, that self same singleton would probably have descended to full-scale alcohol dependency with the passing of another year – and so we’ve decided to provide more helpful advice accordingly.

Besides, if I have to endure another bout of a plumply coiffed Nigella spreading warm sauce on her bundt, I think I’ll have to fast forward to next year’s advice to the hapless singleton (that we’re stalking) and book that one-way flight to Switzerland straight away….

Trendy bartenders have a habit of describing a 16-phase construct using ingredients available only in the former Soviet-bloc countries as simple. Which somewhat glosses over the vegetable-carving skills and hand-blown apothecary’s distillation equipment that you’ll also inevitably need.

Please trust me that when I say this is simple, it really truly is. You simply take one of granny’s old sherry/liqueur glasses (the ones you gave to the charity shop and then bought back again when “retro” became cool, start with some mint liqueur (a shot – 30ml), then carefully layer over a slightly smaller shot of white chocolate liqueur in the manner of finishing an Irish Coffee with cream – namely, over a spoon to avoid mixing the layers. Because these are the only two ingredients they have to speak for themselves, so you should avoid the horrors lurking at the back of your drinks cabinet and buy really good versions of these. We used Briottet Menthe Verte and Coole Swan Irish Cream Liqueur which is an unbelievable concoction of whiskey, Belgian white chocolate, cream and real vanilla. This wintry cocktail was inspired by one of Bebe Von Boom Boom’s recipes we showed last year and is also delicious!

The end result looks like a virgin snowfall on the pine trees growing up the slopes of your fave ski resort – so it’s as festive as a freshly stuffed Norfolk Black (and we all know how Brenda loves a good stuffing). As a final bonus, who doesn’t love mint-choc and you could probably quietly ask for this little gem of a cocktail as a dessert instead of a pudding….

Happy New Year from your two Fabulous Hostesses, that’s us, Fanny and Brenda. We hope you make it through the holidays unscathed and with the same number of children/boyfriends/girlfriends/husbands/wives that you started with – and we’ll see you in 2016 for more of our unique take on food and drink. We are beautiful!

xxx

drinks and cocktails, recipes

The Japanese

fanny and brendas japanese cocktail with orgeat

This was an excuse to use my orgeat – a maceration of toasted, ground nuts (in this case almonds) in alcohol with the smallest dash of orange flower water. I made mine but you’ll be just as well seeking out a good commercial one to save time.

It’s also worth learning the correct pronunciation  of orgeat- we wouldn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea this Christmas, particularly if you’re throwing a party and all that alcohol’s flowing………

INGREDIENTS
60ml cognac
15ml orgeat
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Lemon peel for garnish

DIRECTIONS
1.
Fill a mixing glass about half way with ice. Add cognac, orgeat and bitters and stir well.
2.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
3.
Twist lemon peel over the drink and drop in as a garnish. A vegetable peeler works perfectly well for this

drinks and cocktails, kitchen thoughts, recipes

Hot Toddy

fanny and brendas hot toddy

I love December. The year is virtually over and the Christmas lights are going up. There is that feeling of festivity in the air. Fanny looks more and more like Father Christmas every year due to her billowing white facial hair that she usually clips out before we start filming. It’s like a fairy tale.

These days the shopping takes place online. As some rather short sighted retailers now have aggressive parking practices that enable them to make money twice by employing moronic parking management companies I no longer bother, so everything comes to me – without the parking tickets.

After a strenuous day unpacking my latest gifts to myself I usually need a cocktail to improve my weary state. A favourite of mine is the Hot Toddy. I once had a boyfriend called Todd who was quite hot and I think of him with a wry smile before I click my fingers at Fanny and she makes one for me.

So, the ingredients are below but really, I’m going to let your imaginations run wild with the proportions as these are totally up to you.

Ingredients

Whisky or rum
Runny honey
Lemon juice
Cinnamon stick
Couple of cloves
Hot water

Fanny’s Method for a fabulous Hot Toddy

Take a little hot water to loosen around a tsp of the honey to a thin syrup – you won’t need a lot.

Put your tot of whichever spirit you are using into a glass, add some honey syrup and lemon juice (again, as much or little as you like so you get a drink where the sweetness/tartness is balanced how you like it – and Brenda prefers hers tarty, quelle surprise…

Drop in your cloves and cinnamon stick, then top up with hot water – leave the kettle for 20 seconds or so after coming up to the boil to reduce the likelihood of cracking your glass, although the other ingredients already there should help prevent this.

Stir with the cinnamon stick, check it is to your liking, adjust with more of any of the ingredients if necessary – then drink when it’s still hot but not burning your mouth. You get a much more satisfying result when you can pretty much fit the whole lot in at once………

drinks and cocktails, kitchen thoughts, recipes

The Bellini – a drink to enjoy this summer

fanny and brendas peach bellini

This seems like a simple cocktail and in fact it is. But don’t be deluded, it’s easy to get wrong. The quality and sweetness of the peaches are paramount. Do not buy the cheap punnets of flavourless peaches; get the best. Not the best you think you can afford; get the best. It takes ripe flavour-filled fruit to make this drink work. Fanny made it three times before we were sure; don’t waste your time – just follow our instruction: only the best ripest flavoursome peaches will do. Why? Well anything less than that floral peachy flavour exuding from the fruit will leave you with a flavourless pulp which will have no influence over the Prosecco. And this is too satisfying a drink to get it wrong.

Ingredients

1 bottle of Prosecco
Four peaches (ripe ripe and ripe again. So ripe they are scented. Did we say they have to be ripe?)
30g sugar

Method

1) Skin and liquidise the peaches

2) Add the sugar

3) Add about a 1.5 glasses of Prosecco to the pulp (to thin it so that when it mixes with the rest of the Prosecco it will mix with ease).

4) Pour the pulp into four champagne flutes

5) Pour the Prosecco

6) Enjoy

drinks and cocktails, recipes, video demo

Fanny and Brenda return to youtube

fanny and brenda's cocktail special starts with a marge simpson!

Fanny and Brenda are back and making videos, showing how to get the best out of food and drink. This week it’s the Marge Simpson cocktail – so-called because it alludes to Brenda’s currently blue hair, taken by advice from a stylist who was evidently having a joke. The cocktail is a wonderful violet and vodka based surprise, which Brenda wastes no time getting down her throat!

fanny and brenda's cocktail special starts with a marge simpson!

Fanny and Brenda’s Cocktail Hour