The first MxMo of  2009 is hosted by The Scribe at A Mixed Dram and the theme is Broaden Your Horizons. This theme encourages us to make a drink and experiment with ingredients, methods or flavours that we have never tried before. To be honest, i’m having trouble coming up with anything though, partly because I have tried and used most things, and partly because the things that I haven’t tried before are obscure aperitifs/liqueurs, which I don’t own (or can’t find anywhere), or molecular kit and chemicals that I can’t get hold of easily or in time.

So now i’m left rooting around the kitchen cupboards, looking for ingredients that I have never used in cocktails before and pondering their eligibility. Potatoes? Too starchy, and just wrong. Oxo cube? Too savoury. Tea Cup? Not the most attractive serve and I have seen it done. Peas? Goes well with mint in a risotto, so maybe a Moji… nah. Garlic? Too garlicky.

Brandy Butter? Aha! I’ve made ‘Hot Buttered Rum’ before, but never used brandy butter. It’s left over from Christmas, festive, warming and using butter in a cocktail is surely broadening my horizons? I’m going to have a play, i’ll be back to report shortly!

….

I’ve had reasonable success with a drink which just seemed to work first time!

After tasting the brandy butter I decided that I would match it with mince pie-like flavours. Back up to the drinks cabinet and I selected a bottle of Frapin VSOP cognac, Heering Cherry liqueur and Cointreau (I probably would have used Grand Marnier if I had any). Mince pies for me are a mixture of sweet pastry, candied fruit, spice and richness, so I was looking to included all of these aspects in the drink and this is what I came up with…

“Pie, Splash and Liqueur” (A play on words from the classic cockney dish – Pie, Mash & Licker)

• 12.5ml Cognac
• 12.5ml Cherry Liqueur
• 12.5ml Cointreau
• 25ml Cranberry Juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugar (could be changed for vanilla seeds and a touch of brown sugar)
• 1 slice of clementine
• 1 clove
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 large teaspoon of brandy butter (mine was homemade)
• 100ml boiling water

Method: Warm a glass or cup with boiling water, I opted for a thick coupé style glass. Discard the water then add the cognac, cherry liqueur, Cointreau, clove, clementine, cinnamon and vanilla sugar. Quickly top up with boiling water and then spoon the brandy butter on top. The butter will sink and then begin to dissolve, firing little oily droplets onto the surface of the drink, serve it immediately so that the drinker can see the butter melt away.

I was really pleased with the flavour of the drink, the salt in the butter really adds an extra dimension and the cranberry is pretty critical in order to bind the other flavours together (originally I left it out). The linger of the aromatics is very similar to that of mince pies and brandy butter, with the vanilla playing an important role in emulating the pastry and giving the cherry liqueur an almond finish.

What started out as a tough MxMo, turned out to be a really great theme that encouraged a bit of thought and some nice results.

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