Sorry about the gap between posts; the both of us have been on a small break from blogging. We have exciting things in the works – more on that at a future date, let’s talk chocolate liqueur!
This particular recipe was inspired by Mozart Liqueur, a chocolate liqueur that is just like drinking a rich, European hot chocolate, but in booze form. This liqueur was sampled in Salzburg several years ago, but recently made an appearance on our local state shore shelves. Once you taste it, you are whisked away to the Christmas Village markets of Austria; it is a holiday in a cup. Mozart Liqueur became a no-show last season – no where to be found in any Wine and Spirits shops. So, as per usual, Kyle decided to take matters into his own hands and develop a homemade version of Chocolate Cream Liqueur.
At first, he used a common formula for homemade Irish Cream, with one exception. He increased the amount of cocoa, from a teaspoon to a whopping 3/4 cup. The next step was to swap out the Irish whiskey component with a more neutral spirit: vodka.
Many Irish Cream recipes instruct you to simply whisk all the ingredients together, but Kyle found that cooking the cocoa with a bit of the liquid over the stove to fully incorporate the amount of cocoa powder, resulted in a rich, clump-free base. Long story short, after the first attempt the result was super rich, fudgy and perfectly boozy – all without being overwhelming. The homemade version was actually better than the Mozart Liqueur!!
The DIY version was richer and had a freshly-made-batch-of-hot cocoa quality that one just doesn’t get from a mass-produced item. Now, we won’t get all Ina Garten on you, BUT, since cocoa powder is the primary ingredient and contributes most of the flavor to the Chocolate Cream Liqueur, it would behoove you to go for a better quality cocoa powder. No, we are not on Ghirardelli’s payroll, but using their 100% cocoa powder was well worth in it in flavor.
This recipe came in handy during the holidays last year, and there was no need to rely on local liquor stores for chocolate liqueur. While working on the first batch of chocolate liqueur, Kyle was already planning a dairy-free version in his head, as dairy consumption can be an issue for both of us and to many of our followers. Seeing cans of sweetened condensed coconut milk at the grocery caused a light bulb over to go off over Kyle’s head! He snagged a few cans and got to work.
The biggest concern was using the substitutions and creating a chocolate-coconut flavored liqueur. Though not a terrible problem to have on hand, it would not be the rich chocolate flavor that we were attempting to recreate. After some tweaking to the recipe, we are happy to announce that the dairy-free version tasted just as rich and chocolatey as the original homemade liqueur! It turned out that the cocoa is strong enough to mask any coconut flavors. Now we have a truly dairy-free, vegan and (depending on the vodka one uses) gluten-free Chocolate Cream Liqueur. This gives all of us one more excuse to imbibe this indulgent delight!
You can use this Chocolate Cream Liqueur recipe all by itself on the rocks, with some chocolate shavings on top to emphasize the dessert-as-liqueur nature of the drink. However, you can easily add some to a mug of hot chocolate or coffee for spiked versions of those drinks. For a Chocolate Martini, my personal favorite as a liquid dessert, you can mix equal parts Chocolate Cream Liqueur, vodka, and Creme de Cacao. For a Mocha Martini, add 1 ounce of the Chocolate Cream Liqueur to your favorite Espresso Martini (Kyle likes to add 1 ounce each of vodka, coffee liqueur and the Chocolate Cream liqueur to a shot of espresso). The sky is really the limit when it comes to crafting indulgent, dessert cocktails with this Chocolate Cream Liqueur. Have a blast with it!
- 1 - 13.5 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
- ¾ cup (72 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp. Strong brewed coffee (I used cold brew concentrate)
- ½ tsp. Sea salt
- 1 - 11.25 can sweetened condensed coconut milk
- 1 cup vodka
- In a medium saucepan, whisk the coconut milk, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, coffee, and sea salt until smooth and thoroughly combined. It will look like a clumpy mess at first, but will eventually smooth out.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a gentle boil, stirring often. Boil for 3 minutes, whisking frequently to prevent the mixture from scorching.
- Remove from heat, and whisk in the sweetened condensed coconut milk. Stir in the vodka.
- Refrigerate the liqueur for at least 3 hours before serving. This is delicious as is, served over ice, or even added to an espresso martini!
X22abaTs says
Hey people!!!!!
Good mood and good luck to everyone!!!!!