Mango Cocktail

 
 

I looked back into my archives for something just a little bit Christmassy to share and came up with this Mango Cocktail.

 

If this doesn't feel Christmassy to you, just remember that where I live Christmas falls in high summer so tropical fruit is appropriate.

This lovely smooth cocktail is simple to make:

Instead of putting ice in it I just refrigerated all the ingredients overnight so they were nice and cool

For 4 serves just blend together:
180ml white rum (or less if you prefer less of a kick)
1 teaspoon or a bit more of lemon juice
425g can of mango pieces in juice
250ml of milk
2 tablespoons of caster sugar – I used ½ teaspoon of stevia powder instead

Pour into your festive glasses and enjoy.

 

Merry Christmas

Homemade Limoncello

We have a glut of lemons – some Meyer but most big ugly looking ones.  So when my better half suggested making limoncello I was keen.  In the pic there is a glass of store bought Italian limoncello and one of ours.  Can you tell which is which?

Ingredients:

Peel of 15 lemons

750ml vodka

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

Method:

Making Limoncello turns out to be quite straight forward but involves being patient.

First you peel your lemons – trying not to get much pith along with the yellow.  We were possibly a little impatient here.  Next time I might try using a microplane. (Which would mean an extra straining step would be necessary)

Put your lemon peel (or zest) into a container with the vodka.  Put it in a cool dark place with a lid on – or sealed with cling film. 

And then you wait – in our case 2 weeks and 4 days.

Strain the vodka and set aside.

Make a simple syrup with the sugar and water – ie heat until the sugar dissolves.  Let the simple syrup cool.   Add to the vodka.  I did it bit by bit but ended up using it all.  If you have a sweet tooth you might want to add 50% more sugar.

For the record, the cloudy one is store bought and the clear one is ours.  My better half did some research and came up with a suggestion that using good quality vodka results in clarity.

Our vodka was 2/3^rd's new and 1/3^rd an old bottle – at least 40 years old.  So the jury's out.

Prosecco with Limoncello

I have formed a love affair with drinking Prosecco (light Italian sparkling wine – I got an NZ one) with a splosh of Limoncello.  I still have it now and again.  Subtle lemon flavour, a hint of sweetness and then the liveliness of the bubbles – what’s not to like?

Limoncello is apparently routinely made by households in Italy – each with their own favourite way of doing it.  I wonder how difficult it would be to make it?  Of course, my pathetic little lemon tree just won’t produce enough lemons for this sort of thing.  Last year I only got 3 lemons - this year it will be 7 - if they keep on growing.

I understand you are supposed to keep the Limoncello really cold – even in the freezer – I wasn’t game enough for that and settled on keeping it in the fridge.

Do you use Limoncello – what do you do with it?

Mango Cocktail - Christmas Cheer

I looked back into my archives for something just a little bit Christmassy to share and came up with this Mango Cocktail.

If this doesn't feel Christmassy to you, just remember that where I live Christmas falls in high summer so tropical fruit is appropriate.

This lovely smooth cocktail is simple to make:

Instead of putting ice in it I just refrigerated all the ingredients overnight so they were nice and cool

For 4 serves just blend together:
180ml white rum (or less if you prefer less of a kick)
1 teaspoon or a bit more of lemon juice
425g can of mango pieces in juice
250ml of milk
2 tablespoons of caster sugar – I used ½ teaspoon of stevia powder instead

Pour into your festive glasses and enjoy.

Merry Christmas

Salted Caramel Tangelo Milkshake

Ok, this was an invention of mine.  I had some milk which needed using – gotten for a family coffee get together but only one person took milk!  I also had about 2 tablespoons of a store bought (and yummy) salted caramel sauce left.  So my mind turned to a milk shake. 

I whizzed it up with my stick blender together with 3 ice cube blocks of tangelo juice (a sweet sort of orange). 

And it tasted about right – if you don't like citrus and milk together you could leave out the juice and be a wee bit naughty and add ice cream!