Easter Egg

Easter is upon us, and it hasn’t snowed in three or four days, so I thought it was about time to get into developing an Easter cocktail.  I thought about doing one called the Easter Bunny with beer in it (for the hops), but couldn’t come up with anything that sounded appetizing.  I’ve always had a weakness for chocolate covered cherries at Easter, so that led me into the development of the Easter Egg.  This cocktail has all the essentials of Easter (for me, anyway) in a single glass: chocolate, cherry, and cocoanut.  As you can guess, this one’s a sweetie.  It will remind you of pigging out on candy Easter morning as a child (if you have a sweet tooth, that’s a good thing).  If you’re looking for something dry, look elsewhere.  The Easter Egg may be enjoyed on its own or after dinner, but is definitely not a good choice for an aperitif. 

The cocktail mix itself is very simple, only three ingredients.  The complexity comes in the presentation, so you might want to practice this one before you prepare them for guests to ensure you have the technique down.  Besides, cocktail practice is always fun because you get to drink your mistakes.  The basic cocktail comes out thick and white.  After it’s in the glass, you will drizzle Blue Curacao and Grenadine in it to color the egg.  You can either drizzle from a spoon or dip a plastic straw into the liquid, put your finger over the end, and then carefully let air into the straw (and dribble the liquid out) over the glass.  If you use straws, you might want to use a thicker one for the Grenadine and a skinny one for the Blue Curacao.  Do a lot of your drizzling near the sides of the glass, not the center, so that the colors show up down the side of the glass.  This is the part you need to practice to get the affect you want.  The result should remind you of a speckled or striped egg.  If you want to go all out, shoot a swirl of chocolate syrup into the glass before pouring the cocktail (be sure this works for the type of glass you’re using), and drizzle a bit more on top after you add the Blue Curacao and Grenadine.  Since this is a sweet cocktail, you may also serve it on the rocks or frozen to cut the sweetness.  If you make it frozen, serve it in a Margarita glass.

 

Easter Egg

2 oz.  Coco Réal® cream of cocoanut

1 oz. DeKuyper® white Crème de Cacao

1 oz. Kirsch (cherry brandy)

1 tsp. Grenadine

1 tsp. Blue Curacao

Chocolate syrup (optional presentation)

Be sure to pre-chill your cocktail glasses.  Combine cream of cocoanut, Crème de Cacao, and Kirsch with cracked ice in a shaker.  Shake long and hard (the cream of cocoanut is pretty thick and must be well mixed) while humming that song about Peter Cottontail.  Grab a glass from the freezer, drizzle the inside (optional) with chocolate syrup, and carefully strain the mix into the glass to avoid mussing the chocolate.  Drop in a maraschino cherry for a surprise Easter Egg.  Drizzle the Blue Curacao and Grenadine as per above, and finish with more chocolate syrup (optional).  If you really want to go over the top, use a sharp knife to cut an angled slit into a Peep® candy and perch it on the lip of the glass.