Cocktail/Mocktail & Dessert Pairing for 5x05
“Fairytale” (Light) Cocktail
1.5oz peach schnapps
dash of orange bitters
0.5oz lemon juice
1.5oz grapefruit beer (or sour beer)
large pinch of cotton candy
Combine the first three ingredients in a glass over ice and stir. Top with beer, then lightly place the cotton candy on top of the drink, allowing it to slowly dissolve. Enjoy!
“Fairytale” (Light) Mocktail
1.5oz peach nectar
dash of orange extract
0.5oz lemon juice
1.5oz grapefruit soda
large pinch of cotton candy
Combine the first three ingredients in a glass over ice and stir. Top with soda, then lightly place the cotton candy on top of the drink, allowing it to slowly dissolve. Enjoy!
“Fairytale” (Dark) Cocktail
1.5oz cherry liqueur
0.5oz allspice dram
dash of angostura or chocolate bitters
3oz chocolate stout or Guinness
Combine the first three ingredients in a glass over ice and stir. Top with beer and enjoy!
“Fairytale” (Dark) Mocktail
1.5oz cherry juice or cherry soda
3oz chocolate soda or root beer
dash of allspice
Combine all ingredients in a glass over ice and gently stir. Enjoy!
Fairytale (Light) Cupcakes (I recommend using gold or rose gold foil cupcake baking cups)
Cake Batter
Ingredients
White cake mix
3 eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup pale ale/grapefruit beer
½ cup vegetable oil
Peach Filling
Ingredients
2 cups frozen peaches
¾ cup of sugar
1 Tbs peach schnapps
White Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
2 stick of butter
1 package cream cheese
5 cups of powdered sugar
8oz of white chocolate
½ cup heavy cream
Peach or light pink food coloring
Cotton candy/edible glitter
Cake Procedure
In a bowl using a whisk, mix all ingredients thoroughly. Divide the batter evenly using ¼ cup in the gold cupcake cups. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
Once cooked you can cut the center to fill them with the peach filling.
Peach Filling Procedure
Cook the peaches and the sugar over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. The mix should thicken to a jam consistency. Turn the heat off and add the liquor.
Let it cool completely before filling the cupcakes.
White Chocolate Frosting Procedure
Heat up the cream and the white chocolate and stir until melted. While the ganache cools off, cream the butter and cream cheese using the paddle attachment of the mixer. Add the melted white chocolate until it’s perfectly combined and then add the powdered sugar slowly.
If the frosting seems too stiff you can add heavy cream (1 Tbs at a time) to smooth it out to piping consistency. Add a tiny drop of food coloring, enough so that the frosting has a slight tint of color.
Using your favorite piping tip, frost the cupcakes and finish them with a piece of cotton candy. You can also sprinkle a bit of edible glitter.
Dark Forest Cupcakes (I recommend using metallic black cupcake baking cups)
Cake Batter
Ingredients
Dark chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
½ cup milk
½ cup Guinness or chocolate stout
½ cup vegetable oil
Cherry Filling
Ingredients
2 cups of frozen cherrries
¾ cups of sugar
1 stick of cinnamon
3 cloves
1 star anise
1 Tbs cherry liquor
Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
2 stick of butter
5 cups of powdered sugar
8oz of dark chocolate
½ cup heavy cream
Black food coloring
Spun Sugar (for decorating)
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 Tbsps Corn Syrup or ¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
Black food coloring
Cake Batter Procedure
In a bowl using a whisk, mix all ingredients thoroughly. Divide the batter evenly using ¼ cup in the black cupcake cups. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
Once cooked you can cut the center to fill them with the cherry filling.
Cherry Filling Procedure
Cook the cherries and the sugar over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. The mix should thicken to a jam consistency. Turn the heat off and add the liquor.
Let it cool completely before filling the cupcakes.
Chocolate Frosting Procedure
Heat up the cream and the dark chocolate and stir until melted. While the ganache cools off, cream the butter using the paddle attachment of the mixer. Add the melted dark chocolate until it’s perfectly combined and then add the powdered sugar slowly.
If the frosting seems too stiff you can add heavy cream (1 Tbs at a time) to smooth it out to piping consistency. Add the black food coloring and mix thoroughly.
Spun Sugar Procedure
Set your burner to medium-low.
Pour the water into the pot, followed by the corn syrup or ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar and finally 1 cup of sugar. Make sure you slowly pour the sugar into the pot, keeping it in the center so it doesn’t touch the sides of the pot. Don’t stir it, swish it or move it. Allow the sugar to melt into the water on its own.
Heat the sugar mixture at medium-low until it reaches 300F. That’s bordering the hard crack stage. If it’s taking more than 5 minutes to get to this stage, turn up the heat a little bit.
Once you’ve reached temperature take your pot off the heat, add the black food coloring and swirl a bit to mix and let it cool down a bit.
Take either 2 forks in your hand or a wire whisk that you’ve cut the ends off of and dip it into the sugar and lift it up. The sugar should appear like tiny strands, not drips.
Set a couple of wood spoons over a bowl and just flick your whisk back and forth over it.
Lift the spun sugar and form it into whatever shape you want. The idea is for them to look like tree branches. If your sugar gets too cool to work with, just put it back on the stove and reheat it, remembering not to stir it while it heats up. Each time you reheat your mix will get darker.
Using your favorite piping tip, frost the cupcakes and finish them with a piece of the spun sugar. You can also sprinkle a bit of edible glitter.