Chocolate Covered Cherry

A client and friend gave me an amazing bottle of Cherry Vodka from Idaho that was made with Mount Rainer Cherries. Since my favorite candy is Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries and it is Valentine’s Day this week I decided to create this cocktail. You should be able to find another brand of cherry vodka in your local liquor store. I love the idea of using a homemade hot chocolate recipe for the creamy chocolate part of the cocktail. The best part about it is you can enjoy the hot chocolate and then refrigerate the leftovers to use in this cocktail. If you are dairy free you can make the hot chocolate with any kind of hair free milk. Or, you can just use chocolate syrup and milk and keep it simple. I’m not good at simple.

Ingredients:

2 oz cherry vodka

2 oz Dark Chocolate Liquor (Godiva is the best!)

2 oz cold hot chocolate or chocolate milk

Drop a cherry into the bottom for a sweet surprise at the end

Shake well over ice and strain into a martini glass. Don’t forget the cherry! And if you want to make a pretty presentation you can grate chocolate over the top of the glass.

Homemade Hot Chocolate

Epicurious Recipe from Kemp Minifie

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

Pinch of salt

1 cup milk or any combination of milk, half-and-half, or cream

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together the cocoa, sugar, salt, and about 2 tablespoons milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until cocoa and sugar are dissolved. Whisk in the rest of the milk and heat it over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it is hot. Stir in the vanilla and serve. This recipe multiplies very easily but once you get up to a quart of milk (32 oz) you should use 1/4 tsp salt.