Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients

Tag Archives: creme de cacao


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Halloween Infusion part 2: Chocolate-Orange Liqueur

What is your favorite candy? And have you ever made it into a cocktail?

A few days ago I posted a recipe for Caramel Apple Liqueur, which I made for a get-together with a theme of Halloween candy infusions and cocktails. This was all the brainchild of Evelyn over at Momsicle, who wrote a great post about our “drink up”, complete with a group photo!

I racked my brain for candy infusion ideas, and while it may not exactly be a popular Halloween candy, I have always loved the flavor of orange and chocolate. As a kid, I would get chocolate-orange truffles at the candy store and always loved those chocolate orange sticks (the orange jelly candies that were covered in chocolate). So it was settled, I would make Chocolate-Orange liqueur.

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Chocolate-Orange Liqueur

Zest of 3 large Oranges

1/4 c. Cacao Nibs

1/4 c. sugar

2 c. vodka

Place all above ingredients in a glass jar, and close tight. Shake well and allow to infuse for abut 4 weeks. Strain through a filter, then cheesecloth, jelly bag, and coffee filters. This infusion clogged the coffee filters frequently, so be prepared to change the filter often.

This liqueur is delicious! It lived up to my idea of what I wanted it to taste like. And now for the cocktail…

Chocolate-Orange Martini

2oz. Chocolate-Orange Liqueur

2oz. Creme de Cacao (light)

Orange twist

Combine in a cocktail shaker with ice, and serve in a chilled martini glass with an orange twist. We also enjoyed them with a dark chocolate that was spiked with orange zest and orange oil. Delish!

You will also note that we served these in our “fun size” glasses so that we could taste each of the drink varieties at our gathering. They disappeared fast!

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Cheers!

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Bourbonberry Cocktail

Happy Autumn! The cold and rain have finally arrived in Portland. In between rain showers, I have been clearing out the garden and cutting down the last of the summer flowers. And just as I mourn the end of summer, I am reminded of all the lovely fruit infusions we made a few months ago. Sipping a lovely home-infused berry cocktail will bring you right back to the joys of summer!

Bourbonberry Cocktail (makes 2 drinks)

6 oz. Marionberry Bourbon

2 oz. White Creme de Cacao

2 oz. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

Orange Twist to garnish

Combine all liquids into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and serve over ice. Garnish with orange twist.

This drink is wonderful. It really does taste like the lovely Oregon Marionberries that we picked several months ago. The orange juice and  chocolatey sweetness from the creme de cacao balance nicely.

If you have a blackberry bourbon or marionberry bourbon, you will want to try this delicious cocktail. If you don’t have a blackberry bourbon, you could try substituting 4 oz bourbon and 2 oz blackberry liqueur or muddled blackberries.

Cheers!

Related Post:

Blackberry Infusions… Marionberry goodness


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Chocolate Infused Cherry Cocktail

My love of cherries has been no secret. The pale beauties in this drink come from the preserved cherries we made last summer. They feature the Queen Anne or Royal Anne cherries. The flavor of the Royal Anne cherry is very delicate. They might just be my favorite cherry.

We preserved the Royal Anne cherries in a variety of sugary/boozy mixtures. One of which was a simple syrup with Creme de Cacao. It gave just a hint of chocolate flavor to the sweet cherries.

I like chocolate martinis, but typically the clear variety. I much prefer it to the thick, creamy, syrupy versions. My chocolate martini consists of equal parts vanilla vodka and white creme de cacao. So for this drink, we added a hint of cherry.

Chocolate Infused Cherry Cocktail

1 oz Vanilla Vodka

1 oz White Creme de Cacao

1 oz Cherry Bourbon or Cherry Brandy

Creme de Cacao infused preserved cherries (or brandied cherries)

Shake all ingredients with ice, and pour into chilled or frosted martini glasses. Garnish with Creme de Cacao infused cherries.

Of course this would be delicious with brandied cherries instead of the Creme de Cacao cherries. And any cherry brandy or cherry liqueur would work well in place of the cherry bourbon. This gives a nice light mix of cherry and chocolate without either flavor overpowering.

Cheers!