Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients

Tag Archives: Food


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Bourbon Apple Pies

Apple pie bourbon, and bourbon apple pies!?! Yes, that’s right.

Last winter I posted a recipe for Apple Pie Bourbon, which is an infusion of apples, cinnamon and vanilla bean in bourbon. The result is a delicious concoction that tastes like you are drinking an apple pie (perfect for the holidays). That post continues to be one of our most popular. And if you haven’t made it yet, now is a good time to start.

This is a great time of year to infuse apples, as well as other fall fruits.

Bourbon-soaked apples strained from Apple Pie Bourbon

When you strain the apples out of the bourbon, save them so that you can make Bourbon Apple Pies (discard the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean). You will be glad you did! If you aren’t ready to use them immediately, you can keep them in the freezer.

Bourbon Apple Pies

For the filling:
4 scant cups bourbon-soaked apples (from Apple Pie Bourbon)
2 T. Butter
1/2 -3/4 c. Brown sugar
2 T. Lemon juice
2-3 pinches of salt
2 T. Flour
2/3 c. Walnuts (toasted, and roughly chopped)

For the crust:
Puff pastry (one sheet, or a half of a package)
1 egg
1 T. Water

Roughly chop the bourbon-soaked apples into 1-inch pieces. Place the apples, butter, 1/2 c. brown sugar, lemon juice and salt in a medium, heavy bottom saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, continuing to stir frequently. When the apples are tender and much of the liquid has started to thicken, make a hole in the center, and whisk in the flour. Taste the mixture and if desired, add another 1/4 c. sugar. Simmer and stir for another 2-3 minutes.

Cook until your apple mixture reaches this consistency

Remove from heat and stir in the toasted walnuts. Set aside.

While the apple mixture is cooking, set out your puff pastry and allow to thaw. I’m not much of a baker, so I opted for the pre-made puff pastry. Alternatively you could make your own crust and use the filling in any manner of pies. We made these into small hand pies.

When the puff pastry is thawed, coat your countertop with a thin layer of flour and roll out the pastry until it is about 1/2 thickness of the original. This would make about 4 large hand pies. We made into 6 small and 2 medium hand pies, but the ones with more apple mixture were preferred. Next time I will make these all medium to large sized.

Cut the puff pastry into the size and shape of your hand pies. Place on a baking sheet that has been lines with a silicone liner or parchment. Spoon the apple mixture onto the dough. Don’t spoon too much liquid into the pies, it will run out and get messy while baking.

Small apple hand pies

Medium-sized hand pies

Crimp the ends/sides of the dough together and vent with a few holes on top.

Create an egg wash by whisking together the egg and 1 TB water. Brush each pie lightly with the egg wash.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the dough is fully cooked and golden brown.

The small pies took about 15 minutes, and the medium pies took about 23 minutes. If you are making larger pies, they will take a little longer. Watch them closely.

Allow them to cool, then serve.

I made these small to accommodate a larger group, but next time I would make these the medium to large size. The apple mixture is the star.

The filling would also be nice served on pancakes or ice cream if you want to skip the crust. Any way you make this, it will be delicious.

Enjoy!


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Chocolate Bourbon-Peanut Clusters

These chocolate peanut clusters are made with the bourbon-soaked peanuts from our last post, Peanut Bourbon.

I wasn’t sure how these were going to turn out, so I didn’t measure precisely. These are rough estimates, but I don’t think the amounts are all that important. The recipe was following the same idea and inspiration from Oh She Glows (which we also used on the chocolate covered candied bourbon cherries.)

Chocolate Bourbon-Peanut Clusters

2/3 c. Bourbon-soaked Peanuts (from the peanut bourbon)

1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 TB Coconut Oil

2 healthy pinches of Sea Salt

Roast the peanuts in a low oven (225-275 degrees) tossing occasionally, until the peanuts are nearly dried out. Let sit until the following day.

Heat chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave or double boiler until the chocolate is mostly melted. Stir in the peanuts, and sea salt. Spoon onto a plate or parchment paper and place in refrigerator or freezer to set. Keep in refrigerator until you eat them (which probably won’t be that long…)

The sea salt is what really made these perfect. You could probably substitute a flaked salt or finishing salt with great results. We had a hand-picked, Oregon Sea Salt which gave it just the right flavor.

Enjoy!


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Coffee Bourbon Milkshake: Quite possibly the best milkshake you will ever have!

I suppose it is possible that I will have a better milkshake at some point in my life. But up to this point, this is easily the best milkshake I have ever had.

Coffee Bourbon Milkshake

2 c. Vanilla Ice Cream (we used natural vanilla with vanilla bean)

3 oz. Coffee Bourbon

Blend in a blender, food processor, or with a hand mixer until very well blended and creamy. At this point, it will be pretty runny. Return it to the freezer, and allow to cool for several hours or longer if possible. If you are very impatient, you can drink it any time. But if you make it in advance and allow it to cool, it will reach the consistency of a soft serve ice cream. Because of the alcohol, it will not freeze too firm, it will maintain this consistency.

I served this milkshake at the get-together with fellow bloggers Evelyn, Poppy, and Krista.  And I know I heard the words “this is the best milkshake I’ve ever had”. I mixed this up a day in advance and was very happy with the result.

If you like thick, creamy milkshakes, and if you like coffee… you know what to do.

ENJOY!


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Chocolate Covered Candied Bourbon Cherries

Are you sick of me posting about cherries yet? I figured it has been long enough since the last cherry cocktail that I could revisit one of my favorite fruits.

When we make a liqueur or infusion, we occasionally get questions about what to do with the “boozed” substance that is left behind after making an infusion. Jim from 2012 Will Be Delicious! said that he made the Oatmeal and Brown Sugar Booze and later ate the oats as a “hangover cure” breakfast. Sounds interesting!

I hate to admit to waste, but I nearly always toss out the ingredient after it has infused the alcohol. Usually the ingredient has become overwhelmingly boozy, with almost no flavor left behind. I often save vanilla beans from infusions, and we have scraped what was left in the pod to use in something else. I have a bag of cinnamon/vanilla/bourbon soaked apples in my freezer with the intent of using them in a boozy pie… but I don’t know if that will ever happen. We did use some bourbon soaked figs in a baked English Toffee Pudding (in place of chopped dates).

With the Cherry Bourbon, someone asked what I was going to do with the dried cherries after I filtered all of the bourbon out. Well, we candied them and covered them in chocolate!

Step 1: Candied Cherries

1 1/2 c. Bourbon soaked Cherries (from the Cherry Bourbon)

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. Cherry Juice (the one we used was called “Just Black Cherry”)

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Simmer on low until almost all of the liquid is gone (ours took about 20 min.).

Spread them out on parchment paper or a silicone pan liner. I spread them out individually so they wouldn’t clump together. Alternatively, you could press them into a layer in a baking dish and cut into squares or use in a cookie bar, etc. These are super sticky and chewy, but very tasty.

Allow to cool. We kept them on wax paper, and placed them in the refrigerator until we were ready to use. (And by ready to use, I mean ready to coat with chocolate!)

Step 2: Cover with Chocolate

I followed the recipe from Oh She Glows for 3 Ingredient Chocolate Covered Raisins, substituting the Candied Cherries.

1 1/2 c. Candied Cherries

1/4 c. Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 TB Coconut Oil

Place chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for approximately 1 minute. Stir to incorporate all the chocolate, ensuring all the chips are melted. Mix in the cherries, about 1/4 cup at a time. Spread out onto parchment paper or wax paper, and place in freezer to harden. Once the chocolate has dried, remove from freezer and break up the fruit. Delicious!

Have any of you saved the “boozed” ingredients from your infusions? What have you made with them?