We Should Cocoa: Lime and Chocolate Cocktails

This month’s We Should Cocoa is being held by Chele over at Chocolate Teapot.  The magic ingredient we have to use is Limes.  You can see the Tea round up here!

Yesterday, the best friend and I had a bit of a stress detox.  You know when you feel that everything has just been getting a bit much and you need to let your hair down?  We’ve been having one of those couple of months!  We went to a Comic Relief event.  It sounds pretty tame doesn’t it?  I can assure you it wasn’t.  I mentioned in a previous post that I was learning to pole dance.  To begin with it left me with bruises, every muscle in my body either ached or felt like jelly.  Then it got fun.  Seriously fun.  So fun in fact I’ve signed up for the Level 2 course which starts on Monday!

The Comic Relief event was held in a bar.  The main attraction was obviously pole dancing.  Male pole dancing.  We haven’t laughed like that in weeks. 

We decided to get ready around my house, as then it’s only a short walk into town.  And when I say get ready, I not only mean high heels, fake eyelashes, gossip, we also include a healthy dose of social lubrication potions.  Or these:-  Lime and Chocolate Cocktails.  They aren't the prettiest of cocktails but they are tasty!  I made my own lime vodka a couple of weeks ago.  So really, it was just taste testing something pretty delicious.  My head hurts a little bit, but it’s ok, it was for charity….  That’s my defence anyway… 

Ingredients

½ measure of lime vodka

1 measure of Tia Maria

½ measure of lime cordial (plus extra in a shallow saucer)

½ measure of chocolate syrup (like Monin coffee syrups)

I used a standard UK 25ml measure

You will also need:-

Ice, cocktail shaker, tea strainer (for catching the little shards of ice), grated chocolate dark, martini glass.

Method

1, Prepare everything first.  Dip the entire rim of the martini glass in the lime cordial and then roll in the grated chocolate. 

2, Fill the cocktail shaker with ice and add in all the ingredients.

3, Give it a really good shake until the outside of the cocktail shaker turns frosty. 

4, Strain through the tea strainer to catch all the little shards of ice.

5, Enjoy.  Responsibly, of course!

Limecello

I have a copious amount of vodka kicking around the house.  Well, it’s all in the cupboard under the stairs but I have been racking up a collection of vodka.  Do Jim and I like vodka? Nope.  Not really.  You know when you’re young (that’s 18 Mum, if you’re reading) (definitely NOT any younger *cough cough*) and you drink too much and you swear off that particular drink.  Vodka and red wine are my drinks I tend to avoid. 

So I’ve decided to turn it into flavoured vodkas and vanilla extract.  This is my first post of my forays into getting rid of the vodka.  This is Lime Vodka.  Well, Limecello.  It uses the same principle as Limoncello.  It sounds fancier.  I made this a while ago.  It’s nearly ready.  Which is handy…

Ingredients

750ml vodka

5 or 6 limes

Couple of table spoons of sugar

Method

1, Zest the limes.  Be careful not to get any of the white pith as it will make your Limecello bitter.  Not cool.

2, Pour the 750ml of vodka into a sterilised 1 litre bottle.  This makes it easier to shake.

3, Stuff in your lime zest and the sugar. 

4, Shake it.  (Optional: Pretend you’re a swanky bartender)

5, Leave it in a nice cool place for 2 weeks, shaking it on a daily basis.

6, And it’s ready.  It’s good mixed in cocktails or used in baking.