Author Notes: I wanted a cocktail that would work happily for any Fall/Winter holiday. You will likely be left with extra pear syrup, which can be poured over ice cream or yogurt, on hot cereal, or to make a kid friendly version of this cocktail. As for the Vanilla Bourbon, I keep a small bottle of bourbon full of a few vanilla beans for cocktails and baking. It’s a good way to get extra use out of vanilla beans, if a recipe calls for just the scrapings. It also makes for a nice gift. —Cristina Sciarra
Makes: 1 cocktail
Ingredients
Vanilla-Pear Syrup
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2 medium pears
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1/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
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1 cinnamon stick
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1/2 cup sugar (golden if you have it)
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1/2 a vanilla bean, scraped
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tiny pinch of sea salt
Vanilla-Pear Bourbon Cocktail
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3 teaspoons Vanilla-Pear Syrup
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1.5 ounces Vanilla bourbon (or regular bourbon)
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.5 ounces amaretto
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.5 ounces poire eau de vie
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1/2 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
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a dash of lemon bitters
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a splash of soda water
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spiced pear jam (optional)
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vanilla sugar (optional)
Directions
Vanilla-Pear Syrup
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Wash and dry the pears. Peel and core them;
move the peels and cores directly into a medium-sized pot. (You can save the pears for snacking.) - Fill the pot with enough water to cover the peelings. Add the nutmeg, the cinnamon stick, the sugar, the vanilla bean, and the salt, and then give the whole thing a stir, so the sugar dissolves. Simmer the peelings on medium-low heat for about 1 hour, or until the syrup runnily coats the back of a spoon. (The syrup shouldn’t be too, too thick–you are just looking for a concentrated flavor).
- Strain out the pear peelings, the cinnamon stick, and the vanilla bean. Cover the syrup (You can transfer it to a bottle) and chill.
Vanilla-Pear Bourbon Cocktail
- Add the first 6 ingredients to an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake, shake, shake, until the drink is thoroughly chilled. Pour the drink through a strainer, and into a glass. Top with soda. Enjoy!
- If you want to be fancy about it, thin out a little spiced pear jam with water. Brush it along the rim of the glass, and then dip into vanilla sugar.