Pumpkin Spice White Russians

Every fall season, there are a few pumpkin/pumpkin spice liqueurs that crop up in stores, but this year the pumpkin craze seemed to reach a lot further into the liquor business. Several pumpkin vodkas appeared on shelves along with something else that immediately caught my eye: Pumpkin Spice Kahlua!

Being a Big Lebowski fan and just a general lover of classic cocktails, I've been a big fan of White Russians since the moment I started experimenting with mixing drinks. My absolute favorite bar in the city, Blue Dust, makes White Russians with their house infused chai tea vodka and oh. my. God. It is the most glorious incarnation of that divine cocktail that I've ever met. However, this past weekend, I came up with my own recipe for a pumpkin spice version that definitely comes a close second.

First, our cast of characters!

 

From left to right we have vanilla vodka (whatever brand you prefer will do just fine), heavy cream (rich yes, but dammit we don't shy away from flavor on this blog!), my handy dandy cocktail shaker, and the protagonist of this drink: pumpkin spice Kahlua. Note the pumpkins added for a nice fall backdrop. :)

If you're using a cocktail shaker, your first step should be to fill it about halfway full of ice. If you have the time and feel like minimizing the dilution factor, put your shaker in the freezer (lid off) a few hours beforehand. It's not necessary though; your drink will be tasty either way. Also, if you are currently sans cocktail shaker, feel free to combine all of the ingredients below in a tall glass with some ice and mix with a spoon or skewer. While a shaker is better and gives your drinks a nice thorough mixing, believe me, I enjoyed alcoholic beverages long before I had one and so can you. The proportions you want for this drink can of course be adjusted depending on how much of bite you do (or don't) want, but here is what I used:

• 2 oz vanilla vodka
• 1 oz pumpkin spice Kahlua
• 3 oz heavy cream

Now put the lid back on and shake! It doesn't take much. About ten back-and-forths should do it.

Take the top off the lid and strain into your glass. Note how I actually took pictures of several steps of the process this time. I might make a real food blogger out of myself just yet. 

After you have strained into the glass, you can either drop a couple cubes from your freezer into your cocktail or, if you don't plan on using your shaker to immediately make more White Russians for your friends and lovers, go ahead and dump the shaker ice in. Make sure and shield the glass with your shaker lid or some messy splashing will happen.

And now you have a beautiful and very drinkable cocktail! I recommend consuming on the comfort of your couch with Gilmore Girls reruns and dessert. Yes, simultaneously drinking and eating dessert is completely acceptable. It tastes like a White Russian with an extra spicy fall kick, and it's certainly a recipe I will be keeping in my arsenal for next year. Let's hope the folks at Kahlua keep making this new variation.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Fall is upon us! And while this particular fall seems to be full of internet snarking about white girls and how cliche and annoying their obsession with the season and all things pumpkin related is, color me unfazed.

I can be a pretty tense person. Like, Woody Allen walking on a tightrope above a pool filled with snapping alligators kind of tense. My mind tends to trudge forward at warp speed into stress zones of all kinds. But fall...a time of horror flicks, cold craft beers, Halloween decor, beautiful scenery, haunted houses, and pumpkin treats...it tends to make me feel like a kid again. Every August I get a giddy, butterfly filled stomach just in anticipation of what's to come. I start obsessively reloading the websites of my favorite beer distributors, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my favorite pumpkin beers. I do a weekly check at BloodyDisgusting.com to see what horror films are coming to theaters soon, and I start daydreaming about what my apartment is going to look like this Halloween. Basically, everything in my mind finally slows down a bit to banish worries and make way for some fervent fall planning. So snark away internet, but this season shall be mine! Muhahahaha!

Um, yeah, so after that awkward, no-so-evil evil laugh, let's get back on track. Pumpkin! Oh how I love thee, with your subtle flavor and vibrant orange color. I have vowed to attempt a gazillion more pumpkin recipes this year than I have in the past. So far, I'm two for two on delicious desserts. The photo above is the end result of a sinfully delicious batch of pumpkin cinnamon rolls. The recipe can be found at the lovely and beautifully photographed cooking blog Smitten Kitchen.

It was only my second time making cinnamon rolls (the last time being nearly ten years ago), so I was a bit nervous about the actual formation of the rolls. You see, I tend to be reallllyyy clumsy, so all manner of delicate kitchen operations can end in pain, blood, and a string of curses unfit for virgin ears. "But it's not my fault, I swear! I didn't drop the knife, it JUMPED out of my hands and attacked me," I shout at the inanimate objects in my kitchen.

In all seriousness though, the formation step of the rolls went perfectly, and the end product was phenomenal. So gooey, cinnamony, and sweet with just a subtle undertone of pumpkiny deliciousness (you can just add -y on the end of things and it doesn't sound like I'm 4 right? right? Joss Whedon does it, so it's good enough for me). The only thing I changed was the icing. I know people go nuts for cream cheese icing, but, as a person that's not that much of a fan of cream cheese to begin with, I really don't understand why it should make its way into my sweets.

I ended up making a sort of vanilla buttercream that was more sugar and less butter. The proportions I used are as follows:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp cream

It was nice and thick and struck a perfect balance between forming a semi-hard coating and melting down the sides. Of course, the rolls were practically begging to be paired with a dark, strong pumpkin ale. I chose Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which is definitely one of my favorites. So many breweries focus on the spice aspect and get it all wrong, ending up with an artificial tasting and usually clove heavy beer. The Weyerbacher is much more focused on the pumpkin flavor with balanced hints of spice. Also, my enjoyment of it has nothing whatsoever to do with the high alcohol content (8% abv). No sirree.

I'll try to do a post soon about the second pumpkin dessert I made, provided my boyfriend and I don't eat it all before I can take photos. :)