Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar – Day 23 – Pear Magic. Only two more sleeps until Christmas – are you done your Christmas shopping? Have you wrapped your presents? Have you gotten into a heated debate about Trump impeachment proceedings with in-laws/extended family yet?
So little time, so much to do.
Luckily, this Pear Magic cocktail comes together in mere moments and is a great accompaniment to last-minute gift wrapping. I actually love styling my presents into beautifully packaged parcels.
Pinterest is so great for finding new inspiration for gift wrapping – like plain craft paper transformed into artful creations with hand-stencilled, stamped, or drawn patterns. Or incorporating elements from your Christmas tree like small pieces of fresh pine, bells, or ornaments.
I consider the pear fan I’ve used as garnish on this cocktail as a kind of ornamentation and is much easier to achieve than some of those Pinterest-worthy gift wrap concepts.
All you need to do to achieve a pear fan is cut a side off your pear, avoiding the core, and thinly slice. Stack four thin slices on top of each other and skewer with a cocktail pick, a few millimetres up from the bottom and then fan out. Place on top of your drink, voilà!
Last year I featured a pear cocktail on the Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar and my friend Dianne reminded me of how much she enjoyed when I prepared it for her this time last year. In case you’re looking for more pear cocktails in your life, check out the Mulled Pear and Icewine Punch.
Good luck on that last-minute shopping/gift-wrapping and check back tomorrow for the final instalment of the 2019 Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar!
Pear Magic
- ¼ ripe Bartlett pear, diced
- 2 oz Calvados apple brandy
- ¼ oz Bénédictine
- ½ oz cinnamon syrup
- 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
- 4 slices pear, skewered on a cocktail pick and fanned out
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
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In a shaker, muddle the diced pear. Add the remaining ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into a double rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with pear fan.
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Combine sugar, water, and cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature overnight.
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Remove cinnamon sticks and store syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Recipe adapted from: Fauchauld, Nick. “Poire Man’s Cobbler.” Death & Co.: Modern Classic Cocktails. Berkeley, Ten Speed Press, 2014.
