2022 Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar – Day 5 – Fruit Cake Margarita. Turn this polarizing holiday dessert into a margarita and everyone is sure to become a fruit cake convert. Cointreau brings a bright orange note and subtle sweetness to this drink.
This post is sponsored by Cointreau.
This cocktail combines tart pure cranberry juice (no sugar added) and the nutty goodness of amaretto, with tequila and Cointreau. Allspice dram brings a touch of baking spice to round out the fruit cake flavour of this margarita.
Cranberry and the almond flavour of amaretto connect with the incredible essence of sweet and bitter orange peels in the Cointreau. Since 1885, the founding family and all the Master Distillers thereafter have made the same commitment to craft. Each orange that goes into making Cointreau is peeled meticulously by hand to achieve the perfect shape and thickness. The peels are then sun dried for three to five days until they are at precisely 11% moisture content.
From orange grove to bottle, the process of creating Cointreau is steeped in ritual and history. The creator, Édouard Cointreau created a liqueur that was three times more concentrated in flavour than other orange liqueurs produced in the late 1800s and his recipe was revolutionary for its low sugar content – something he was able to achieve through a meticulous distillation process and the use of top-quality ingredients.
He understood the value of a strong visual identity and chose to present his crystalline liqueur in a distinctive square amber bottle, an inspiration drawn from the world of women’s perfume and a revolutionary aesthetic for the era. Aside from being a distinctly recognizable bottle, the four sides represent the four ingredients in the liqueur – orange essence, water, alcohol, and sugar.
Join me on my Instagram Stories tonight at 5 pm to learn more about the rich history of Cointreau and get a step-by-step walkthrough on how to shake up this Fruit Cake Margarita.
Fruit Cake Margarita
Turn this polarizing holiday dessert into a margarita and everyone is sure to become a fruit cake convert. Cointreau brings a bright orange note and subtle sweetness to this drink
- 1½ oz reposado tequila
- ½ oz Cointreau
- ¼ oz amaretto
- 1 oz cranberry juice
- ¼ oz allspice dram*
- Garnish: orange flag & cocktail cherries
- ½ cup allspice berries
- 2½ cups navy-strength rum
- 200 g granulated sugar
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Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
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Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass.
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Garnish with an orange flag and two cocktail cherries skewered on a cocktail pick.
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Heat a heavy skillet over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Toast the allspice berries until fragrant, about 1 minute, then roughly crush.
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Combine the rum and crushed allspice berries in a quart-sized glass jar, seal the lid tightly and give it a good shake. Steep for 10 days.
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Strain the allspice-infused rum through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan and add the sugar. Heat over low, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is fully dissolved, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature before storing in a glass jar or bottle.
*Alton Brown’s Allspice Dram recipe. If you can purchase St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram at a liquor store near you, that might be more efficient.
