Whether you’re hosting the ladies, the lads, or crafting your own glamorous take on a Home Alone-reimagining, pause before reaching for the Baileys and instead elevate your evening with these premium festive cocktail recipes and gourmet pairings.
1. Festive Amaretto Sour
Ingredients:
- 30ml Whisky
- 30 ml amaretto
- 30ml sugar syrup (see Tip)
- egg white
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 clementine
- Ground cinnamon
- Garnish: Ground nutmeg
Instructions:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice then add all the ingredients. Shake vigorously until outside of the shaker is cold (15- 20 seconds)
Strain into tumblers with big ice cubes. Top with a dash of nutmeg.
Pairing: Goats cheese and fig crostini (optional pancetta)
Ingredients:
- 40 thin slices of day-old baguette
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 450g goats cheese
- 2 tbsp. creme fraiche
- 4 ripe figs cut into thin slices
- 4 tbsp. runny honey
Instructions:
Brush baguette slices with olive il and bake for 10 minutes at 180.
Mix together goats cheese and crème fraiche
If using pancetta, fry 12 slices pancetta until crispy.
Once cooled, top the crostinis with the pancetta, a spoonful of the mixture and a slice of fig.
Drizzle with honey to serve.
2. Hot Negroni
Ingredients:
- 150ml Hot Earl Grey Tea
- 45ml gin
- 15ml Campari
- 15ml. sweet vermouth
- dash maple syrup
- Garnish: Orange wheel and star anise
Instructions:
In a small pot, bring 250ml water to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea, steep for 2 minutes then strain/ remove bags.
In a mug, combine gin, Campari, vermouth, and syrup. Top with tea and stir to combine.
Garnish with orange wheel and star anise.
Pairing: Mini toad in the hole bites
Ingredients:
- 12 pork chipolatas
- 105 g plain flour
- 3 eggs
- 150 ml milk
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ¾ tsp. salt
Onion Cranberry Chutney
- 1tbsp. cooking oil
- ½ tsp. chopped garlic
- 1 medium or 2 small red onions, sliced
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds, ground
- 1 1/2 tbsps. cranberry sauce
- 1 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC fan.
Cut up sausages into 12 equal pieces.
Cook your chipolata sausages as per instructions and drizzle a little oil over
¼ tsp of olive oil to each hole of a muffin tin and pt the tins in the oven to sizzle the oil (about 10 mins).
While they are cooking, make a Yorkshire pudding batter by adding plain flour and eggs to a bowl and mixing thoroughly.
Gradually add milk, whisk into a mixture and season with salt.
Remove the tins from the oven and add Yorkshire batter to the muffin tins to half full.
Pop in the cooked sausage in the middle of each.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until risen, gold and crispy!
Top with the cranberry and onion chutney
Onion Cranberry Chutney
Heat up a sauté pan. Add in oil, garlic, onions and salt and sauté on low heat until softened and beginning to colour (about 10 minutes).
Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir until bubbling then remove from heat.
3. Poinsettia Champagne Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 25ml orange liqueur
- 45ml cranberry juice
- Top Champagne
- Garnish: Fresh cranberries, fresh rosemary sprig
Instructions
Add orange liqueur and cranberry juice to chilled champagne flutes.
Top with champagne and garnish.
Pairing: Beetroot salmon gravlax horseradish bellini
Ingredients:
- 800g skin on side of salmon
- 300g raw beetroot, peeled
- 150g flaky sea salt
- 60g sugar
- 75ml vodka
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Couple of handfuls of fresh dill (and some for serving)
- 30 cocktail blinis
Horseradish cream
- 200g crème fraiche
- 1-2 tbsp horseradish (depending on how strong it is)
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 180c/ 200c fan
Toast blinis in oven until golden (about 5 minutes)
Blend beetroot, salt, sugar, vodka, lemon zest and dill into a paste.
Rub some of the paste into the salmon skin before placing skin down on baking tray.
Pour the rest of the mix over the salmon and press into the fillet.
Cover the tray in cling film and refrigerate for 48 hours.
Remove from fridge and scrape away excess liquid, can then use kitchen paper to furthr wipe away any liquid.
Slice into 30 equal pieces.
To make the horseradish cream, whisk together all ingredients.
Top bellinis with horseradish cream, a slice of gravlax, dill and a squeeze of lemon.
4. Glühwein
Ingredients:
- 12 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 5 whole cloves, lightly crushed
- 1 (3″) cinnamon stick, broken into large pieces and lightly crushed
- 1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh nutmeg
- 1 (750-ml.) bottle dry red wine
- 1 c. packed light or dark brown sugar
- 240ml sherry
- 120ml white rum
- Peel of 1 orange, no pith, plus 8 strips orange zest for serving
- 2 Tbsp. thinly sliced fresh ginger
Instructions:
In a large, heavy pot over medium heat, toast cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Add red wine, brown sugar, sherry, rum, orange peel, and ginger.
Bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved (12 to 15 minutes).
Remove from heat and let steep for 1 hour (up to 4).
Strain mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, and divvy up!
Pairing: Cranberry and brie bites
- 400 g (14 oz) ready-rolled Puff Pastry
- 1 egg lightly whisked
- 150 g (5.3 oz) Brie
- 6 tbsp. cranberry sauce
- Fresh thyme leaves
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180c/ 200c fan
Unroll the pastry and brush with egg wash. Cut into 40 small rectangular pieces.
Double up the rectangles by placing one on top of the other, so that you have 20 pieces.
Bake for 10 minutes
slice the brie into 20 small pieces
Once removing the pasty puff from the oven add a brie chunk to ach one and return to the oven for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top with cranberry sauce and fresh thyme.
5. Ho Ho Ho With a Bottle of Rum
Ingredients:
- 25ml Rum
- 50ml Cranberry juice
- Top Ginger Ale
- Garnish: Rosemary sprig and pomegranate seeds
Instructions:
Add ingredients to a glass with a few big ice cubes. Garnish and serve!
Pairing: Goats cheese Devils on horsebacks
Ingredients:
- 10 slices bacon
- 1 pound Medjool dates (about 30)
- 4 ounces goat cheese
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180c/ 20c fan
Slice the bacon rashers into thirds.
Using a sharp knife, cut open the dates along one side and remove the pits.
Fill each date with 1 teaspoon of goat cheese, close it back up, and then wrap with a piece of bacon. Use a toothpick to skewer and secure the bacon around the date.
Bake for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp
