Day 12: Nutcracker Prince

The premise of The Nutcracker has got to be every child’s fantasy. What kid doesn’t want their favorite toy to come to life? Of course, today it would be Transformers, Barbie and He-Man action figures. Wait, do kids still play with action figures? Does anyone out there know what Transformers are? Hmmm...maybe we’re showing our age. Regardless, the Prince is the last character from The Nutcracker in our calendar.

We wanted to make a fairly straightforward cocktail with a dominant nut flavour for the Nutcracker Prince. We decided to use an old fashioned as the base cocktail. To switch it up, we infused the bourbon with walnuts and then balanced the cocktail with maraschino liqueur.

The Nutcracker Prince Cocktail:

½ tsp brown sugar
2 oz walnut infused bourbon (see note)
½ oz maraschino liqueur
6 dashes Dillon's DSB or Angostura bitters
round of orange rind
rocks glass

Put the brown sugar and bitters into a cocktail shaker. Stir together to slightly dissolve the sugar into the bitters. Add the bourbon, maraschino liqueur, and ice. Squeeze the orange rind to release the oils into the mixture and add to the shaker. Swirl with a bar spoon until the cocktail is cold. Strain over ice.

Cocktail Notes:
Making walnut infused bourbon is fairly simple. Toast ¾ cup of walnuts over medium heat, tossing frequently. After approximately 8 minutes, the nuts should be slightly toasted and smell fragrant. Remove from heat and place in a glass jar to cool. Add half a vanilla bean and 1 cup of your prefered bourbon. Allow mixture to infuse for at least 6 days. Strain walnuts and keep infused bourbon covered in the refrigerator. (Bourbon soaked walnuts are great on ice cream or baked into cookies!)

Maraschino is a very complex liqueur. Slightly cherry tasting, it is more bitter than sweet. Here, it is not meant to add a cherry flavour but add an extra dimension to the cocktail. Brandy could be substituted if maraschino is unavailable.

DSB bitters are Dillon's version of Angostura bitters. If you can’t find DSB, Angostura can be substituted.

The Nutcracker Prince cocktail is the half-way point in our Advent Calendar of Cocktails (wow!!). Thanks for being with us! We've got some interesting drinks planned for the next 12 days. We'd love to hear from you - leave a comment if you've tried any of these. And please, share with your friends.

Inspiration:

This is a version of The Nutcracker that you may have not seen - a Soviet animated version from 1973. Awesome!!