Frozen Cocktails

Ice cream makers do double duty in making frozen drinks.

Today I’m talking about frozen drinks. Now, the traditional method is to take a blender, or some crushed ice, and make a slushy with pulverized ice. I’m not a big fan of that method, mainly because you can make one drink without needing to clean out the blender. There’s also the ice shaving method, which you can do at home with a Snoopy snow cone maker, but you’ll need to buy one unless you still have the one from your youth. Instead, we’re going to make our frozen drinks with something you may already have in your possession. An ice cream maker.

There are two basic recipes that we’ll be working with today. One is going to be a sorbet based one, consisting of fruit, sugar and water; while the other will be the traditional Philadelphia style ice cream base (if you want more hassle, you can go the French route, but that’s a custard damn it!). Whichever you’re going with, we’re going to start by making a base, letting it cool, then adding the alcohol to it. If you add the alcohol over the heat, you’ll be driving off some of the alcohol, and who wants that?

For the volume, check the manual on your ice cream maker, and keep in mind if you put in too much alcohol or sugar, your frozen drink won’t set, and will just get cold.

So let’s start with two simple sorbet based drinks, and then move onto an ice cream based one:

Frozen Tom Collins

See! A use for the V-shaped oversized cocktail glasses!

For those who aren’t aware, a Tom Collins is a drink of lemon juice, simple syrup, gin, and a splash of soda. We won’t be able to get the soda water to do much in this, so instead we’re going to add some depth of flavor with a small splash of limoncello

Base syrup:

• 1 part lemon juice

• 1 part water

• 1 part sugar

• zest of one lemon

• splash of peppermint extract (optional, but peppermint and lemon are a natural pairing for me)

After it cools, add in:

• splash of limoncello (optional, adds a bit of depth of flavor)

• ½ part gin

Frozen Greyhound

A Greyhound is an old cocktail (earliest mentions refer to as a twist on a pre-existing drink) that goes back to prohibition times. We’re not sweetening this one as much as the Tom Collins, but we’ll add a pinch of salt to add some depth (too much salt will also affect the ability of the drink to set).

Base Syrup:

• 2 parts grapefruit juice

• 1 part water

• 1 part sugar

• pinch of salt

After it cools, add in:

• 1 part vodka

For both of these, the process is the same. Add the base syrup ingredients into a pot, bring them to a simmer, stirring frequently with a whisk, until the sugar is dissolved. If you wish, you can steep ingredients in at that point as it cools.

After it cools, stir in the alcohol, and prepare it in your ice cream maker according to the instructions.

For the dairy based on, we’ll take a drink that was made popular in the worst of all times (the 1970’s), and make a frozen drink out of it.

The Mudslide

Ice cream base:

• 2 part heavy cream

• 1 part whole milk

• ½ part of white sugar

• If you want a classic vanilla, a tablespoon of vanilla extract or one whole vanilla bean will do that (here’s where you can change your flavor base)

After it cools, add in:

• ½ part Irish Cream

• ½ part coffee liquor

• ½ part vodka (optional)

You’re going to be going through the same process here. For those who just are looking for ice cream or sorbet recipes, go ahead and follow the first part and just skip adding the liquor.

Now, if you want to go back to the blender, I’m not going to stop you. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, I’m not going to suggest this is a reason to buy one, but if you’ve already got one, I hope I’ve given you a reason to use it this summer.