Holiday Hooch

I remember when I was a kid, my parents would let us have a little taste of Bailey's Irish Cream during the holidays.  I was skeptical as a kid because, well, it's booze!!!  It had a bit of a weird flavor under all the chocolately-coffee flavored goodness.  Nevertheless, I liked it and when I finally reached the age of consent, I enjoyed a splash of it in my after-dinner coffee or by itself on the rocks.  Yum!

Well, with the advent of the internet, anything is possible!  The Diver learned to snow ski watching YouTube, Twin A learned how to hand knit from a website she found during a Google search.  There is no end to the wonderful things to be found on our beloved internet.  You see where I'm going, right?  So, you can imagine the sheer joy I felt when I discovered (via Pinterest, of course) that I don't need to spend $25 for a tiny bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream.  I could MAKE IT MYSELF!!!!

Now, you know I wouldn't be posting this unless I'd already done it, but I feel the need to qualify why I made it.  First, well...it's the holiday season and nothing says "let's celebrate the birth of Christ" like a good bottle of homemade hooch, no?  Second, I'm gearing up to add a few new cookies and candies to my Christmas repertoire.  One such candy is going to involve Bailey's.  I'm not sure how just yet, but keep your eyes peeled for more info later.

So, all that being said, here's the recipe I used (modified a bit for my needs) and a cute little picture I took to showcase it's loveliness.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk (I used 2%)

2 2/3 cups Irish Whiskey (I would have used Jamesons, but well...I don't drink the good stuff...any will do, even if it's not Irish, but I'm sure if it's not, that would be disrupting the order of things somehow)

2 tbsp. chocolate syrup

2 tsp. instant coffee grounds

2 tsp. vanilla extract


Here are a few notes before you mix everything up.  Make sure you have a container that you can close tightly when storing this IN THE FRIDGE.  I washed out a plastic milk carton and it works fabulously, although I had to mark it clearly with a Sharpie so the twins didn't think it was chocolate milk.

I'm not an artist, so just to clarify
...that's supposed to be a skull & crossbones

The mix is fairly thick, and from what I can imagine, you can thicken it as much or as little as you like by shifting the amount of cream and milk.  I think my next batch might be all 2% milk.

I'd also advise on blending everything but the whiskey together first.  Don't overblend, but just enough to incorporate everything.  Lastly, add the whiskey and mix in, again, not too much.  If you blend too much, the cream will separate from the whiskey and it will be GROSS.  I used a blender on low for less than 20 seconds each time.

I had a taste test about 2 hours after making my premiere batch and the coffee taste was too strong.  After letting it sit in the fridge overnight, I tried it again.  It now tastes just like Bailey's!  SUCCESS!!!

Here's what a poured glass looks like, but I don't recommend serving it with this much chocolate syrup...it gives it too much chocolate flavor.  I just wanted to see what it would look like drizzled down the side of the glass.  Kinda fun, but not worth it.

Now, get to mixing and enjoy!

Look!  It even makes a great gift!