Orange & Black Shot

Happy Halloween! 

A couple of weeks ago, my cousin Cherise’s family came to town to visit for the weekend.  We had dinner at my folks' house one night, and I decided to bring along a trio of Halloween themed Shotibles.  Over the past couple of weeks, I posted about two of them; the Pumpkin Spice Latte Shot and the Candy Bar Shot.  For the third Halloween Shotible, I made a treat specifically for Cherise; the Orange and Black Shot.

Cherise loves the combination of orange sorbet and chocolate cookie crust.  While the flavor isn’t exactly specific to the holiday, the colors sure are.  For the glass, I used the chocolate sandwich cookie recipe again.  I made the filling with a combination of sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese.  I gave it the orange flavoring with Triple Sec and the orange tint with food coloring.  I then froze the Shotibles overnight.

The result was a great combination of tangy citrus and chocolate crumble shot with a look perfect for Halloween.

Candy Bar Shot

I’m doing my very best to satisfy the Shotible suggestions of my readers.  I’ve gotten a hand full of suggestions to make specific candy bars. But here’s the thing; I am extremely concerned about violating registered trademarks owned by huge corporations.  I’ve had to get a bit creative when it comes to naming some Shotibles.  For example, did you know that the name “Popsicle” is owned by Unilever.  For that reason, I won’t be mentioning the name of the extremely popular candy bar this Shotible is based upon.

Making a shot glass out of chocolate always seemed like too obvious of a choice, but for the Candy Bar Shotible, it was necessary.  I do have to warn you though, chocolate can be hard!   I don’t mean that it was hard to work with.  I just melted it down in a double boiler, and then poured it into the molds.  But when it came to eating them, it got a little dangerous.  I was afraid people were going to break their teeth.  Fortunately, there were no injuries.

For the filling, I made my own amoretto nougat using powdered sugar, corn syrup, egg whites, and obviously, amoretto.  I also used some amoretto when melted down the caramel chews.  And what would a candy bar be without some chopped peanuts on top. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte

A couple of weeks ago, just as fall was beginning, we went to the beach with a few friends for the weekend.  Both mornings we were there, Jason made a run to a local café for what he referred to as his addiction; Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  That was the start of my own pumpkin obsession for the season.  In the weeks since, I’ve had two types of pumpkin ice cream, five varieties of pumpkin ale, and about a dozen pumpkin nut cookies.

For the glass, I used a pumpkin cake.  I had intended to use “real” pumpkin out of a can, but apparently there have been some issues with the pumpkin crop this season, and there was a run on pumpkin at the stores.  I was able to buy “easy” pumpkin pie in a can however, so I improvised.  I used the pumpkin, a yellow cake mix, eggs and pumpkin pie spice. 

For the filling, I made a cream cheese and coffee liqueur frosting.  The combination of the pumpkin cake and coffee frosting made for terrific homage to the Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I am quite certain this will not be the last pumpkin themed Shotible of the season.

Caramel Apple Shot

As a kid, I loved going to the Apple Harvest Festival every autumn.  The fair is the ultimate tribute to apples.  Everywhere you look, there is another treat made from the fruit.  Vendors sell hot apple cider, apple cookies, apple fritters, apple sausage, and even apple pizza.  And of course, a trip to the festival isn’t complete without a Caramel Apple. 

For the glass, I used a Caramel Apple box cake mix.  Okay, I get it wasn’t the most inspired choice, but it worked well. 

For the filling, I decided not to cook the apples.  I left them raw because I wanted them to remain crisp and fresh, just like a real Caramel Apple.  I diced up granny smith apples and infused them with Apple Ginger flavored vodka.    

I melted caramel candies and drizzled them on top of the apple chunks.  I then topped off the Shotibles with chopped peanuts.  The result was a fun little treat that successfully jump started the autumn season.