Peanut Butter Cup Shot

My favorite candy bar isn't a bar at all; it's a cup. For that reason alone, making a Peanut Butter Cup Shotible seems like it would be the most obvious candidate for development, but I found myself with two hurdles to overcome.

First, I had to overcome the problem with the chocolate cup being a hazard for the teeth. Similar to the Rocky Road Shotible, I made a hybrid cup. I combine the basic vanilla wafer cookie recipe and melted milk chocolate. It made for a great consistency and the chocolate flavor wasn't overpowering.

The second challenge was to figure out what alcohol to use in the filling. What compliments peanut butter? After months of searching, I finally found a peanut flavored vodka.

I made some whipped cream and folded it into come softened cream cheese and peanut butter. I then mixed in the vodka.

Pretzel Salad Shot

I'll admit it, I'd never heard of Pretzel Salad before I was given this challenge. Our friends, Charles and Stephen were in the middle of planning a 10 year anniversary when the topic of Shotibles came up. They showed me a picture of the layered dessert and challenged me to come up with a Shotible version.

For those of you who aren't in the know, pretzel salad is a dessert. The bottom crust is made up of crushed pretzels. The next layer is typically some sort of cream cheese or whipped cream filling. That is then topped with strawberry gelatin and sliced strawberries. Rumor has it, some people use other flavors of gelatin or other fruits.

For my Shotible version, I used the same pretzel cup as the Margarita Shotible. I made a whipped cream and cream cheese filling with some Strawberry Tequila liqueur mixed in. Rather than putting gelatin on top, I sliced the strawberries and let them stew in granulated sugar for a while making them gooey and syrupy.

I ended up making almost 100 and serving them at Charles and Stephen's anniversary party along with Carrot Cake Shotibles. They seemed to be a big hit, if I do say so myself.

Rocky Road Shot

Back in December, I made over 30 dozen Shotibles.  There were four varieties of Christmas themed Shotibles for parties and gifts. By the time the month was over, I was burnt out and needed a break.  So, now, five months later, I’m ready to get back in the kitchen.  Fittingly, for my comeback, I’ve chosen to go with Rocky Road. 

For the glass, I wanted to go with a chocolate flavor, but I didn’t want to use pure chocolate because it’s way too dense.  I also thought that chocolate sandwich cookies have too specific of a taste.  I compromised, and used a combination of the two. I combined cookie crumbles and margarine, and then mixed in melted milk chocolate.

For the filling, I made a marshmallow mousse using marshmallows, milk, whipping cream and marshmallow flavored vodka.  I mixed in chopped almonds and dark chocolate chunks.  

Champagne Shot

It’s been three weeks since I last updated the blog.  I took a little bit of a holiday break.  So, now we’re a week into the New Year.  Relative to an entire year, we’re still pretty close to the New Year’s holiday, so I don’t feel it’s too late to post my Champagne Shotible.

For the glass, I wanted to use something light and airy.  I chose to use angel food cake.  I used a box mix to bake them and then cored each, which I must say was no easy task given the angel food cake's spongey texture.

For the filling, I made a Champagne butter cream frosting.  First I simmered two cups of Champagne until it reduced down to a quarter of a cup making a sort of Champagne syrup.  I allowed that to cool.  Meanwhile I blended confectioners’ sugar and butter for the filling base.  Once the syrup was cooled, I mixed it into the base.  I then added a tablespoon of regular Champagne.

For the topping, I used some fun little round white sprinkles reminiscent of the tiny bubbles in a glass of Champagne.

Eggnog Shot

Last weekend, Derek’s mom threw her annual Christmas party.  She’d been a fan of Shotibles since I started working on this project, and she wanted to have some at her party.  The Candy Cane Shotibles were a clear choice, but she wanted variety, so she asked for another holiday classic; Eggnog.

I used a box spice cake mix for the glasses.  For the filling, I made a butter cream frosting.  For the flavor, I incorporated actual eggnog and rum.  I then topped it off with nutmeg.

Gingerbread Shot

When I was in the 3^rd grade, we made individual gingerbread houses in class.  I remember being disappointed because instead of using actual gingerbread, we used graham crackers.  It’s sort of ironic that 25 years later I ended up using graham crackers as an ingredient in the Gingerbread Shotibles.

I made a test batch of the glasses a few weeks ago using spiced wafers and butter, similar to several of the other no bake crusts I’ve done before.  While they were enjoyable, the flavor was a bit overpowering, and the taste of filling was lost.  Melanie suggested that I cut it with something else.  So, I went back to my tried and true graham cracker crust.  I combined the two.  The result was exactly what I was looking for.

For the filling, I made a cream cheese frosting flavored with a ginger snap liqueur.  According to Jeff, this glass and filling are the best flavor combination yet.

Of special note, the gingerbread house in the background was constructed and decorated by Jeff.  Pay particular attention to the adorable snow covered shingle roof made with cereal and powdered sugar.

Candy Cane Shot

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  December has arrived and brought the Christmas season with it.  So this week I will be posting the first of four Christmas themed Shotibles I have planned.

My original plan for the Candy Cane Shotible was to make the glasses with traditional peppermint bark.  But I learned from the Candy Bar Shotible that making glasses out of pure chocolate could be a nightmare for the teeth.  So I experimented with making a sort of white chocolate fudge with candy cane bits.  While they tasted good, the texture just didn’t work.  First off, I couldn’t really get them out of the molds.  And, even if I could, they wouldn’t have held up well.

I decided to go in a slightly different direction.  I wanted to keep the core premise of the peppermint bark, but I needed to make it more functional.  I combined two proven recipes.  I used my vanilla wafer pie crust and combined it with melted white chocolate.  I knew, because of the vanilla wafer and butter, it wouldn’t turn out to be the pristine white of peppermint bark, so I used white chocolate that was already colored red, and I added more red food coloring.  I also blended up candy canes to mix in.  The resulting glasses tasted like peppermint bark, but had a consistency much more conducive to eating without resulting in a dental emergency.

For the filling, I made a peppermint mousse.  I melted down marshmallows in milk and allowed it to cool.  I then whipped some heavy cream and peppermint schnapps and folded it into the marshmallow mixture.  I filled each glass and topped them off with red and white peppermint sugar sprinkles.

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Shot

Thanksgiving is all about tradition.  I grew up as an only child.  Both of my parents came from larger families, and we spend most of our holidays with them, so nearly all of our traditions have been handed down to us.  It’s hard for such a small family unit to form any traditions of our own.  That being said, one tradition that is all ours is Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.

Many years ago, my parents discovered the joys of Cajun and Creole food.  In one of their cookbooks, they found a recipe for Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.  When we venture to Buffalo for our big holiday gatherings, others usually take care of the desserts.  But for the Thanksgivings and Christmases that we celebrate at home in Pennsylvania, we always have our Sweet Potato Pecan Pie.

So, to further the tradition, I made Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Shotibles for Thanksgiving this year.  Once again, I used the store bought pie crust dough.  The filling includes mashed sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, eggs, cream, sugar and some bourbon.  I then topped each with pecan halves and some chopped pecans.  I covered that with a syrup made with sugar, eggs, corn syrup, butter, and more bourbon.  I baked them for nearly an hour and a half at 300 degrees.

What’s fun is I didn’t have to work hard to find a liquor that would match the dessert.  My family always includes bourbon, even though it’s not part of the original recipe.  And, it’s still kid friendly because the alcohol cooks off.  Jeff and I headed up to Buffalo without my folks this year.  I brought the Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Shotibles along, and shared the tradition with the rest of my family.

Pumpkin Pie Shot

Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but it was such a nice day my parents decided to put their Christmas lights up.  When it got dark, the lights came on automatically, but then they turned back off a few seconds later.  Moments later, the lights came back on, and then flashed off again.  It was too slow to be a flash setting.  It could be speculated that it was because Thanksgiving hadn’t come yet and it was too soon to be celebrating Christmas.  That, or they were so bright that they kept triggering the light sensor they were plugged into, causing them to turn off.

Anyway, Pumpkin Pie is clearly the quintessential Thanksgiving dessert.  I used the store bought pie crust dough again. Unlike the Apple Pie, I baked the crust for a few minutes before filling it this time.

For the filling, I combined canned “pure” pumpkin, evaporated milk, molasses, eggs, brown sugar and spice.  For the liquor, I used spiced rum.  It seemed appropriate.  I poured the mixture into the glasses and baked them for half an hour.

Before serving, I made whipped cream using heavy whipping cream, sugar and more spiced rum.

Apple Pie Shot

As hard as retailers try to move it up, I am a big proponent of holding off the Christmas season until after Thanksgiving. That is why the next three posts are dedicated to pie, the quintessential Thanksgiving dessert. The first baked pie Shotible is Apple Pie.

I used a store-bought pie dough crust for the glass.   Each package came with two crusts. I cut each into quarters, and then rolled each quarter into a ball. I then spread the dough out covering the sides and bottom of the molds.

For the filling, I made a syrup with brandy, butter, flour, sugar, brown sugar and spices. I brought the mixture to a simmer in a sauce pan. I then added diced apples. I used a combination of Macintoshes and Granny Smiths. I cooked them for just a few minutes in the sauce pan just to soften them up a little.

I filled each dough glass with the apple mixture put them in the 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. I then took them out of the oven and covered them with aluminum foil so the tops wouldn't burn when I baked them for another 15 minutes.

We brought the Apple Pie Shotibles with us to dinner the next night with my folks, my cousin Cherise and her fiance Pat.  There were a couple left over that Jeff and I took with us on a weekend trip to New York City.  I figured, what better place for an Apple Pie Shotibles photo shoot than the Big Apple itself?

Carrot Cake Shot

I have been looking forward to the fall for half a year because I wanted to make a Carrot Cake Shotible.  I’m not sure when I got to the age where it became acceptable to eat a dessert with a vegetable as the key ingredient, but I can tell you I haven’t looked back since.  Carrot Cake has become one of my all time favorite desserts.

I’ve got to hand it to the companies that make box cake mixes.  Not only do they engineer them so that it is just about impossible for anyone to screw them up, but lately they’ve come out with some pretty complex flavors that produce rather sophisticated desserts.  The Carrot Cake mix I used for this Shotible came with two packages in the box.  One contained the normal cake mix, but the other had dried shredded carrots and raisins.  You soak the carrots and raisins in hot water for five minutes before mixing them in with the rest of the cake batter.  The result is a cake with distinctively varied flavors and textures.

For the filling, cream cheese frosting was a must for carrot cake.  I used hazelnut liqueur as the flavoring and mixed in chopped pecans.  And of course what would a Carrot Cake Shotible be without an orange and green frosting carrot on top?

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.

PB&J Shot

Last week, millions of kids and teachers went back to school.  Millions of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches joined them.  To commemorate this event, I decided to make a PB&J Shotible.  Okay, I know that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches aren’t dessert items per se, but let’s be honest, they’re not far off.  It’s peanut butter (my favorite dessert ingredient) and a sugary fruit layered between a couple of pieces of cooked dough.  I think there’s an argument to be made here.

The ironic part of this is, although the PB&J Shotible is meant to honor the beginning of the school year, I cheated with this recipe more than I have with any other Shotible so far.  Sure, I’ve used a lot of prefab components over the course of this project like graham crackers, box cake mixes and canned whipped cream, but this time around, I took it a little further.  For the glass, I just opened up a can of premade dinner roll dough from the refrigerated section of the local grocery store.  I baked them up and cored the middles.

I did, however, make my own jelly.  I started with grape gelatin mix, but instead of using cold water, I chilled some red wine.  It’s funny because it took me a while to think of a grape flavored alcoholic beverage.  After the gelatin set, I mixed in some sugar to offset the dryness of the malbec wine.  I then filled each Shotible with smooth peanut butter from a jar and my home made wine jelly.  The result was a PB&J treat that should not be packed in a lunch box.

Margarita Shot

Labor Day marks the unofficial end to summer, and for me, the unofficial end of margarita season.  In my opinion, margaritas are the perfect summer cocktail.  They have everything.  The lime is sour.  The triple sec is sweet.  The tequila adds some heat.  And of course, the salt rim adds…well, saltiness.  This all adds up to a thirst quenching cocktail with a kick.  A Margarita Shotible was definitely necessary to usher out the season.

I decided to use a pretzel crust because a pure salt glass would be just a little too much.  I used a similar technique as I have with other no-bake recipes.  I crushed up the pretzels and added some sugar.  I then melted the margarine and combined it all.  I then pressed the mixture into the molds and refrigerated them for about an hour.

For the filling, I used fresh lime juice, heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk for the base.  For the first time, I used two different liquors in a single Shotible; tequila and triple sec.    I filled the glasses and froze them overnight. 

I considered adding a salt rim, but Jeff and I agreed, that would still be a bit much, so I topped them with some sea salt instead. 

Piña Colada Shot

I knew for the end of the summer I wanted to make a couple of summery cocktails, including a Piña Colada Shotible. What I wasn't sure of was if I should use a pineapple cake glass or coconut cake. I decided to put it to the people for you to vote on the website. Your clear choice was coconut cake.

I definitly agree that you guys made the right choice witht he coconut cake.  A lot of people aren't big fans of the texture of coconut.  Putting it into the filling may have been a bit much for them, but having just a little in the cake batter allowed it to provide flavor without being offensive.

I used a box french vanilla cake, but instead of following the normal directions, I added some coconut milk and a little shredded coconut.  I baked them up and scooped out the inside. 

I made the filling with vanilla pudding mix, pineapple coconut rum, milk, heavy cream and crushed pineapple.  And, of course, what would a summer cocktail be without a little umbrella on top. 

The Piña Colada Shotible turned out to be a great poolside treat.

Mint Chocolate Chip Shot

My friend Frank is concerned that he is going to come off as fickle on the blog because he has had so many new favorite Shotibles.  Mint Chocolate Chip is his newest favorite, but I certainly can’t blame him.  I’d like to think that they just keep getting better as we go along.

I used chocolate sandwich cookie crumb to make the glass.  I’ve been asked by several folks if I scraped the cream out of the middle.  I did not.  I ground the cookies whole.  As a benefit, I was able to use less butter than I have with other no-bake glasses.

For the filling, I used the same basic sweetened condensed milk ice cream recipe as I used in some of the other Shotibles.  But this time, instead of using vanilla extract, I used crème de menthe for flavor and color.  I then topped the Shotibles with chocolate chips and froze them. 

The combination of the chocolate cookie glass and the mint ice cream turned out delicious, and it's the new favorite for more people than just Frank.

Root Beer Float Shot

In my real life, I work at the same company as my father.  One Friday morning, about a month ago, I found a manila envelope on my desk when I arrived in the morning.  Inside was a newspaper page with an advertisement for a root beer flavored liqueur.  Attached was a note from my father suggesting a Root Beer Float Shotible.

That same evening, we had guests over for dinner.  When I got home from work, a root beer flavored vodka bottle was sitting on the kitchen counter.  My cousin Cherise had brought it, intending for it to be inspiration for, you guessed it, a Root Beer Float Shotible.

Since vanilla ice cream is a key component to a root beer float, it seemed obvious it should be a frozen pop shot.  I really liked the consistency of the Strawberry Mojito Shotible, but, so far as I know, nobody makes root beer flavored gelatin.  Instead I used plain gelatin along with root beer soda pop and root beer vodka.  For the filling, I used the same sweetened condensed milk ice cream recipe I used for the Orange Cream Pop.