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.

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.  

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. 

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.

Boston Cream Shot

We’re in the midst of planning a trip to Boston for a late summer vacation.  We love city vacations because, as Jeff says, “we like staying in hotels and eating at restaurants.”  Planning this trip has inspired me to try making Boston Cream Shotibles.

I have to admit, this time around; Jeff did nearly all of the work.  He bought all of the ingredients, baked the cups and made the fillings.  I say “fillings” because we made both a spiked version and a virgin version.  My only role was to core the cups and put the components together.

It just so happened that we needed to make a last minute trip up to Buffalo to see my extended family.  Several of them had been asking about Shotibles, so this was our opportunity to share them with nearly everyone.  Jeff baked the cups and made the filling in advance.  He used a store bought vanilla box mix.  I cored the cups the night before we left and packed them up in plastic containers.

By the time we got to Buffalo, there were a few casualties from the travel, but most had made it intact.  To our surprise, the hotel room had a microwave and a refrigerator, so we were able to prep the Shotibles there.  I used a store bought fudge frosting that I microwaved for a minute.  I dipped the rim of each cup in the frosting and put them in the fridge to cool.

At the family event, I filled each with the vanilla pudding/whipped topping mix Jeff had made.  The spiked version was made with Irish Cream.  The Shotibles disappeared in no time. 

Chocolate Chip Shotwich

My cousin Sarah was coming to town, and she requested a Shotible with chocolate.  It had been a long time since I used chocolate, and I knew Jeff would like something without fruit, so I decided to attempt my interpretation of a chocolate chip cookie sandwich.

I’d been wanting to try a baked cookie cup.  The first couple of attempts were less than successful.  I tested out some theories using premade cookie dough from the grocery store.  Unfortunately, the chocolate chips were too big and too plentiful.  The glasses didn’t have a chance of holding together.

I went ahead and made dough from scratch using the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag as a base.  I used miniature chips, and far fewer than the recipe called for.  I whipped up the dough a bit more than you normally would cookie dough.  In fact, it was almost like cake batter by the time I started filling the molds, which worked out really well.  I baked them just like I would cupcakes, and, like the other baked glasses, I cored them after they cooled.

For the filling, I took a big step and made real ice cream!  I bought a $25 ice cream maker, which worked remarkably well, although some complained about the sound it made.  I used vanilla vodka to flavor the ice cream.

I was thrilled with the end result.  I certainly plan to use both cookie dough and the ice cream maker a lot in the future.

Brownie Sundae Shot

Sunday was Father’s Day, so I made my first Shotible especially for my Dad.  A Brownie Sundae seemed like a sure bet.  My whole family has a soft spot for Irish Cream, so I decided to combine it with the ice cream recipe I recently discovered. 

 I made a simple box brownie mix.  After letting the brownie glasses cool, I cored them.  I mixed up some ice cream,filled the glasses and put them in the freezer.  After the ice cream froze, I melted down a chocolate bar and drizzled it on top.  Before serving, I covered each with  

whipped cream and put a cherry on top. 

I was very pleased with the resulting texture.  I had been concerned that the ice cream would be crunchy and the brownie would be tough.  Happily however, the ice cream was smooth and the brownie stayed soft.  All and all, it made for a fun little treat.

Watermelon Gelatin Shot

My cousin Cherise just moved to town, and Jeff and I had dinner with her on Wednesday.  On our way to her place we stopped to pick up an apartment warming gift, Pear Vodka.  While at the liquor store, we picked up watermelon vodka for ourselves because it was on sale.  For her dinner, Cherise ordered the Watermelon and Goat Cheese Salad.  I decided to take my inspiration from that.  (The Watermelon, not the Goat Cheese) 

I’ve been wanting to experiment with a gelatin Shotible.  It proved to be more challenging than I had expected.  While at the grocery store, I was quite surprised to find that they no longer make plain watermelon gelatin, but instead a mixed melon, which is green.

Since green and red are on opposite ends of the color wheel, I didn’t want the gelatin to be translucent.  For the glass, I used the mixed melon gelatin and cheese cake instant pudding.  After a disappointing first try, I divided the gelatin/pudding mixture into two parts and added green food coloring to one half.  I poured the light half of the mixture into each mold, and then the dark half on top.  I swirled the two in each mold in an attempt to emulate a watermelon rind.

For the inside, I used plain gelatin, the watermelon vodka, red food coloring and some sweetened condensed milk to add opacity.  At Cherise’s suggestion, I topped each with chocolate jimmies. 

Birthday Shots

Today is our friend Derek’s birthday, and yesterday was his cousin Brad’s.  We, along with some other friends, spent the holiday weekend at Derek’s family’s place at the beach.  In honor of Derek and Brad, I decided to try out making Birthday Shots. 

In my mind, the quintessential birthday cake is yellow cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles on top.  I went ahead and baked up a yellow cupcake mix from a box.  But instead of using a canned chocolate frosting, I decided to do something a little special.  I made dark chocolate ganache with a little crème de cacao.  With Jeff’s help, I topped off each with rainbow sprinkles and a candle in each.

I decided to torture the group a little.  Jeff and I had shown up to the beach house early and prepped everything before everyone else arrived, but the air conditioning hadn’t caught up, so the ganache hadn’t set as much as I’d hoped.  I made the group all wait until the next night to serve the shots (though birthday boy Brad snuck a few throughout the day.) 

We lit the candles, sung the song, and the guys blew them out.   The Birthday Shots were a resounding success.    

Toasty S'more Shot

The first time I ever met my friend Frank, we were out to dinner at a trendy restaurant that serves all their desserts in shot glasses.  The servers carry the desserts around on a tray so that they can present them to the patrons, allowing them to pick them up immediately and partake.  It certainly appeals to our society’s desire for instant gratification.

A couple of drinks in, but before our dinner was severed, our waitress stopped by to check in on us.  She had the dessert tray with her, and Frank was mesmerized by one dessert in particular.  The S’more was basically chocolate mousse and graham cracker crumbles with a toasted marshmallow on top.   Frank wanted to order one then and there.  We talked him into waiting until after dinner.

That was the moment I was first inspired to create a dessert in an edible shot glass.  Rather than layer the graham cracker and chocolate, I decided to fabricate the shot glass out of graham cracker crust and fill it with chocolate pudding.  And since it is shot glass shaped, it only makes since to me that is should be spiked with alcohol.  In this case, I used Irish Cream.  And, of course, I topped it off with toasted mini marshmallows.