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.

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.

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?

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.