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.

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.

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. 

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.

Strawberry Shot Cakes

June means a lot of things to me.  It means the official beginning of summer.  It means the end of the school year in the northeast.  And it means the local Strawberry Festival is coming.  I couldn’t let June pass by without posting Strawberry Shot Cakes. 

This is actually the third time I’ve made them.  The first time, I used way too much vodka and they were more cocktail than dessert.  I think I found the key the second go round.  Each time, I’ve used the basic Strawberry Short Cake recipe off the back of a biscuit mix box for the glass.  I cook them in the silicone molds and then core out the insides once they are cool. 

The first go round, I soaked all the strawberries in both whipped cream vodka and sugar.  I’m pretty sure somehow the strawberries only absorbed the vodka.  They were lethal!  The second go around, I covered half the strawberries with sugar and the other half with vodka.  I then combined them just before I served.  This time they were syrupy sweet, with just the right kick!