Trick or Treat?

Last year I was thrilled to finally pick up a bottle of Pumpkin Spice liqueur. I knew it was out there, but I hadn’t been able to find it. So when I saw it at the store, I grabbed a bottle and started thinking about all the yummy pumpkin martinis I would make. I got home and found several different recipes online to try out. Much to my surprise, they were all disappointing. I tried to doctor them to no avail, and eventually gave up. I hadn’t thought much more about it until I started seeing pumpkin recipes pop up everywhere and I was reminded of that lonely bottle of Pumpkin Spice liqueur sitting in the cabinet. It was time to take matters into my own hands and perfect the pumpkin martini.

Since I’ve been seeing a lot of chocolate-pumpkin desserts and have never combined the two flavors myself, I thought it seemed like a good place to start for a cocktail. Can you really go wrong when adding chocolate liqueur to something? No.

And I'm sure this goes without saying, but martini taste testing is definitely at the top of my list of fun tasks in the kitchen (and might lead to silly props peeking out from behind your cocktail)...

Chocolate-Pumpkin Spice Martini

2 parts Hiram Walker Pumpkin Spice liqueur

1 part Crème de Cacao White liqueur

1 part Vanilla Vodka

1 part heavy cream

Put all ingredients into a shaker full of ice. Shake and strain into a glass.

This is a festive drink with its bright orange color. It also tastes great. You first taste the pumpkin spice, with the chocolate coming in at the finish. It goes down very smoothly. To me, this martini could double as dessert.

So which would I choose: “trick or treat?” I will always take the treat, especially when in martini form.

Happy Halloween!