Chocolate & Whiskey Liqueur

San Marcos Sunshine's Note:

I often make my special recipe Bailey’s for Christmas gift giving, but this sounds even better. It’s from Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates in Kansas City. He mixed it for an employee Christmas party and reports it’s creamy, boozy and delicious, straight up, over ice or over ice cream. Yum!

• Total Time: 12 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 12 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 10-12

Yield: 1.0 quart

• ½ cup light corn syrup
• ¼ cup water
• 1 vanilla bean , split, seeds scraped
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup half-and-half
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup Irish whiskey (or 1 cup vodka for a more neutral flavor)

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, combine the corn syrup, water and vanilla seeds and bring to a boil.
2. Add the chocolate and whisk over moderate heat until melted.
3. Transfer to a blender and let cool for 5 minutes. Add the condensed milk, the half & half, the heavy cream and blend.
4. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the whiskey or vodka.
5. Blend the mixture again in batches for 30 seconds.
6. Refrigerate overnight before serving.
7. For gift giving, pour the liqueur into simple long-necked glass bottles with a cork or plug.
8. It will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Reviews

[Sass Smith]

Wow!!! I made this for two separate parties over the holidays and it was a huge hit both times. My boyfriend nearly had a heart attack when he saw I'd used his 15-year old Jameson's for the first batch, so I used something cheap from the ABC store for the second batch and it was still fantastic. Next time I might substitute vanilla extract and skip the corn syrup to make it a bit less sweet.

[Nanaibbob]

Ooooohhh, this is such a smooth dessert liquor. Very rich.