The Friday Tipple: Birthday Cake Shot

Happy birthday, Boozers! Well, maybe it’s not your birthday yet, but we have a birthday here at Good Booze this weekend, so we’re taking the opportunity to start early. We are often asked by our loyal Boozers what our most popular recipe is and the Birthday Cake Shot is far and away the most-trolled item on our site. And why not? You may enjoy a little special libation on your own birthday, and we couldn’t agree more. The Birthday Cake Shooter is a bit of a legend, as it’s purported to taste like a birthday cake — so we had to track it down and see what all the fuss was about.

The basic recipe calls for either citrus or vanilla vodka, paired with Frangelico and a sugar-coated lemon slice on the side. However, with apologies to Frangelico, we find it a bit too sweet, so we went for Nocello instead — an Italian walnut liqueur that is slightly more subtle. And, while there are plenty of vanilla vodkas on the market, it’s a breeze to infuse your own, and, because it’s our birthday, we wanted a really good vodka, not just some run-of-the-mill variety, so we infused a tasty Boyd & Blair Vodka.

This year, for a bit of a twist, we decided to try another version of the shot by replacing the vanilla vodka with Don Ciccio & Figli limoncello — a personal favorite — and found that this combination is also a winner. Not only that, it makes us feel somehow Italian and impossibly cool, which is exactly how you want to feel on your birthday. Buon Compleanno!

Birthday Cake Shot

While we’re not quite sure that the Birthday Cake Shot tastes exactly like a slice of birthday cake, it is certainly a tasty little morsel that may help distract you from your advancing age. Just don’t forget to blow out the candle first. 

1 ounce Vanilla Vodka (instructions below) or Limoncello

1 ounce Nocello liqueur

1 lemon slice, coated in sugar

Shake vodka or limoncello and Nocello in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a shot glass, with the lemon on the side. Shoot down the Birthday Cake, then suck on the lemon. Yum.

How to infuse vodka with vanilla:

It’s embarrassingly easy. Put a cup of vodka in a mason jar. Add a vanilla bean that has been split down the center. Let sit in a cool dark place for a few days, remove the vanilla bean, and enjoy.

The Friday Tipple: Der Kommissar

We’re on the run, Boozers. Well, not exactly, but we are certainly feeling a certain nostalgia for the Cold War era, what with fugitives slinking around Moscow airports and the amping up of 80s-style commentary from the Kremlin. Falco is suddenly relevant again.

So you can imagine how we were intrigued by the discovery of an Eastern European drink known as Kompot, a sweetened fruit juice that is almost embarrassingly easy to make. You can prepare it with any fruit you like; we chose peaches because they are so plentiful these days. Pair it with a good vodka and being in hiding suddenly doesn’t seem so bad. Alles klar, Herr Kommissar?

Der Kommissar

There’s a certain peasant-like austerity to this cocktail, appealing to our need for simplicity on steamy summer days, when we like to keep a refreshing drink handy while we are hiding out next to the air conditioning vent.

4 ounces Peach Kompot (recipe below)
2 ounces vanilla-infused vodka (we infused our favorite Boyd & Blair with a vanilla bean)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add ingredients. Shake vigorously. Can be served with or without ice.

to make the Peach Kompot:

1 cup fresh peaches, pits removed and quartered (you don’t need to remove the skins)

2 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

juice of half a lemon

Put all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a high simmer. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 30 – 45 minutes until reduced by about a third. Cool completely, strain, and add lemon juice. Can be refrigerated at this point for up to two weeks. Save the fruit — tastes delicious on its own or spooned over yogurt or ice cream!

Many thanks to Punk Domestics, which inspired us with this recipe from The Girl’s Guide to Guns and Butter.

The Friday Tipple: A Walk on the Beach

Remember Sex on the Beach, Boozers? So do we. Of course, we’re referring to those sickly sweet cocktails that were all the rage in the 80s, a cheap one-night stand in a rocks glass. The kind of thing Tom Cruise would have whipped up on screen, accompanied by sly innuendoes and a suggestive smirk.

But here’s the thing — a drink with such a name can only conjure up images of illicit fondling and sand in all the wrong places, hardly a recipe for romance. But a Walk on the Beach with the true object of your desire… that’s the real deal. Fingers intertwined, the salty tang of the evening breeze, skin tingling from the last rays of the setting sun, two sets of footprints lapped by warm waves. A perfect prelude to a night full of promise.

Back at the beach house, prop your feet up on the deck railing with this lovely summer nightcap — subtly sweet, lightly bitter, a perfect representation of this crazy little thing called love. Embrace it.

A Walk on the Beach

The original Sex on the Beach featured peach schnapps, but this modern update is based on a fresh peach and vodka purée that highlights our favorite summer fruit and makes us long for just-out-of-the-oven peach pie from Grandy Farm Market on the Outer Banks… but we digress. This is the next best thing, and if you can’t walk on the beach, then take a romantic stroll down to the corner.

3 chopped fresh peaches, pits removed

6 ounces vodka (we like Boyd & Blair for this, especially when infused with a vanilla bean)

1 teaspoon light agave nectar

1 fresh orange

1/2 ounce Campari

To make the peach-vodka purée: Put chopped peaches, agave nectar, and vodka in a blender and blend on high until liquefied. Strain through a sieve; can be kept in a jar and refrigerated for up to a week.

To assemble the drink: Put two ounces of the peach-vodka purée into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and squeeze in all the juice from the orange. Shake vigorously and pour the contents into a chilled glass. Pour Campari over the top and enjoy.

The Friday Tipple: Birthday Cake Shot

Happy birthday, Boozers! Well, maybe it’s not your birthday yet, but we had a birthday here at Good Booze this week, and we are still celebrating. You may enjoy a little special libation on your own birthday, and we couldn’t agree more. So, we went trolling around on the glorious Google world looking for the legendary Birthday Cake Shooter. It’s purported to taste like a birthday cake — who could resist?

The basic recipe calls for either citrus or vanilla vodka, paired with Frangelico and a sugar-coated lemon slice on the side. However, with apologies to Frangelico, we find it a bit too sweet, so we went for Nocello instead — an Italian walnut liqueur that is slightly more subtle. And, while there are plenty of vanilla vodkas on the market, it’s a breeze to infuse your own, and, because it was our birthday, we wanted a really good vodka, not just some run-of-the-mill variety. We recently came across Boyd & Blair Vodka in our quest to drink local first; they are not exactly right around the corner, but their distillery is close enough to fall into what we like to call the Mid-Atlantic Liquor Watershed.

While we’re not quite sure that the Birthday Cake Shot tastes exactly like a slice of birthday cake, it is certainly a tasty little morsel that may help distract you from your advancing age. Just don’t forget to blow out the candle first. Many happy returns!

Birthday Cake Shot

1 ounce Vanilla Vodka (we like to infuse Boyd & Blair vodka —instructions below)

1 ounce Nocello liqueur

1 lemon slice, coated in sugar

Shake vodka and Nocello in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a shot glass, with the lemon on the side. Shoot down the Birthday Cake, then suck on the lemon. Yum.

How to infuse vodka with vanilla:

It’s embarrassingly easy. Put a cup of vodka in a mason jar. Add a vanilla bean that has been split down the center. Let sit in a cool dark place for a few days, remove the vanilla bean, and enjoy.