Need a fresh idea for Christmas Eve drinks? Cocktail and lifestyle expert Jeanne Benedict is sharing four holiday cocktails — a North Pole mule; a caramel apple sparkler; a dirty rosemary martini; and toasted coconut eggnog — plus an alcohol-free hot cocoa idea for the kids.
North Pole mule
A holiday version of 2014's cocktail darling, the Moscow Mule, this rendition is a nod to Santa's star reindeer, Rudolph. A splash of grenadine tints the drink red and a crafty reindeer straw with pretzel antlers and a red cherry nose finish the quaff off.
- 5 ounces alcohol-free ginger beer
- 1 1/2 ounces vodka
- Juice from 1/2 lime
- 1 tablespoon grenadine
- Reindeer straws (recipe follows)
Pour ginger beer into a tall glass over ice cubes and add remaining ingredients. Pop in a reindeer straw and give it a stir! To dress up the rim of the glass, mix 2 tablespoons powdered sugar with about 3/4 teaspoon of water; it should be thick. Spread on rim of glass, then dip in white non-pariels or holiday sprinkles.
Reindeer straws:
- Maraschino cherries
- Mini pretzels
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
- Holiday paper party straws
Pick out the most perfectly round Maraschino cherries and drain them on paper towels; wipe them completely dry and set aside.
2. Turn the mini pretzel upside down. Gently break off the 3 rounded arcs of the pretzel and you'll have your antlers — it kind of looks like the letter "Y" in a serif font.
3. Add chocolate chips and vegetable oil into a microwave-safe glass measuring cup and melt on defrost setting for 20 second increments until chocolate is slightly lumpy. Remove from microwave, and stir chocolate as it continues to melt on its own until smooth. Pour half of chocolate into a small bowl and cover remaining chocolate with plastic wrap. Dip pretzel antlers in bowl of chocolate and place on wax paper-lined plate. Put plate in freezer to set chocolate quickly; about 5 minutes. Remove from freezer.
4. Re-melt chocolate in measuring cup if necessary and spoon into a plastic pastry bag fitted with a #2 plain round tip. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and place a row of chocolate antlers on it.
5. Slide a cherry on to a party straw through the top opening of the cherry. Determine the best side of the cherry for the front of Rudolph's nose. Carefully pipe a little chocolate into the cherry from the backside; this will keep the cherry from sliding down the straw. Pipe chocolate on the center part of the pretzel. Place the cherry on to the piped chocolate on the antler. Repeat with remaining ingredients and allow to fully set. Keep covered at room temperature until ready to use.
Caramel apple sparkler with a salty caramel Christmas tree garnish
Caramel-infused cider mixed with some bubbly Brut composes this simple yet elegant cocktail. On the rim of this cocktail's flute is a mini salty caramel Christmas tree. It also has a sparkly sugar rim and a caramel swirl and cranberries inside. The base of glass can be wrapped with mini gold balls and bell bracelet.
- 1 quart apple cider
- 1/2 cup caramels, plus caramels for Christmas tree garnish
- Coarse salt
- Brut Champagne or dry white sparkling wine
- Cranberries for decor
- Salty caramel Christmas trees (recipe follows)
Add 1/2 cup caramels into apple cider; cover and allow to sit overnight. Strain cider and discard caramels. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Lightly spray a microwave-safe dinner plate with non-stick cooking spray. Place 4 caramels on plate and microwave for 10 second increments until caramels are soft and pliable. Use your finger to press down each caramel until it spreads to the size of your mini Christmas tree cookie cutter. Spray cutter with non-stick spray and cut out caramels. Lightly sprinkle coarse salt on top of each caramel. Cut a small slit in the bottom of tree. Repeat with remaining caramels. Cover with plastic until ready to use.
When ready to serve drinks, slide caramels on to rims of flute glasses. For each drink, add 1 ounce cider into glass and then fill as desired with Champagne.
Dirty rosemary martini with penguin olives
Adorable edible penguins happily sit in martini glasses waiting to be doused.
- 3 ounces rosemary-infused vodka
- 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
- Splash martini green olive brine
- Penguin olives (recipe follows)
Add sprigs of rosemary to 2 cups of vodka and allow to sit overnight. Strain vodka and discard rosemary. Add ingredients into a cocktail with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass.
Penguin olives
- Small and jumbo black olives
- 1 - 2 large carrots, peeled
- Cocktail onions
- Peeled and sliced turnip, brushed with lemon juice
- Rosemary stems
- Toothpicks
1. For the penguin's body, cut a slit into the side of pitted jumbo olive and stuff with a small cocktail onion. It may be necessary to pull a layer off the cocktail onion or trim the back so it fits snugly inside the olive.
2. Place a pitted small olive on its side on top of the body for the penguin's head. Stick a toothpick down into the head and through the body to keep him together.
3. Slice a peeled carrot into 1/4-inch thick rounds and cut a wedge out of the rounds for the penguin's feet. Place the penguin body on the feet and push the toothpick down to keep it all together.
4. Cut carrot slivers for his beak. Insert the beak into the X on the olive head (as opposed to the wider hole in the olive).
5. Insert penguin and rosemary into turnip slice.
6. Tie ribbon around glass stem along with more rosemary stems.
7. Place penguin olives in empty martini glasses on your bar for guests to fill with a Dirty rosemary martini.
Hot cocoa with reindeer marshmallow mug floats
Gingerbread flavored marshmallows designed to look like reindeer are "mug floats" on top of hot cocoa.
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 3 (1/4 oz.) packets Knox unflavored gelatin
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup corn syrup
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus 1 tablespoon more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Mini pretzels
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 egg white
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar plus 2 tablespoons more for dusting
- Red M&M candies
- Pastry bag with writing tip
- Hot cocoa with whipped cream
Line the bottom of an 8-inch square dish or similar size pan with plastic wrap and butter it.
Add 1/2 cup cold water into a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over and let stand to fully dissolve, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add sugar, corn syrup, remaining 1/4 cup water, ginger, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and cinnamon into a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture boils.
Immediately add sugar mixture to dissolved gelatin in bowl and beat on low speed for 3 minutes, then high speed for 5 - 7 minutes more until mixture turns fluffy. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Allow to set at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
Remove marshmallow slab from pan by lifting plastic wrap and place on counter. Lightly spray heart-shaped cookie cutter with non-stick spray and stamp out 6 hearts. (Clean and re-spray cutter with non-stick coating as needed.) Note: Make sure your heart-shaped cookie cutter fits inside your mugs. I used a 3 1/2-inch wide cutter and oversized mugs. A smaller cookie cutter will affect the reindeer features — for example the antlers may appear larger on a smaller heart, but he will still be very cute!
Sift together remaining 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar and dust marshmallows to take the stickiness out of them. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.To make antlers: Gently break mini pretzel in half and continue to break away bits until it looks like a capital "E." Or, break the pretzels however you want to make your own unique antlers! Add chocolate chips and vegetable oil into a microwave-safe glass measuring cup and melt on defrost setting for 20 second increments until chocolate is slightly lumpy. Stir chocolate as it continues to melt on its own until smooth. Pour half of chocolate into a small bowl and cover remaining chocolate with plastic wrap. Dip pretzel antlers in bowl of chocolate and place on wax paper-lined plate. Put plate in freezer to set chocolate quickly; about 5 minutes. Remove from freezer.
Re-melt chocolate in measuring cup if necessary and spoon into a plastic pastry bag fitted with a #2 plain round tip. Pipe chocolate on back of antlers and place on to top curved part of marshmallows. Pipe chocolate ears and mouth on reindeer's face.
The white parts of the reindeer's features are made with royal icing. Beat egg white until frothy. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and check consistency; it should be thick and not too runny. Add remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar if necessary. Spoon icing into a plastic pastry bag fitted with a #5 plain round tip. Pipe on reindeer's nose and eyes. Place red M&M on nose. When eyes are set, pipe chocolate pupils on top. Cover reindeer marshmallows with plastic wrap.
When ready to serve, pipe or dollop whipped cream on hot cocoa and set reindeer marshmallows on top!
Toasted coconut eggnog
Makes: About 5 cups
Christmas Eve isn't complete without eggnog! This creamy Yuletide concoction is enhanced with coconut cream and made even more festive by the decorated glass rims, which are wreathed in toasted coconut.
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup cream of coconut plus more for glass rim
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 6 egg whites
- Fresh ground nutmeg
- 1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
- Powdered sugar
- Optional: 1 cup dark rum
In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until mixture is thick and pale yellow. Beat in 1 cup cream of coconut, milk and vanilla until combined. Cover and chill.
Meanwhile, spread layer of flaked coconut on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven until coconut is lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Cool and store in a plastic bag until ready to use. About an hour before serving, pour 2 tablespoons cream of coconut on a small plate and mix in a little powdered sugar until a frosting consistency is achieved. Place toasted coconut on another small plate. Dip eggnog glasses in powdered sugar mixture and then in coconut until rim has a nice coconut coating. Set up glasses on bar and loosely cover with plastic until guests arrive.
Just before serving: Beat cream in a cold bowl until whipped; set aside. In another clean bowl, add egg whites and 2 tablespoons sugar. Using clean beaters, whip egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.
Fold whipped cream and egg whites into coconut egg yolk mixture and add 1 cup rum if desired, then pour into a grand punch bowl! Or place a bottle of rum alongside alcohol-free egg nog in a punch bowl. Arrange glasses prepped with toasted coconut next to punch bowl with a shaker of ground nutmeg for guests to serve themselves on Christmas Eve!