Because Dutch apple pie is my husband's all-time favorite treat, I often try to come up with ways to recreate those apple and cinnamon flavors he loves so much. My sweet-as-pie step-daughter Daisy, on the other hand, loves martinis, so I suppose this combination of apple pie and martini flavors was a creation just waiting to happen in my house. The spiced apple juice can easily be prepared (a few days) in advance. One word of warning: they may taste like you want to drink them all night long, but they do pack a punch, so limit yourself to one or two!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Yield: Makes about 20 cocktails.
Ingredients:
- For the spiced apple juice:
- 2 quarts pure apple juice (2 l)
- 1/2 lemon (juice only)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cinnamon stick
- You will need:
- 1 bottle dry vermouth
- 1 bottle young Dutch jenever (or gin)
- 1 bottle amaretto
- To mix each cocktail:
- 1 part spiced apple juice
- 1/2 part dry vermouth
- 1/2 part young Dutch jenever (or gin)
- 1 tsp amaretto
- 1 green apple, washed and finely sliced
Preparation:
In a large soup pot, bring the apple juice, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and vanilla to the boil. Allow to reduce down to 1.5 quarts (1.5 liters). This should take about 1 hour. Take off the heat, decant into a jug and allow to go stone cold. Chill further in the fridge until ice cold.
To make the cocktail, add the spiced apple juice, vermouth and jenever to a mixing carafe, along with the amaretto. Stir with a cocktail mixing bar spoon. Alternatively, add the ingredients to an iced-filled cocktail shaker and shake until combined.
Pour or strain into a martini glass and decorate with a thin slice of green apple. Serve cold.
