Clarified Luxardo Amaretto Sour + Snacks
Paid Partnership with Luxardo
When you’re hosting a large group, a batched cocktail is the only way to go. Don’t worry, you can still serve an elevated drink without the stress of individually shaking each one! Enter: the Clarified Luxardo Amaretto Sour. This drink is so smooth and packs a punch (no literally, it’s a milk punch)! You’ll build it the night before and clarify the morning of the event. To pair, I would recommend serving gildas, whipped ricotta toast, brie with Luxardo Maraschino cherries, and cured meats. See below for recipes.
Batched Clarified Amaretto Sour
Serves 10 people
Ingredients:
1 cup whiskey
2 ½ cups Luxardo Amaretto
¾ cup Luxardo Aperitivo
2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 ½ cups whole milk
For Serving:
10 large ice cubes
Fresh-grated nutmeg
Make it!
In a large bowl, combine whiskey, Luxardo Amaretto, Luxardo Aperitivo, lemon juice, and whole milk. The milk will curdle immediately, that’s what you want! Stir lightly and cover. Store in the fridge overnight or for a minimum of 5 hours.
Place a coffee filter or cheesecloth into a funnel or sieve and place over your serving pitcher of choice. To make things easier, pour the milky mixture into a large measuring cup with a spout and pour into the coffee filter. The mixture will pass through and come out clear. Add the mixture in increments to not overflow the filter. This process can take 1-2 hours for everything to pass through. Once finished, discard the coffee filter and store the cocktail in the fridge until serving.
To serve! Place a large ice cube in a rocks glass and pour the cocktail over it, about two thirds of the way up the glass. Garnish with fresh-grated nutmeg. Cheers!
Fun Fact: While Amaretto is known as an almond flavored liqueur with amazing nutty notes, Luxardo’s Amaretto isn’t made with almonds but rather gets it’s signature flavor from the essential oils in the pits of cherries, peaches and apricots used to make the liqueur. So this drink is allergy friendly for guests!
Whipped Ricotta Toast with Pear
Ingredients:
Fresh baguette, sliced into whatever size you want
1 16 oz. tub of whole milk ricotta (drain any excess liquid)
Lemon zest from 1 lemon, plus a small squeeze of juice
Salt
Olive oil
2 ripe pears, sliced thin and drizzled with lemon juice to prevent browning
Special Tools:
1 quart-size plastic bag or piping bag
Make it!
In a blender or food processor, add the ricotta, lemon zest, a small squeeze of lemon, two generous pinches of salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. Blend on high until fluffy, 45 seconds. Taste and adjust for salt. Blend again for 45-60 seconds more, until the ricotta is fluffy, but holds shape. Transfer the mixture into a plastic bag or piping bag, seal the top or twist it, and then slice off the corner on a diagonal, about ½ inch long.
Test your piping skills on a plate first. You can always add the ricotta back into your bag!
Lay the pear slices on each slice of bread and pipe the ricotta onto the bread in a wavy formation. If that’s too hard, just do little dollops. Serve immediately! They begin to wilt about 5-10 minutes in, so you don’t want to put them out too early. I also recommend making the mixture and chilling in the piping bag until guests arrive. Enjoy!
Gildas
Ingredients:
Pitted castelvetrano olives
Anchovies in olive oil
Boquerones in vinegar
Piparra peppers
Special Tools:
Extra long toothpicks
Make it!
To make the assembly easier, remove the olives, anchovies, boquerones, and peppers from their containers and line them up on a cutting board.
Slide at least one olive, anchovy, boquerone, and pepper onto the toothpick, squiggling some of the anchovies and boquerones. Or, wrap them around the olives, get creative!
Arrange the gildas on a platter and chill until ready to serve.
Aperitivo Grazing Board
Ingredients:
Warm Brie
Luxardo Maraschino Cherries
Cornichons
Aged Gouda
Morty-D
Salami
Marinated Artichokes
Special Tools:
Cheese Board and knives
Make it!
1. Remove cheeses and meats from packaging and arrange on the board. Get creative with the visuals!
2. Warm brie in oven (or microwave) until cheese is slightly soft when you press in the center.
3. Add to the center of the cheese board, top off with maraschino cherries and drizzle a spoonful of the cherry juice from the jar on the brie. Voila!
Tip: Nuts like sliced almonds, crushed pistachios or pecans add another dimension to the baked brie and maraschino combo! Almonds would have been my choice for the evening to compliment the nutty notes of the Clarified Amaretto Sour (if one of my guests didn’t have allergies.)
Cheers!
