Amanda and Sandra: Vanilla Chocotini, Ricotta Berry Bursts, and Knight's Delight

Before: Yes, it's been awhile. My waist and my liver took a much needed break from the blog. Two of our most loyal testers were in town for the night, so it seemed a good time to revisit our old friend Sandra. It had been awhile since I'd had to go out and buy ridiculous liqueurs, so I'd forgotten about one of the worst parts - actually asking the sales clerk if they have said ridiculous liqueur. Granted, Godiva liqueur isn't as bad as pomegranate liqueur, but it's not something I'd normally seek out. At least I can use it in coffee. You may notice the Creme de Grand Marnier in the picture. You may also know that Creme de Grand Marnier hasn't been available in the US for at least a decade. The above bottle is from 1965. We found out the hard way that this particular alcohol does not age, it solidifies. I still have nightmares about the smell. Needless to say, we did not actually drink any.

On paper, the Vanilla Chocotini seems harmless. Really, the worst part is that it's called a Vanilla Chocotini. It's just vanilla vodka and chocolate liqueur. It was fine. Not really good, but not really bad either. The only complaint I have is that Sandra's recipe only has 1 1/4 ounces of liquid and she has a picture of a full martini glass beside it. It could be a typo or it could be laziness. Who knows? The drink itself tasted like something your high school friend would serve at her bridal shower. Sweet and forgettable. Since we used white chocolate liqueur, it ended up looking a lot like the dreaded buca-cino. Thankfully, it tasted tons better. I'll never drink one again, but at least the thought of a Vanilla Chocotini won't make me shudder.

The after drink reactions:

It's good when it goes in your mouth!
Something's not right.
Tastes like medicine and milk.
I'm not feeling bad.
Not chocolatey, just sweet.

Sandra has a recipe called ricotta berry bursts that is basically just ricotta cheese and jam mixed together and poured into a premade graham cracker crusts. For some inexplicable reason she brushes the premade crusts with egg white and bakes them. If you are going to go to the trouble of doing that, why not just make the crusts from scratch? Sandra is weird like that. My version didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. I'd used silicone baking cups and they made the crust soggy. Also, the cups were just bland. Maybe I needed more sugar. Or a jar of jam.

The inexplicably named knight delight consists of white chocolate liqueur, half and half, and orange liqueur. This drink was really good. For real. It's a good dessert drink. The half and half cuts the sweetness and the orange gives it an interesting flavor. Kind of like a boozy orange julius. I don't see anyone going on a knight delight bender, but I could see having more than one. Definitely a good drink to have if you want something sweet and are out of Kahlua to make white russians with.