The Poison Apple

This week’s H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out A Gal/Guy, Yeah?) comes from my friend Sazerac –she’s from Baton Rouge, y’all—who texted me with this request:

 “I’ve decided to be Snow White for Halloween!  I want to make up a ‘poison appletini.’ Can you help me?!” 

Of course, gal!  We’ve got your adorable backside covered.  Sazerac also said it needed to be a simple cocktail, since folks would be mixing up their own at her party.

The result:  With a day or two of prep to start an infusion and freeze up some “poison apple” ice balls, the drinks only had three ingredients and they were both gorgeous and delicious, especially if you like your cocktails on the sweet-spicy side.  If you don’t have the time or equipment to freeze ice balls – which look supah cool, but I’m warning you they are a pain in the ass to remove from the trays, the red food coloring gets EVERYWHERE, and beware the red shits the next day—regular old ice cubes work just fine and the drink is still a beautiful clear red color.

24 hours + in advance:

• Start your Cinnamon Vodka Infusion:  to a clean glass quart jar, add 25 cinnamon hard candies, and cover completely with not-expensive vodka (about 3 ½ cups).  Store in a cool place out of direct sunlight, and shake the jar a few times a day to dissolve the candies.  After one or two days, strain the vodka through a fine mesh strainer to remove any candy pieces that did not dissolve.  I poured the vodka into an oversized clear liquor bottle and labeled it with a cool sticker label for the party.  This will make about 20-25 cocktails.
• Make the Poison Apple Ice balls:  I make these in my kitchen sink to trap spills.  Fill up the bottom half of your ice mold almost all the way to the rim with water.  For a tray of 4, add about 12 drops of red food coloring and an optional 4-6 drops of cinnamon oil (available at most baking supply stores).  For cripes sake be careful with the cinnamon oil and food coloring: the former is super strong flavored, and the later will stain everyfuckingthing it touches.   Tightly secure the ice mold lid, tip it slightly to remove excess water, and move the ice mold to a flat spot in your freezer.  I put paper towels under the tray to collect the red staining water as the trays froze.

Snow White and Sexy Jesus (aka my gals Sazerac and Saketini) – Halloween 2013

The Poison Apple

1 oz. red hot cinnamon-infused vodka

1 oz. Applejack (such as Laird’s)

1 oz. ginger beer (Sazerac likes using diet ginger ale)

Add all ingredients to a large wine glass or martini glass, stir gently to combine.  Add a couple of ice cubes or a poison apple ice ball.

Happy Halloween, y’all!

The Poison Apple