Of all the Christmas cookies my mother and I crafted this year, the ginger rum molasses cookie (aka Joe Froggers) from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented (by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito) is the one I've snacked on the most. It's insanely delicious, with a robust molasses flavor giving way to ginger and spice. Plus we made way too many of them. It turns out quadrupling a recipe sometimes yields way more than you expected. Oops. It was a fortunate accident, though, because I can't stop eating them.
So you can understand why I have high hopes for SNAP, a marvelous liqueur produced by Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction flavored like German spiced molasses cookies, lebkuchen. That means the rich, dark flavor of blackstrap molasses and the warm spiciness of fresh ginger plus aromatic spices come in a handsome bottle of liqueur. You can drink the best gingersnap you've ever tasted, people!
Obviously, I'm excited about SNAP and the possibilities it holds. Even though my first cocktail made with SNAP wasn't worth sharing, I'm still eager to find the perfect cocktail that showcases SNAP's molasses-ginger-spice flavor. With my current addiction to ginger rum molasses cookies, it feels right to search for its equivalent in cocktail form. Thus the Double Ginger Cocktail. It's SNAP liqueur, dark rum, and ginger ale or beer. Sounds like it has all the right stuff.
Alas, though a solidly good cocktail, it isn't what I'm looking for. Molasses flavor from SNAP and the dark rum are overwhelming any trace of ginger or spice. So it's back to testing other cocktails in my quest for liquid gingersnaps... Oh, the suffering! Oh, the cookies I'll be required to sample!
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Double Ginger Cocktail
from Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Makes 1 drink
Ingredients:
1 oz. SNAP
1 oz. rum (spiced or dark)
4 oz. ginger beer or strong ginger ale
Preparation:
Pour SNAP and rum over ice into a tall glass. Add ginger beer or ginger ale. Stir and garnish with a lime wedge, if desired.
Notes:
-This cocktail is all about molasses. Dark rum has a strong molasses flavor, as does SNAP. If you were thinking it might be a novel twist on the Dark and Stormy, like I did, you'll miss the bright punch of ginger and lime the Dark and Stormy offers. Instead, you'll be ready to curl up with a thick blanket and drink this to fortify yourself against winter's chill. Which is exactly what I'm doing, since Ohio is going through a painfully cold spell.
Any ideas for what to try with SNAP next?
Happy Friday!
I like ginger cocktails more than ginger in food so I would like this for sure. Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteThank you, you too!
DeleteI've been on quite the ginger kick lately, probably because I always seem to have some ginger root lurking in the refrigerator, leftover from another recipe. You should try the Fizzy Lifting Drink, with or without vodka (I'll be posting my more successful second attempt soon!). It's got grated ginger, ginger ale, and plum drinking vinegar (it's weird but true).
okay, so...writing this down. SNAP: must get it. Somehow must make this cocktail. NOW.
ReplyDeleteYou know, i've never, in all the years i've had that Baked Explorations book, made the Joe Froggers. Because of your high marks for them, i'm dusting off the book. I go through cookbook phases, and that one has been shelved for far too long. Time to get it back out!
Same here with cookbook phases. It's funny how it goes, and I hate that it lends to temporarily forgetting a marvelous recipes. If only there were a way to develop a photographic memory, so I could access all cookbooks at any time. Such a nerdy solution, right?
DeleteI was never drawn to the Joe Froggers until I made my massive list of Christmas cookies. They beat out Leibovitz's crunchy ginger snaps because I had too many crunchy or crumbly cookies anyway. I'm so thankful I made them, though, because they are insanely good.
I want to get Art in the Age's two other liqueurs, Rhubarb Tea (fromerly Rhuby) and Sage. They look so tempting!!!!