Drinkable Lemon Bars
Mar. 18th, 2018 12:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Lemon Bar Milk-Washed Rum Punch.
Note: this makes about 30 servings.
Spirits:
29 oz Flor de Cana rum (I used a combination of Flor de Cana and Mt. Gay)
7 oz Licor 43 Liqueur
5 oz Amaro Nonino (I used Averna; not really similar, as Nonino has been described as the most rum-like Amaro... but I didn't want to go buy another bottle)
2 oz Batavia Arrack (I used Lemon & Hart overproof rum; arrack tastes too licoricey for me)
Infused milk:
1/2 gallon whole milk (non-homogenized preferred)
1/2 box graham crackers
Oleo saccharum:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 cinnamon sticks (I used half Ceylon and half true)
2 split vanilla beans
5 Meyer lemons
5 non-Meyer lemons
Day 1:
Infuse the milk - crush the graham crackers and place in a medium-sized jar. Pour over the whole milk. Stir, cover, and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
Make the oleo saccharum - crack the cinnamon sticks. Combine them with the sugar and vanilla beans in a non-reactive container. Peel all the Meyer lemons, leaving as much of the pith on the lemon as possible. Add the peels to the sugar mixture and refrigerate the lemons in a sealed bag to keep them from drying out. Muddle the lemon peel and sugar mixture until the lemon peels are secreting oils and the mixture takes on a thick, syrupy consistency. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Day 2:
Clarify the punch - strain the milk to get rid of the graham cracker solids. In a separate container, mix together the booze. Juice all 10 lemons and mix into the booze.
Add the booze mixture to the oleo saccharum (lemon peel mixture). Stir well to combine. Pour the mixture into the strained milk (this order is important; if done the other way around, the milk will be instantly surrounded, curdling into large chunks and the milky properties we're trying to extract won't make it into the punch).
The milk will start to curdle into small granular globules. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 days.
Day 3:
Strain the punch through fine cheesecloth. Repeat several times until there are only tiny particles remaining. This can take quite a bit of time. Note: the curdles help with the filtering, so don't necessarily discard all of them between steps.
Finally, strain through a coffee filter to get the clearest result possible.
Enjoy over ice with nutmeg or use it as a base for a cocktail. Keep it covered and refrigerated.
What worked: The dangerous thing about milk-washed punch is how smooth it is. All the alcohol roughness leaves, but the alcohol is still present. It's frighteningly easy to drink.
It sort of tasted like a lemon bar. There's an undernote of graham cracker, and it's lemony sweet (but not too sweet).
What didn't: The lemon peels never formed a syrup. I gave up and let the powdered sugar infuse. I didn't bother straining through a coffee filter, so there are still a few globules and dregs from the last few ladles.
Will I make it again? I have a lot of it, so not anytime soon. It's nice though.
Note: this makes about 30 servings.
Spirits:
29 oz Flor de Cana rum (I used a combination of Flor de Cana and Mt. Gay)
7 oz Licor 43 Liqueur
5 oz Amaro Nonino (I used Averna; not really similar, as Nonino has been described as the most rum-like Amaro... but I didn't want to go buy another bottle)
2 oz Batavia Arrack (I used Lemon & Hart overproof rum; arrack tastes too licoricey for me)
Infused milk:
1/2 gallon whole milk (non-homogenized preferred)
1/2 box graham crackers
Oleo saccharum:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 cinnamon sticks (I used half Ceylon and half true)
2 split vanilla beans
5 Meyer lemons
5 non-Meyer lemons
Day 1:
Infuse the milk - crush the graham crackers and place in a medium-sized jar. Pour over the whole milk. Stir, cover, and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
Make the oleo saccharum - crack the cinnamon sticks. Combine them with the sugar and vanilla beans in a non-reactive container. Peel all the Meyer lemons, leaving as much of the pith on the lemon as possible. Add the peels to the sugar mixture and refrigerate the lemons in a sealed bag to keep them from drying out. Muddle the lemon peel and sugar mixture until the lemon peels are secreting oils and the mixture takes on a thick, syrupy consistency. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Day 2:
Clarify the punch - strain the milk to get rid of the graham cracker solids. In a separate container, mix together the booze. Juice all 10 lemons and mix into the booze.
Add the booze mixture to the oleo saccharum (lemon peel mixture). Stir well to combine. Pour the mixture into the strained milk (this order is important; if done the other way around, the milk will be instantly surrounded, curdling into large chunks and the milky properties we're trying to extract won't make it into the punch).
The milk will start to curdle into small granular globules. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 days.
Day 3:
Strain the punch through fine cheesecloth. Repeat several times until there are only tiny particles remaining. This can take quite a bit of time. Note: the curdles help with the filtering, so don't necessarily discard all of them between steps.
Finally, strain through a coffee filter to get the clearest result possible.
Enjoy over ice with nutmeg or use it as a base for a cocktail. Keep it covered and refrigerated.
What worked: The dangerous thing about milk-washed punch is how smooth it is. All the alcohol roughness leaves, but the alcohol is still present. It's frighteningly easy to drink.
It sort of tasted like a lemon bar. There's an undernote of graham cracker, and it's lemony sweet (but not too sweet).
What didn't: The lemon peels never formed a syrup. I gave up and let the powdered sugar infuse. I didn't bother straining through a coffee filter, so there are still a few globules and dregs from the last few ladles.
Will I make it again? I have a lot of it, so not anytime soon. It's nice though.
