Love Potions and Candy Garnishes to Pour Your Heart Out to Lovers and Crushes & You!

Feb 14

Candy garnishes seem to work best for specific holidays and themed events, but isn’t Valentine's Day the perfect occassion to add a token of sparkly, garden-to-glass love to a celebration that’s really all about love? There’s no better time to indulge in those luxurious sweet and/or creamy drinks.

I have a few delightful ways to add that something extra aphrodisiac to drinks ~ spirited or NA ~ to any cocktail confection. And dessert.

Channeling Willa Wonka or Jacques Torres? (That I now know/am friends with his wife, Hasty, aka Madame Chocolat via our Les Dames d’Escoffier professional organization makes this even sweeter!) Creamier drinks from chocolate martinis to Bailey’s Irish Cream or Kahlua delight the chocolate lover in us all. See later for my Pretty in Pink Cherry Chocolate elixir; Love Potion.

My newest crush has been making Horchata, an ancient Spanish~Moor drink that welcomes a variety of adaptations . This is a cozy, creamy, plant-based confection with ingredients that mainly include dulce de leche, rice, sweet cinnamon, and my favorite: Vanilla.

Horchata is fabulous all on its own ~ hot or over ice ~ as a refreshing agua fresca. And it is also a terrific base that can welcome any number of partners, such as chocolate, chile, amaros, Licor 43, or Amaretto.

You can even make a “dirty” Horchata ~ like a “dirty” martini, by adding espresso or coffee, or a spirited dark rum.

Allow me to jump into how to create this creamy drink for your sweetheart. Or you. I made it recently and have been enjoying its creamy luxury too much!

Horchata with a Heart

A quick online search yielded this: Horchata can be considered a rather healthy drink because of its natural ingredients, such as rice, almonds, cinnamon, vanilla and milks, it provides antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that can potentially aid digestion.

But I say, just enjoy it!

It’s two or three easy steps to creamy bliss.

Online, I found the Horchata recipe I preferred and then adapted from Muy Delish. It’s simple, easy, and well, muy delish.

Recipe: (for 12-cup servings)

1 cup uncooked white rice
2 cinnamon sticks * Be sure to reuse as drink stirrer/garnish or rinsed, in a rustic pot pourri basket or bowl in a hallway or near a door.)
12 ounce can evaporated milk
12 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
8 cups of warm water - divided
Sugar to taste
Ground cinnamon to garnish - optional * I think this is a must! See finished drink
½ teaspoon vanilla - optional * Likewise, this is a must!

I did not use any Sugar

Rinse the rice in a colander under cold water then place it in a large bowl with a cinnamon stick and 4 cups of water. Cover and refrigerate overnight or a minimum of 4 hours (the longer the better!). I let the mix sit overnight.

* I drained off the water and just used. No extra rinsing. I found that the tiny grains of my rice were exiting the colander with too great an abandon! But this physical attribute helped make the Horchata blend even better, I think. No big, hard grains, Note, I used our very special, freshness dated rice (!), introduced to us some years ago by KinKa. Now, we couldn’t possibly eat any other rice. We only have eyes for The Rice Factory who use freshly-milled rice (!!) and yes, they’ll ship to you.

Add 1/2 of the rice mixture & 1/2 of the soaking water and some of the cinnamon sticks in a blender. * I added all ingredients into the mixer at once, including the canned milks, vanilla and additional 4 cups of water. I used our Cadillac of blenders: the Breville, who made the puree, pure bliss. I didn’t use a mesh strainer, either. No need to with the Breville muscle boy!
Puree until it’s very smooth and forms a watery paste like texture. About 4 minutes long. *If you have a really good blender like I have the good fortune to own, you can combine steps 2 and 3. (and in-between steps as found in the original “Muy Delish” recipe)

And just like that, you have a perfect love potion. For the spirited cocktails, I added Luxardo Amaretto for one. It is nutty and delicious. For another tasting, I spiced it up a notch with a favorite: Ancho Reyes.

I used powdery cinnamon to create a “love note.” 💟 garnish. Why should baristas have all the artful-fun garnishing drinks?!) I also used those adorable candy heart garnishes from Canasuc that were gifted to me. They perch on the rim with the slot already cut for you. Easy. You can also use the popular Conversaton hearts, (didn’t you just love them as a kid?) choosing your spotlighted love note carefully ~ to be read before it melts. Melting your lover’s heart, that is…

Creating a Brim of Rimful Drink Garnishes

We all love to lean into our drink. Garnish as an attraction began its life for just that purpose. We drink with our eyes first ~ just like the presentation of food or a tablescape beckons us. Plus, with a drink garnish, the scent further captures our hearts and creates a memory that will linger... Scent elicits our emotions and transports us back to specific moments in a manner unparalleled by any other sense.

How to make a memorable, garden-to-glass rimmed drink?

Just roll or dip the rim in agave or honey, then roll it in your choice of sweet-tasting rims ingredients, including graham cracker crumbs, chocolate sprinkles or better - shaved, local or sustainably farmed chocolate. You can also use melted white chocolate on the rim and then dip in a layered topping of peppermint, caramel, or crushed mint or pepper flakes. Depending on how spicy or sweet you want to make the Valentine love potion 🥰

Confections as Garnish

The idiom “Like a kid in a candy store” is spot-on when referring to candy and confections as cocktail garnishes; there are many tempting options. 💝💝

It’s Candy Land for the grown up cocktail party constellation. Who doesn’t adore wispy, magical cotton candy? As a garnish it’s airy, sweet love - especially when infused with citrus or florals.

Or how about whipped, fresh cream? It’s also a hallmark of sweet drinks. And easier to make if you don’t have a home cotton-candy maker like it do 🤩

Further gilding the sweet lily, you can infuse the whipped cream with flavored herbs, both savory and sweet, adding layers of blissful taste.

More candy please, you ask? It’s easy to add your Valentine’s chocolates onto a cocktail pick to heighten the profile of your chocolate or espresso martini. Think about the other candy possibilities: from the whimsical Cracker Jacks and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups to jelly beans and candy corn to candied fruit and candy canes or rock candy -- along with an increasingly sophisticated, heart-clutching decadent candy seduction of chocolate, vanilla, caramel, artisanal mini-marshmallows there is an entire cohort of cocktail loves who add mini~pastries, such as mini donuts, cookies, and mini-gingerbread “men” doing a kind of arabesque on the rim, we can celebrate the evolution of the cocktail as a peekaboo to a sweet treat.

In my Art of the Garnish book, I offer a few sweet treats. Here’s just some you can readily use.

I lived in Copenhagen for awhile, and yes, I moved there for love. While that relationship did not last, my love for the beautiful Danish land and its cuisine has endured.

The drink is an homage to that love and especially the “Little Mermaid.” I’d visit her sweet statue that celebrates the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale where the mermaid gives up her life to gain a herman heart and soul. Who doesn’t love the magic and beauty of a mermaid? 🧞

My creation, Viking’s Little Mermaid is made with Aquavit ~ another of those herbal mixes that I’ve been crushing on lately. See my Super Bowl creations that featured Pimm’s and Licor 43 Cuarenta y Tres; two other tasty botanical mixes. These seemingly magical herbal blends are created for us with ancient and mostly secret ingredients already prepared. Just pour.

I not only enjoy the refreshing Aquavit’s botanical glamour but pairing it with licorice, probably viewed as a kind of old-fashioned candy these days, I thought the two flavors were a nice pairing. Especially for a Valentine’s coupling.

Why? Aquavit is a Scandinavian spirit (perfect for a winter treat) distilled from a flavoring of fennel or aniseed or other botanicals. Some specialties use licorice root straight away in their recipes. But it is the aniseed or fennel herbal blend that most closely marries with the traditional black licorice’s root extract taste found in its Glycyrriza glabra). It was a match made in herbal heaven.

Another, delicious way to get to heaven is via the chocolate express. Check out this little charmer I came up with.

If you know me, you know how I hate to trash or throw out any food. 😩 Instead, I look to repurpose leftovers in a delicious new way.

With leftover cookies, cake, or in this case, holiday pandora (back in December), I simply garnished with my new chocolate passion from Francine’s Outrageous Sauces, Cherry Chocolate! I also created a riff on a Pink Squirrel, using the very inspiring the Cherry Chocolate. I rimmed the inside glass with the melted sauce, and added to the glass rim. For the drink, shake up the incomparable Crème de Noyaux, the sweet, almond-flavored liqueur traditionally made from apricot and cherry pits, giving it a marzipan-like taste with cherry notes. Admittedly, this is not easy to find, but after searching far and wide, it was located at Total Wine!

Use equal parts cream, White Crème de Cacao, Crème Noyaux; put all in a shaker over ice. Pour strained into a Nick & Nora glass rimmed with the Cherry Chocolate. Garnish with Luxardo Cherries and a citrus. On a heart cocktail pick, naturally.

Origin of Valentine’s Day Traditions (and more)

While the European folk traditions connected with Saint Valentine and St. Valentine's Day have become marginalized by the modern Anglo-American customs connecting the day with romantic love, there are some remaining associations connecting the saint with the advent of spring.

I found these origin stories so interesting and hope you do as well.

“While the custom of sending cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts originated in the United Kingdom, Valentine's Day still remains connected with various regional customs in England. In Norfolk, a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children. Although he was leaving treats, many children were scared of this mystical person.

In Slovenia, Saint Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring, the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims. A proverb says that "Saint Valentine brings the keys of roots." Plants and flowers start to grow on this day. It has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. Another proverb says "Valentin – prvi spomladin" ("Valentine — the first spring saint"), as in some places (especially White Carniola), Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring. Valentine's Day has only recently been celebrated as the day of love.”

My Valentine Wish Lagniappe ~ How to Melt My Heart

I got a simple text from a dear Swiss school girlfriend that ended with, “You bring so much love to the world.” I’m tearing up just sharing this with you. See what a little love note can do? It melted my heart… And you can melt the heart of your beloveds, too. Just send a note: text, email, or call. Emoticons are extra icing on the cake 💖

While signing my husband’s Valentine’s Day card, I found myself rereading some of the cards I’ve received from family and friends and was touched with their heartfelt love. (Yes, I do save every wonderful thank you, birthday, Christmas, and touching-base card that I receive. They are talismans…)

Further, I just received a text from my cousin asking for some ancestry input. His mother was telling their family tree branch about our shared ancestors. What a lovely way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, don’t you think?

Remembering our loved ones, whether the recent ones from sent cards like I did or recounting the heirloom stories, it’s a special kind of love that we all can practice. Saying their names, and giving gratitude for all they did to get us here…