Raspberry and Chocolate Valentine Cocktail
With real raspberries and a touch of chocolate, this Raspberry and Chocolate Valentine Cocktail is a decadent and delicious libation for the day of love.
While I do love making cocktails for different holiday occasions, I admit I might struggle a bit with Valentine’s Day. I’ve done chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate and very much wanted to make something this year that was unique and this Raspberry and Chocolate Valentine Cocktail fit the bill perfectly.
I decided to do something with a fruit component. A red fruit of course! Although quite honestly this Raspberry and Chocolate Valentine Cocktail was try number two.
My first attempt was Irish Cream with Strawberries and I really tried to convince myself it was good. But it wasn’t. It’s simply not a good time for strawberries; the flavor was so ‘meh’ that after my foray I wonder where all the people that proudly display their chocolate covered fruits find them.
Mine were simply too flavorless to add enough to a cocktail to be able to share it. I’ll wait until Mothers Day!
When my strawberry idea went bust and I had to punt, I didn’t have any other fresh fruit besides apples and pears and that just wasn’t going to cut it for this holiday when either pink, red, or chocolate must appear. Frozen raspberries to the rescue!
I’ve been stocking up on frozen fruits this winter. I only shop once a week and I was too often pitching berries. I always crave a variety but if I purchase an assortment, something is always bound to bite the dust before I use all of them so I’ve been trying frozen and it’s been great. Smoothies, on top of cereal and now in this luscious Raspberry and Chocolate Valentine Cocktail.
The raspberries are used to make a syrup that has a touch of raspberry liqueur and then the syrup is combined with half and half, vodka, and just enough chocolate liqueur to flavor it without changing the color. White chocolate liqueur would be good too; I clearly have let my bar ingredients slide that I didn’t have any Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur in the house.
Celebrate your Valentine’s Day with loved ones, whether that is a beau, a husband, girlfriends, or even your adult children; it’s like love in a glass.
PIN ‘Raspberry and Chocolate Valentine Cocktail’
Raspberry and Chocolate Valentine Cocktail
Ingredients
For the Syrup
- 12 oz fresh or frozen raspberries thaw if using frozen
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp Chambord Raspberry Liqueur optional
For the Cocktail
- 3 oz half and half
- 2 oz vodka
- 2 oz raspberry syrup
- 1 ounce white chocolate or chocolate liqueur
For the Garnish
- Cake Decorating Sugars in a variety of colors
Instructions
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To Make the Raspberry Syrup
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Combine the fresh or frozen raspberries with the sugar in a medium saucepan. Simmer until the the berries break down and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the Chambord liqueur.
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To Make the Cocktail
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Chill the glasses in the freezer for at least 5 minutes.
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Rub the edge of the glass with chocolate liqueur. Dip into either pink, red, or white crystals or a combination of all three.
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Combine the half and half, chocolate liqueur, vodka, and raspberry syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until ice cold. Pour into chilled glasses and serve.
Recipe Notes
You will have extra Raspberry Syrup; great on biscuits, English muffins or pancakes.
Pro Tip: When I'm shopping for ingredients like the liqueurs mentioned in this recipe; I often buy the smaller size bottles. Not airplane size; a bit larger than that. At my favorite liquor store they are all in their own section so ask customer service if they carry them. There is no need to have a large bottle of a specialty liqueur unless you know you will use it again and again.
You can get decent strawberries at this time of the year from Florida, but that’s about it (I don’t much like the Mexican ones this early in the year). When we lived in Florida we had really ripe, really good local strawberries (from farms within 30 miles of where we lived) from around mid-January to sometime in March. Anyway, this drink sounds better than your strawberry idea — and looks spectacular. Love the rimming sugars in this one!
Yes occasionally I see some from FL but it’s rare up in these hills!
Know what I love to use for rimming? Cake decorating sugars. They have much larger crystals and so I love the tactile feel of it but of course I also love the way they look. Michaels has a big assortment too, it’s always nice to know where to find them.