Happy spoooooooooky season! A friend of mine suggested that I make some spooky-themed cocktails, and as a lover of horror movies, I jumped all over the idea! To kick off my batch of horror-themed cocktails, I drew inspiration from my favorite homicidal dancing clown. When I think of IT, I think of the carnival, which leads to cotton candy and snow cones. The Derry Snow Cone is a very sweet cocktail with a hint of menace. Because sometimes you just want a sweet cocktail that caters to your spooky side. I mean, I do! And I like to think Pennywise would appreciate the creativity of floating the raspberry puree in The Derry Snowcone.
This drink is fairly simple, really. The most in-depth part is making the puree. This recipe is enough puree for one drink, but can easily be doubled or tripled. In a small saucepan, you’ll cook the ½ cup raspberries, cornstarch, and water over low heat. Keep stirring to avoid any burning or scorching. You’re done once the raspberries are fully broken down. Remove the puree from heat and press through a fine mesh strainer. Allow the puree to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until use.
The rest is a piece of funnel cake from here! Don’t hate me, I like puns and I’m a nerd. *shrugs*
Fill a rocks glass with crushed or shaved ice, as pictured above. I like to mound it a bit in the middle for the snow cone effect. Then add the soda and vodka and gently stir.
Next, we float the puree. As you can see pictured, to float you hold a spoon upside down closely over the drink. Then slowly pour the puree over the back of the spoon. This will create a pool of the puree over the cocktail. This is against the usual floating rules for cocktails, because the puree is heavy which causes it to bleed down into the drink. Normally, when you float a drink, it is to keep the layers separate. In this case, I floated for the bleeding effect!
My first garnish attempt was cotton candy, but that disintegrated immediately! I do recommend a side of cotton candy for the full carnival nostalgia. Cotton candy is so hard to find in the store, but I did find it on Amazon.
I settled for a garnish of a few fresh raspberries.
This cocktail really hit that sweet tooth craving, give it a try and YOU’LL FLOAT TOO!
Seriously though, if you enjoyed this cocktail, let us know! Leave a comment or reach out to us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @GarnishingLife and use #GarnihingLife.
More horror-themed cocktails to follow, but for now, give some of these sweet drinks a try!
The Derry Snowcone
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Fresh Raspberries extra for Garnish
- 1/2 Tsp Cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp Water
- Shaved or Crushed Ice
- 2 Oz Smirnoff Whipped Cream Vodka
- 4 Oz A&W Cream Soda
Instructions
- Combine ½ cup raspberries, cornstarch and water in a saucepan over low heat. Stir frequently.
- Cook and stir until raspberries break down, 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Press the puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.
- Allow the puree to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until use.
- Fill a rocks glass with crushed or shaved ice.
- Pour soda and vodka over ice. Gently stir.
- Float raspberry puree over the ice.
- Garnish with a few fresh raspberries.
