Looking to set the mood? Whether prepping for a romantic evening in with your significant other or celebrating the love you have for yourself on Valentine’s Day, indulge with some of the delicious and decadent cocktails and sweets below.
Valentine’s Day Cocktails and Snacks to Set the Mood and Feed Your Love
Credit: Courtesy of Jagermeister; Courtesy of Wes Tarca
Valentine's Day Cocktails and Snacks to Set the Mood and Feed Your Love
Looking to set the mood? Whether prepping for a romantic evening in with your significant other or celebrating the love you have for yourself on Valentine's Day, indulge with some of the delicious and decadent cocktails and sweets below.
Credit: Courtesy of Jagermeister; Courtesy of Wes Tarca
Valentine's Day Cocktails and Snacks to Set the Mood and Feed Your Love
Looking to set the mood? Whether prepping for a romantic evening in with your significant other or celebrating the love you have for yourself on Valentine's Day, indulge with some of the delicious and decadent cocktails and sweets below.
“Champagne and Valentine’s Day go hand in hand," creator Rael Petit of NYC's Delilah tells Us Weekly. "Combined with the complex flavor notes and spices of Jägermeister and ginger syrup, this cocktail is effervescent and warming at the same time, just like your Valentine's Day should be. Also, red brussels sprout extract is an unexpected ingredient that helps make the color of cocktail stunning, sure to impress any Valentine.”
Ingredients:
• 2 oz Jägermeister and red brussels sprout extract (recipe below)
• 1 oz champagne
• 1/2 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz ginger syrup
Instructions:
1. Build lemon juice, ginger syrup and vodka into shaker.
2. Shake and strain into coupe glass.
3. Top with champagne.
4. Float Jägermeister and red Brussel sprout extract on the top of the drink. When combined with the citrus, the extract changes from blue to ultra violet.
Red brussels sprout and Jägermeister extract:
1. In a pan, put two pounds of red brussels sprouts and 100 mL of water and cook on high for 15 minutes.
2. After 15 minutes, place into another container and top with plastic wrap. Let sit for a half hour. After half hour, strain out the water.
3. Add one tablespoon of baking soda, and that will turn the water from purple to blue.
4. Add 80 mL of water mix with 40 mL of Jägermeister.
5. Put the container in the freezer.
“Sangria has the same sweet taste you would find in a lollipop, so we took the candy up a notch by infusing it with Riunite Sangria, which has lovely citrus notes, resulting in an even more sweet treat to share with friends,” bartender Cody Goldstein, the founder of Muddling Memories, tells Us.
Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups Banfi Riunite Sangria
• 3 tbsp corn syrup
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 12 lollipop sticks
• Gold luster dust (optional)
Instructions:
1. Bring sangria to a simmer in saucepan. Simmer wine until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
2. In medium saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and wine reduction. Stir until combined. Boil until candy temperature registers 305 degrees on a candy thermometer.
3. Remove from heat and fill greased lollipop molds with the liquid. Place lollipop sticks in.
4. Allow the lollipops to harden completely.
5. Add luster dust if desired, and store between sheets of parchment in an airtight container.
“Every Valentine’s Day — whether it’s a friend or your ex — someone gets disappointed, right? The Heartbreaker cocktail is the opposite of that," Hilary Sheinbaum, the creative director at Liquor Lab in NYC, tells Us. "It’s the drink you make when you know chocolate won’t console your BFF’s woes … but vodka will."
Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 oz vodka
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• Fresh raspberries
• Mint leaves
Instructions:
1. Muddle 2 raspberries per drink and then shake.
2. Strain straight up in coupe glass.
3. Garnish with a mint leaf and three raspberries on a pick.
“This is the perfect secret sauce to seduce your Valentine protein,” Top Chef season 7 runner-up Angelo Sosa tells Us. "I use this sauce on steak, duck, chicken and even fish."
Ingredients:
• 2 garlic cloves sliced thin
• 1 1/2 cup light soy sauce
• 1/2 chicken stock
• 1 cup dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 piece dried chili pepper
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cracked pepper
Instructions:
1. In a medium sauce pan add all the ingredients and cook on low heat until the chocolate melts, stirring consistently to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn.
2. Reduce sauce until the back of the spoon is glazed and serve with a beautiful cooked meat.
"The Flame of Love cocktail is the perfect drink to bring a spark (both literally and figuratively) to any Valentine's Day plans," Isaac Elbhar, who created this version of the drink and is a partner at NYC's Nobody Is Perfect, tells Us. (The original 1970 cocktail was created by the late Pepe Ruiz.) "Flaming the orange peels over the glass not only gives the drink a toasted orange flavor, but adds a sexy element to the making of the cocktail ideal for impressing your date. Since this cocktail is relatively simple, made with only three ingredients, it’s incredibly important to use high quality vodka to ensure a smooth, simple taste.”
Ingredients:
• 2 oz Grey Goose vodka
• 1/4 oz fino sherry
• Several large strips of orange peel for garnish
Instructions:
1. Rinse a chilled glass with sherry and discard excess.
2. While squeezing a large strip of orange peel over the sherry-rinsed glass, use a match to carefully flame the oils spraying into the glass; repeat several times with additional peels.
3. Stir the vodka with ice until chilled, then strain into the prepared glass.
4. Flame a final orange peel over the finished drink; garnish.
“The fruit notes of Riunite Lambrusco lend itself naturally to something like a peanut butter cup, but gives it a more rich flavor than the classic candy, making an indulgent dessert perfect for Valentine’s Day and beyond,” Goldstein of Muddling Memories tells Us.
Ingredients:
• 1 cup Banfi Riunite Lambrusco
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter, split in half-cup measurements
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 4 1/2 tsp butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• Cranberries
• Edible gold leaf
Instructions:
1. Combine 1/2 cup peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, wine, butter and salt until smooth.
2. In microwave, melt chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter; stir until smooth.
3. Drop teaspoonfuls of chocolate mixture into paper-lined miniature muffin cups. Drop a scant teaspoonful of peanut butter mixture into each cup; top with another teaspoonful of chocolate mixture.
4. Add 1 cranberry to top.
5. Dip peanut butter cup into gold leaf foil.
6. Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container.
Evan Hosaka, the lead bartender at The Venetian and The Palazzo's Rosina in Las Vegas, likes to pair this drink with Pistole de la Reine, a 99 percent cocoa chocolate coin made with almond oil. "It's an unlikely pairing where bright, floral and citrusy complements the smooth, dark bitterness of the chocolate," he explains to Us.
Ingredients:
• 1 oz gin
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• Champagne
• Fresh fruit
Instructions:
1. Combine the ingredients and shake.
2. Pour into a flute.
3. Top with Champagne.
4. Garnish with fresh fruit.
"Beach Baby Brunettes are the perfect indulgent treats to make for your sweetie — enjoy along with all the tropical delights of Seagram's Escapes 'Jamaican Me Happy,'" Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Kathy Wakile suggests to Us.
Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels or chunks
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup of Seagram’s Escapes “Jamaican Me Happy”
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried sweetened pineapple
• 1/4 cup roasted salted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the middle position. Thoroughly grease a 24-cavity mini muffin/cupcake pan.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Combine the melted butter and sugar in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth and creamy.
4. Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a small saucepan of barely simmering water. Add the chocolate to the butter mixture, whisking until smooth and well blended. Then whisk in the egg and the vanilla and Seagram’s Escapes “Jamaican Me Happy.”
5. Add the flour mixture, stirring well to combine, then add the pineapple, macadamia nuts, and coconut.
6. Use two teaspoons to drop the batter into the prepared cupcake tin.
7. Bake 8 minutes on middle rack of oven, or just until the edges are golden brown and a tester comes out clean (the brownies will be very soft). Set the pan on a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, then use a butter knife to ease each brownie out.
8. Transfer them to a plate or work surface lined with parchment or waxed paper. Turn them upside down (flat bottoms facing up) and decorate with chocolate ganache drizzle, using a zigzag motion to create a nice striping pattern. Let sit until set, about 30 minutes, or refrigerate.
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