Make It Your Own: The Perfect Adult Dessert

Dessert is a tiny meal often saved for, well, tiny children, and while there are a few delicate and descendant options that would classify as an adult dessert, they aren’t necessarily the kinds you would want for every evening after dinner.

But, we can change with a few ingredients, a little prep time, and some Everclear®.

Yes, Everclear®.

Now, I know it might seem odd, but you need to trust me. I have tried this recipe with many different liquors, from basic vodka to rum, but Everclear® has always stood out as the perfect base for this liqueur. Coffee liqueur to be specific. Other liquors get lost behind the coffee, especially when I use really good coffee, and that isn’t the point.  Everclear’s® flavor is able to cut through the bitter of the coffee and sweet of the molasses, and Everclear® brings the perfect solution to this little mixology.

Part one of this perfect dessert starts with a week out when we combine all the ingredients for the coffee liqueur. In a large sauce pot, combine the following ingredients over medium heat. This combination is enough to fill one 750ml bottle (with maybe a little left for sampling by the chef, of course).

  • 1 cup Everclear®
  • 1 cup freshly roasted coffee (I used a single origin Ethiopian light roast)
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoons vanilla extract

Simmer this delicious mix for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring it a few times to make sure the sugars get dissolved. We aren’t trying to reduce the mixture, but really open up the flavors of all the ingredients to combine well.

After the time on the stove, remove and let it cool in the pot. When it is cool, poor the mixture into an airtight container and store it in a cool place for a week. I personally use a large plastic container so I can re-stir if needed later. After a week or so, you can transfer your delicious liqueur to a large bottle to show off to the world on your bar battlestation.

Now, I know this is a little bit of work to build up to the perfect adult dessert, but I promise it is worth it. The next step is very important, but incredibly easy.

  • Step 1: Head to the frozen section at your grocery store
  • Step 2: Pick out a single tropical fruit ice cream. Don’t skimp here, go for the real cream, real fruit, expensive ice cream you are never going to share with the kids. Because you won’t ever share this with the kids. Coconut, pineapple, and mango do very well with this.
  • Step 3: Purchase said pint(s).

Now comes the fun part. In a bowl with two scoops of one of the amazing ice creams you picked up, poor a shot of your homemade Everclear® base coffee liqueur over the sweet cream, letting it mix around at the base.

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Now, sit back and enjoy this perfect sweet, adult dessert, knowing you have plenty more for the nights ahead.

Interested in other incredible recipes using Everclear? Check out MakeItYourOwn.com and be ready to be surprised.

Everclear® is the perfect ingredient for craft cocktails and home mixology, allowing you to put your own spin on new and old favorites. With its neutral grain composition, Everclear® extracts the optimal flavor to infuse your cocktails — whether you’re making bitters, liqueurs, tinctures or extracts. Visit makeityourown.com for recipe ideas, tips and more!

“This post was brought to you by Everclear®, the “original” grain alcohol, and Luxco. I received compensation to write this post. The opinions and text are all mine.