Forget-Me-Not Cocktails and Cupcakes
Spring has definitely arrived on the Australian East Coast and the place is buzzin’ with flowers of all sorts. I came home from work one day recently when it was noticeable that the daylight was lasting longer. The gorgeous sun’s rays were falling lightly on a patch of forget-me-not flowers that caught my eye as I pulled up in the driveway. As I stared at the petite blue petals, I was inspired to do a spring recipe feature that captured the daintiness of this flower.
A delightful cherry red-coloured drink to compliment the blue and light blue mini cupcakes were thus created! (I also chose a drink because I eagerly wanted to use the new prop I bought from a charity garage sale!).
The cocktail – isn’t this just one of the most gorgeous reds you have seen? I love how the light or the lack of light changes the depth of its tone. The recipe for the drink had to be sweet just like the flower, but it also had to have a bit of a kick to match the colour. For me, this colour reminds me of cranberry juice, and yes it has cranberry in it, but I associate this colour with the tart of the cranberry. Cherry, cranberry and lime were the obvious choice, the apple for sweetness and Absolut Kurant for interest!
Forget-Me-Not Cocktail
Serves 1
Ingredients
1 shot (30ml 1oz) of Absolut Kurant vodka
1/2 shot (15ml 1/2oz) of cherry brandy
1/2 shot (15ml 1/20z) of apple schnapps
Slice of lime
Splash of cranberry juice
Forget Me Not flowers to garnish
Directions
In a chilled glass containing ice, squeeze the juice from a slice of lime. Then add the Absolut Kurant, cherry brandy and apple schnapps. Add a splash of cranberry juice, (or fill in a tall glass if desired). Garnish with forget-me-not flowers and serve.
j
And now for the mini cupcakes!
I wanted the cupcakes to be super simple so I bought a basic vanilla cupcake mix and added a few delicious flavours to transform it into a forget-me-not cupcake! I settled on honey vanilla mini cupcakes with orange blossom icing. These little darlings are only tiny – bite size, just like the flowers. The only other adjustment was to add some colour – blue of course.
Forget-Me-Not Mini Cupcakes
Makes approx. 16-20
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Vanilla cupcake packet mix (that includes icing)
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Blue food colouring
Icing
2 teaspoons orange blossom water
2 teaspoons orange blossom water
Directions
Follow the directions on the cupcake packet mix, add the honey and vanilla essence to the batter and mix well. Add drops of blue food colouring and mix until the batter resembles the blue of a forget-me-not.
Spoon the mixture into a well-greased mini cupcake pan. Reduce the cooking time by 25%, (should approximately be about 5 minutes) and check if the cupcakes are cooked by inserting a skewer. (The smaller cupcake and the addition of the honey make it cook faster. It is better to reduce the cooking time or oven temperature and keep a close eye on the cupcakes).
Follow the directions for the icing. Reduce the liquid capacity used to make the icing by 2 teaspoons and substitute this liquid with the orange blossom water. If you find it too runny, add small amounts of sifted icing sugar until it reaches a consistency you are happy with.
Once cupcakes have cooled completely, apply the icing and add a few forget-me-not flowers as a garnish.
Enjoy xx
Whilst many sources say that forget-me-not flowers are edible, it is only the flowers that are edible. Please use caution when picking these flowers wild.
absolutely beautiful. the colours. everything. do you use photoshop to merge your pics etc?
Thanks! I edit my pics in Lightroom and then pop them into Photoshop to add my watermark, and yes that is where I make the collages and add text.
What a cute idea! Your photos are stunning too!
Such a cute flower aren’t they
thanks.
Hi Rachel Jane, your blog is such a work of art. The photos you take make everything look so desirable. You have a real talent there.
Look forward to seeing your next posts.
Dave.
Thank you Dave for your very sweet words. It is a real love of mine, (well two really!) and I think that shows through in my work. My recipes could always be better..The ones on your blog sound amazing!
You must be kidding – these photos are INCREDIBLE!
Thank you! They are the sweetest flowers.