I’m one of those people who always wants to do it myself. I guess I never outgrew that stage as a child! Now, it usually applies to food. I see something at a store or farmer’s market and I want to go home and find a recipe and make it myself from basic supplies I have on hand. I recently saw a recipe online for a candy cane cocktail. It sounded like something Kelly’s fiancé Gilbert would like. He and I had just been discussing his love of candy canes earlier in the day. I sent the recipe to Kelly & she agreed he would like it. We decided to surprise him with the cocktail after he finished the semester finals for his graduate classes. But I needed peppermint schnapps and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur. So I did further research to see if I could come up with recipes to make those. (I was definitely in DIY mode!)

I found a peppermint schnapps recipe and it used basic ingredients that I had on hand. No problem. I whipped up a batch that night. The Godiva White Chocolate was a different story. I did find a recipe to make it but it was from a blogger in the UK and it used ingredients that aren’t readily available here. I was going to have to buy that one. It took about an hour and stops at 2 liquor stores to find it. Living a bit out of the way is feeding my DIY tendencies. Thankfully, you can find instructions on how to do or make almost anything on the internet!

Peppermint Schnapps Liqueur (from food.com)

Yield:  4 Cups

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 16 ounces light corn syrup
• 2 cups 80-proof vodka
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Directions:

Combine the sugar and the corn syrup in a 2-quart pan over medium heat. Heat until the sugar dissolves (about 5 minutes), stirring regularly. When the sugar has dissolved, add the vodka and stir well. Remove the mixture from the heat and cover tightly with lid. Let it cool. Add the peppermint extract to the mixture and pour it into a sealable bottle.

Candy Cane Martini  (adapted from Sandra Lee)

Total Time:  5 min  Prep  5 min  Yield:  1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 shot vodka
• 1 shot white chocolate liqueur
• 1 shot peppermint schnapps
• dash vanilla extract
• Candy cane garnish, if desired

Directions
Add all the liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker 2/3rds filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a candy cane, if desired.

I garnished the martini glasses with a swirl of color. Red for the Candy Cane Martini & green for the Christmas Tree Martini. To do this, I place a streak of corn syrup in a swirl pattern on the inside of the glasses, then shook red or green sugar crystals on the streak of corn syrup, shaking out the excess sugar.

Christmas Tree Martini

Total Time:  5 min  Prep  5 min  Yield:  1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 shot vodka
• 1 shot chocolate liqueur
• 1 shot peppermint schnapps

Directions
Add all the liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker 2/3rds filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a martini glass.

Cheers!  ~Linda

Peppermint Schnapps Liqueur (from food.com)

Yield:  4 Cups

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 16 ounces light corn syrup
• 2 cups 80-proof vodka
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Directions:

Combine the sugar and the corn syrup in a 2-quart pan over medium heat.
Heat until the sugar dissolves (about 5 minutes), stirring regularly. When the sugar has dissolved, add the vodka and stir well. Remove the mixture from the heat and cover tightly with lid. Let it cool. Add the peppermint extract to the mixture and pour it into a sealable bottle.

Candy Cane Martini  (adapted from Sandra Lee)

Total Time:  5 min  Prep  5 min  Yield:  1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 shot vodka
• 1 shot white chocolate liqueur
• 1 shot peppermint schnapps
• dash vanilla extract
• Candy cane garnish, if desired

Directions
Add all the liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker 2/3rds filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a candy cane, if desired.

Christmas Tree Martini

Total Time:  5 min  Prep  5 min  Yield:  1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 shot vodka
• 1 shot chocolate liqueur
• 1 shot peppermint schnapps

Directions
Add all the liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker 2/3rds filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a martini glass.