Pear, vanilla and brown butter tequila cocktail
Ingredients:
Makes enough for 8 cocktails.
Fresh lemons
Prosecco poached pears:
2 green pears, roughly chopped
1 cup dry prosecco, or water
Brown Butter Tequila:
125g unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean pod
350g tequila
Recipe per drink:
45 ml brown butter tequila
15 ml pear puree
15 ml fresh lemon juice — no cheating! Must be fresh!
5 ml agave
Method:
To make the brown butter: Cut butter into cubes and add to a fry pan over medium heat. Stir gently and watch it closely as it starts to foam and turn golden brown. When the specks of brown start to show up, turn off the heat. The butter should be golden brown throughout and the specks should be brown. Let cool.
To make the brown butter tequila: Add cooled brown butter, tequila and the vanilla bean pod into a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake really well and leave in the cupboard for 24 hours. The next day, freeze the jar for 2 hours. Remove from the freezer and you will see the butter will have frozen and separated from the tequila, which does not freeze. Pour over a cheesecloth to strain the butter out completely and what you’re left with is a brown butter vanilla tequila!
To make the prosecco poached pear puree: Roughly chop pears and discard the stems and seeds. In a pot with a tight fitting lid, add prosecco (or water) and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add pears and leave the lid on and allow to cook down for 30 mins. The pears should be super soft and cooked through. Let cool completely. Add to a blender with 1 cup of water and blend until smooth. Add back to the pot and allow to come to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook it down for another 30 minutes or so, stirring every now and then. It should reduce and thicken, but not completely. The final texture should be that of baby food! Now you have a prosecco pear puree which is perfect for use in cocktails!
To make the cocktail: (Recipe for one cocktail) To a cocktail shaker, add brown butter tequila, lemon juice, pear puree and agave. Add a handful of ice and shake until the cocktail shaker is too cold to hold, approximately one minute. This seems like a long time but as you shake it, the ice is going to water down the drink which is necessary! Strain and pour into a coupe glass. Enjoy straight away!
