# The SBHonline Community Daily > Restaurants Wine & Food Off The Island >  >  Homemade Irish Cream

## Grey

This looks like a fun project.  

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/ho...ish-cream.html

The Best Drink for Holiday Parties: Homemade Irish Cream
Welcome to December, the month of eggnog-fueled holiday parties and nutmeg-flavored hang-overs. If only there were something you could make for all the holiday parties you'll be going to (or hosting) that is better than eggnog, dead simple to make, and a guaranteed ticket to social-gathering micro fame. It turns out, there is. It's time to make a batch of homemade Irish cream.
First, the obvious: Irish cream might seem like it's been around forever, but it's actually a fairly recent innovation. Baileys was the first brand on the market, in 1974. Other brands followed (Carolans, Duggan's, Irish Manor, etc.), but lately Irish cream just doesn't get much respect from the gastronomically enlightened. The complaints are numerous: It's too sweet, it's a girly drink, it will give you a brutal hang-over, it's booze for people who don't like booze, etc.
To hell with all of them. The same people who turn up their noses at a bottle of Bailey's will invariably change their tune when presented with a glass of _homemade Irish cream_ (go ahead and call it _artisanal_ if you'd like). Maybe people enjoy the DIY factor, or perhaps there's inherently appealing novelty in the idea of making something that nobody else would think to make, or maybe it's because the homemade stuff really is better than Baileys. After all, it just tastes like melted ice cream that gets you drunk. Whatever the case, homemade Irish cream is always  _always_  a major hit at parties and people will hail you as a genius. (I know: I've been making my recipe for a decade.)
The other upside: This stuff is ridiculously easy to make. The prep is essentially just pour, stir, and chill. It keeps for about a month in the fridge, but you'll polish off your bottle long before New Year's.
*
Homemade Irish Cream*
2 cups Irish whiskey (Bushmills, Jameson, and Tullamore Dew are all fine  don't use super high-end stuff)
 2 cups heavy cream
 1 can sweetened condensed milk
 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 teaspoon instant espresso, dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Combine all ingredients in a large container and stir well. Refrigerate immediately and serve chilled over ice. 
If you'd like, save a little bit to pour over Cheerios, a breakfast treat we can call a "Top O' the Morning." It's just the thing for Boxing Day.

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## MIke R

cool...I ll try it for sure....just made a home made Navan  batch....this looks good

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## andynap

My wife likes Baileys. I'll try it. Thanks

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## MIke R

coffee and Baileys  is a winter staple here

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## katva

> coffee and Baileys  is a winter staple here



 :thumb up:   On the menu for tomorrow night, when Peggy arrives and we all are together at our parents---- so rare for that to happen!

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## MIke R

made a batch...its better than Baileys.....fresher tasting and a bit more complex....its a clear winner

thanks!

baileys.jpg

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## andynap

Fresher tasting because it has real cream.

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## Grey

Wow-thanks for the report back!

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## andynap

I'll be doing it next week and give a real report  :Big Grin:

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## MIke R

my report is real.....and the bottle is half empty....LOL

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## MIke R

feelin pretty good about having homemade Navan, Baileys ,and  Vanilla Rhum in my bar right now..better kill it all before company comes for the holidaze

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## andynap

> feelin pretty good about having homemade Navan, Baileys ,and  Vanilla Rhum in my bar right now..better kill it all before company comes for the holidaze



You sound like you will kill yourself first so you don't have to worry 
 about company

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## MIke R

perhaps.....

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## Grey

MikeR, the recipe calls for chocolate syrup. Is that what you used?  Wondering if a substitution would work.

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## MIke R

yeah I stayed true to the recipe..... and it was very good...but the next batch I would go lighter on the choc syrup..... a little heavier on the almond and vanilla....and grate some fresh nutmeg into it....

its really nice..you get all the flavors when you sip it......unlike Baileys which all you really get is vanilla....the espresso in this recipe is a nice touch too

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## andynap

So I told Phyl I was going to make Baileys and she said what's in it - Irish Whiskey to start. She doesn't like Irish Whiskey she says- she is Irish- so I said what do you want- Amaretto. Finally- after 40 years she's Italian. Yay. So I won't be able to give an unbiased review.

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## MIke R

it will still be good though

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## MotherOcean

> feelin pretty good about having homemade Navan, Baileys ,and  Vanilla Rhum in my bar right now..better kill it all before company comes for the holidaze



Ok Mike, do tell us about the homemade Navan.....

Rhum Vanille, check, Baileys, check, homemade Navan well I can't find a recipe for that!! LOL

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## andynap

It's the same recipe for vanilla rum but substitute cognac for rum. I make it too.

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## MIke R

What andy said only go  a little heavier with the vanilla as the cognac needs it ..... It took two "so so" batches before I finally tweaked it to the point where in a self imposed blind taste test I couldn't differentiate between navan and my stuff

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## andynap

Just keep tasting and adding until you like it

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## MotherOcean

Thanks guys!! Nice addition to the Irish Cream and Vanilla Rhum.

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