For the last donut cocktail this week, I polled social media and the majority came back with a request for an apple donut, so we’re ending the week with an Apple Fritter Cocktail. I’m secretly pleased because I love fritters. Two apple donuts were mentioned the most, an apple cider donut and an apple fritter. I didn’t find a true apple cider donut since it’s not apple season, so I went with the apple fritter taste. However, since apple cider donuts are more frequently garnished with cinnamon sugar, I went with that for the glass rather than a true donut glaze.
If you’re looking for the other entries in donut cocktail week, If you’re just joining me for Donut Quarantine Cocktail week, you can check out Maple Caramel Long John, Pecan Sticky Bun cocktail, Blueberry Cake Donut and Boston Cream Donut from earlier in the week.
When I put together this cocktail, I knew I had to use Copper & Kings’ Floodwall American Craft apple brandy. It’s a local product, aged in bourbon barrels, and one I already had in the house. I wanted to pair that with whiskey, and thought bourbon might be the way to go, but using Wilderness Trail’s rye was absolutely the right direction. The rye is sweet and pairs phenomenally with an apple fritter on it’s own. I detect both fruit and nut notes from that whiskey, so the fritter flavors are a natural match. If you’re looking for more whiskey and donut matches, check out the Instagram Account @WhiskyandDonuts because they knock it out of the park.
I did have to use a little cake vodka to get some of the pastry flavor in the cocktail, but what really surprised me while working on it was that I needed a buttery liqueur. To me, the Trader Vic’s macadamia nut liqueur in a very small amount added enough buttery smoothness without too much of the nut flavor peeking through.
In this case, I made a fan of sliced apple next to a little piece of fritter as the garnish and decided to serve it over the rocks rather than neat. As the cocktail dilutes a little more apple and fruit slowly appears, and it loses some of the heat from the whiskey and brandy.
For those of you curious about the other recipes in the Quarantine Series, I’ll put them here before you skim past to get to the recipe. Quarantine Juleps, (Breakfast Julep, the Pineapple Sage Rum Julep, Elvis Julep (peanut butter-banana), Root Beer Float Julep, and the Persian Julep (rose-apricot) ), Quarantine Old Fashioneds (Breakfast Wakey Wakey, Smoke and Spice, Home School, Taco Truck, and Campari/Bitter Lessons ), Quarantine Manhattans (Balanced Perfection (Perfect Manhattan), Coffee Manhattan, Chocolate Ginger Manhattan, French Quarter Manhattan, and the Caramel Orange Manhattan.), Quarantine Whiskey Sours (Blackberry Sunset, Whiskey Tiki, Blue Mood Orange, Ya Basic, and Peach Rosemary), and Quarantine Smashes (Whiskey Smash, Blackberry Sage Smash, Pineapple Tiki Smash, Strawberry Basil Smash and the Coffee Cherry Smash.)
Apple Fritter Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 oz Wilderness Trail rye whiskey
- 1 oz Copper and Kings Floodwall aged brandy
- ½ oz cake vodka
- ½ oz reduced apple cider*
- ¼ oz Trader Vic’s macademia nut liqueur
- ¼ oz Monin’s cinnamon bun syrup
- 2 dashes apple bitters
- 8 drops ginger bitters
- Garnish: apple fan, slice of apple fritter, or cinnamon stick and cinnamon sugar garnish on glass
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until well-chilled – about 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass garnished with a cinnamon sugar rim and an apple fan. I prefer it on the rocks rather than neat.
