A new year has begun and I had better get back to drinking through Mr. Boston’s if I want to be done in my lifetime! It seems like forever since my last post. I suppose that Christmas took me down harder than expected this year.
I must admit that I’ve procrastinated a wee bit on starting this blog series back up. Once you stop writing daily, one tends to make excuses for their laziness… at least I do 🙂 Never the less, there is no time like the present so lets jump back into the swing of things with Mr. Boston’s 1935 Cream Fizz recipe.
The mixing of lemon juice, Gin, sparkling water and cream scared me.
I was certain that my maiden 2018 cocktail experiment would wind up a curdled mess.
Before starting in, I thought I may need to get fancy with the preparation of this classic cocktail recipe. Tools, like the immersion blender Santa brought Ryan, seemed extreme but necessary. Yet, I restrained myself and set out to mix this fizz cocktail as instructed with nothing more than a trusty metal shaker. I decided that breaking out the heavy machinery could wait until after my fears were confirmed.
Ryan suggested that adding the cream to the lemon juice might cause the issues I was concerned of. That in mind, I started by combining the juice of 1/2 a lemon and the requested 1/2 tablespoon of powdered sugar (roughly 1-1/2 teaspoons).
After a quick taste the sugar seemed too low for me and I doubled it to a full tablespoon.
My darling Gin and Tonic thief, devoured the homemade compound Gin No.6 before I had a chance to try it in the Cream Fizz recipe. I think that the botanical notes would have been a nice combination but I’ll have to make more to know for sure.
As substitute I mixed this cocktail with Hayman’s Old Tom Gin. It is slightly sweet and with the tartness of the lemon I decided it would make the best pairing.
Once the shaker held lemon juice, dissolved powdered sugar and gin; in went the ice and finally the teaspoon of cream this recipe called for.
After a good shaking, the mixture that emerged from my Hawthorne strainer was a perfectly mixed, pale white liquid, that held a lovely foamed top. Still I knew that the sparkling water was going to muddy the water… surprisingly, it didn’t!
What did result from this cocktail experiment was a new found favorite. My G&T loving husband was in heaven and, as one that doesn’t care for tonic water, I enjoyed the sweet refreshing nature of the Cream Fizz. I’m a sucker for foam… that didn’t hurt either.
Personally, I still longed for this recipe to up the sweetness a touch. The citrus acid was slightly too much for me but likely perfect for others.
If you enjoy a Gin and Tonic but don’t love the tonic, the Cream Fizz is probably right up your alley.
Here’s how I mixed it:
- The juice of 1/2 small fresh lemon
- 1 Tablespoon of powdered sugar
- 1-1/2 ounces of Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
- Give the first three ingredients a quick stir and fill the shaker with ice cubes
- Add 1 teaspoon of fresh cream
- Shake for 10-15 seconds
- Strain the mixture into a 7 ounce Delmonico glass
- Fill the glass with cold sparkling water and enjoy!