Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everybody out there today! While many people may have done their celebrating this past weekend or are making plans for the upcoming weekend, I am sure some people are having a traditional Irish meal today or are planning on going out and doing some celebrating of their own at a local restaurant, club or bar. While making your own corned beef and cabbage dinner is pretty traditional today, at least here in America, you may want to give some different recipes a try to branch out a little bit for this particular holiday. We did our St. Patrick’s Day meal this past Sunday since Michelle was leaving on business today and would not be around. We had our corned beef and cabbage of course and some boiled potatoes to go with it, but we also tried a few new recipes for a couple of different things along the way. One in particular that I gave a shot to was making some homemade Irish cream. Now people may be familiar with the Irish cream that you can buy at your local liquor store (I know Bailey’s is Michelle’s particular favorite), but I was surprised at just how easy it is to make your own right at home with just a few ingredients. The recipe is really simple and you can have it put together right away and be able to use it for your dinner tonight. I got this particular recipe from Saveur.

Homemade Irish Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder

3/4 cup Irish whiskey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

In a medium-size bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream and the instant coffee and cocoa powders to make a smooth paste. Slowly add the remaining heavy cream, whisking the ingredients until they are smooth with. Add the Irish whiskey, vanilla extract, and the sweetened condensed milk. Stir all the ingredients together until they are well combined. Pour the mixture into a 24 ounce jar and keep it refrigerated until you are ready to serve, up to 2 weeks. To serve, pour the Irish cream into a tumbler filled with ice.

That is all there is to it and you can have Irish cream in an instant. I used Jameson’s Irish whiskey, which is my personal favorite, but you can use whatever Irish whiskey you like best. For me personally, Irish cream is not something I drink very often but I can appreciate it and the smell of Irish cream is very recognizable. You can certainly tell right away when you smell the mixture that it is exactly like what you would buy in the store. It makes an excellent drink all on its own with some ice or you can use it in any of the typical mixed drinks that you might use Irish cream for. It also makes a great addition to a nice cup of coffee, whether it is hot coffee or iced coffee. You could even pour some over your ice cream if you wanted a little bit of a different flavor to it or mix it in with a milkshake or even use it in some of your cake frosting to give a little bit of a sweeter flavor. I have to say I made the 24-ounce jar of Irish cream and we did not have any left by the end of the meal on Sunday night. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and since it is so easy to make I could certainly see making it again, particularly because buying a bottle of Irish cream at the liquor store can run you anywhere from $25-$35 and up. It is definitely one worth trying for St. Patrick’s Day or for any time.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, have a happy St. Patrick’s Day, and enjoy your meal!