Making your own hard liquor is a whisky business.

February recipe number two! I knew I had to pull of two things for the month, otherwise I would be really behind. On the 28th I looked at what I could do, and made a drink. My Blender 101 book came from Vitamix (the maker of the fancy blender I treated myself to last year). They did a recall to update the blade in the carafe on some models, so when you got yours back they extended their awesome 7 year warranty another year and gave you a book. No complaints from me!
The drink is called a Caramelized Pear Macerate. It was very easy, and very good. For a drink, there was more involved than usual though.

 

Caramelized Pear Macerate

1 Bosc pear
1 oz simple syrup
Dash of ground nutmeg, plus extra for garnish
Dash of ground cinnamon
2 oz cognac
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
2 oz heavy whipping cream

Peel the pear, core it, and cut into thin slices (save a couple to garnish). In a sauté pan over medium heat, sauté the pear slices with the simple syrup, nutmeg, and cinnamon until the pear slices become soft. (You made need to add additional simple syrup to prevent the pear slices from sticking to the pan.) Add the cognac and vanilla and scrape everything into a blender. Add the cream and blend for about 5 seconds. (At this point I did let it sit for a few minutes so it wasn't as hot.) Add about a half cup of ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a small cocktail glass. Garnish with pear slices and a dash of nutmeg.

The thinner you cut the pear slices, the faster they will cook. So if you are doubling or tripling the recipe, that would help the total time. The slices don't have to be pretty or uniform since they are just getting blended anyway. A Vitamix is totally not necessary for this drink either, just one that is good at pulverizing ice! This only makes two portions, that is the only drawback. But those who drink too much at night have to worry about the mourning after. ;)