What Are Cordials Used For?
A cordial is a flavored alcoholic spirit. Cordials are often sweet and may be the flavor of fruit, such as orange or raspberry. They can also be many other flavors, including chocolate, and can even taste like nuts. You can use a cordial as an after dinner drink, a treat in coffee or cocktail, a way to dress up desserts or even in cooking. Does this Spark an idea?
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After Dinner Drinks
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Cordials, also referred to as liqueurs, are frequently served after dinner. Your host may bring them in with dessert or instead of dessert. Popular after dinner cordials include coffee-flavored liqueur, nutty amaretto, chocolate tasting crème de cacao, licorice-like anise, peppermint schnapps and herb filled chartreuse. Cordials served after dinner can be poured straight or served over ice depending on your preference. Sometimes a bit of cream is added to the liqueur so that the taste isn't so strong.
Treats in Coffee and Cocktails
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You can add cordials to your coffee or cocktails to bring an extra flavor to the drink. Try putting some Godiva, a liqueur made by the chocolate manufacturer, into coffee for a mocha flavor. Add a little whip cream on top to dress it up even more. Many cocktails can be made using cordials, including the Grasshopper, made with green crème de menthe, white crème de cacao and cream. Cordials can also be used to make flavored martinis, such as an Appletini.
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Dress Up Desserts
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Desserts can become much more interesting with some help from cordials. Put some Chambord, a raspberry liqueur, into a chocolate fondue for an interesting berry taste. Try some amaretto in your cookie recipe as a substitute for vanilla to make the treats a bit more nutty flavored. Pour some Grand Marnier over pound cake and you can turn something plain into an orange-flavored dessert. Schnapps, which is most known as a peppermint cordial, now comes in a host of flavors that work well on ice cream.
Add in Cooking
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Cordials can be mixed in when you are cooking to add flavors to sauces and stews. You can also try mixing in a bit of a flavored liqueur into muffins or pancakes. The alcohol burns off during cooking or baking, but the flavor remains. Sambuca, which tastes like herb flavored licorice, can add a bit of zing to a soup. Experiment with different cordials in your favorite recipes to find the taste you like, but don't add too much -- a little bit goes a long way when it comes to these flavored liqueurs.
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References
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