Snowball jellies

The saddest sign that Christmas is well and truly over is the empty Advocaat bottle. Yes, I know you can buy Advocaat all year round but, for me, it is THE seasonal drink. A snowball is such a wonderful thing – like drinking fizzy custard –that I rue the end of its season.

But what to do if you have some Advocaat left over? My suggestion is snowball jellies! This idea came to me one day, probably when I should have been thinking about something far more important, but hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth!

For the uninitiated, a snowball is a drink made up of Advocaat, lemonade with a twist of lime (7up or Sprite is perfect) and it is served in a long glass over ice. At least that’s how Mr CC and I enjoy it. Make sure you stir it well because the Advocaat is much more viscous than the lemonade and it has a tendency to settle out leaving you with a thick layer of pure Advocaat in the bottom of your glass (oh, the horror!)

The trick with this jelly is to add the Sprite as late as possible then get it in the fridge as quickly as possible. Manage that and you have the strange sensation of fizzy jelly – a bizarre feeling on your tongue. But nice...and boozy!

Ingredients

8 gelatine leaves
250ml Advocaat
660ml i.e. 2 cans of 7up or Sprite – I used Sprite Zero

Method

Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water to soften.

Pour the Advocaat into a saucepan, which is large enough to take all the Sprite.

Bring the Advocaat gently to the boil, then remove from the heat.

Squeeze all the water out of the gelatine leaves and whisk into the Advocaat. You will be able to see when all the gelatine has dissolved.

Leave the Advocaat to cool before adding the Sprite – this is to try and keep some fizz in the finished jelly.

Gently whisk in the Sprite and leave it for a couple of minutes for the froth to calm down.

Ladle the jelly into small bowls or ramekins (I got 6 out of mine) and place in the fridge straight away – again, this is to try and retain some fizz.

Leave to set for several hours or, preferably, overnight.

Serve straight from the fridge as required and top with some cream but this isn’t necessary.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Advocaat cake

If you offer me a beverage of an alcoholic nature in December, nothing will please me more than the drink favoured by grannies across the UK – a snowball. What could be nicer, in the run up to Christmas, than drinking a glass of cold, fizzy, alcoholic custard? But what do you do with the leftover Advocaat come January, when the thought of drinking a snowball won’t appeal for another 11 months? You bake a cake...I find this is the answer to most of life’s great questions.

This cake is a light sponge flavoured with a generous slug of Advocaat. It tastes custardy and I got a very subtle hint of alcohol, but in truth, none of the other eaters did.

Any cake containing so much Advocaat and then a further 5 eggs could never claim to be healthy but – if it helps assuage your guilt – there’s no butter. Wahoo! Diet cake!!!! A bit of the Advocaat seemed to settle at the bottom of the cake, as you'll see in the next picture. Not sure why that happened but it didn't spoil either the taste or texture so don't worry if it happens to you:

This is a cracking cake to enjoy with a cup of tea, but I think you could also jazz it up with some cream and maybe some fruit for a dessert. Either way, I think you’ll like it!

Ingredients
5 eggs
250g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250ml vegetable oil
250ml Advocaat (I used Warninks)
125g plain flour
125g cornflour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

Method

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

- Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper – ideally use an all-in-one liner as the batter is extremely runny.

- Whisk together the eggs, icing sugar and vanilla until they have combined and thickened slightly.

- Keeping the whisk running, gradually add the oil and Advocaat.

- Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder into the wet ingredients and whisk until well combined and there are no lumps.

- Pour (it will be very runny) into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly. Mine took just over the hour – but only just.

- Leave to cool in the tin until you can safely handle to remove. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

- Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

- Eat.