Maple Vodka Milkshake

It’s maple season. Everyone is spending a lot more time in their homes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And we all need some delicious treats to help with the stress. Maple Vodka Milkshake anyone? Seriously, this is such a yummy milkshake, and with all the stresses and anxieties I think you’ll agree that you deserve one. Made with local, gluten free vodka, brown sugar whipped cream, and homemade chocolate sauce, can you really say no?

Maple Season

Step back from milkshakes just for a second. It’s maple season! This year was our first time tapping trees and making maple syrup ourselves. It was super fun and we learned a lot. We also made a few mistakes and had a couple sap spills, but in the end we successfully made just over 4L of syrup! I wanted to post something about our syrup success, and with the pandemic being the only thing on everyone’s mind a recipe seemed like a good idea. 

I will eventually put up a How-To post about that, so stay tuned! But in the meantime, if you live in the Ottawa Valley there are some fantastic suppliers of syrup locally. One of our favourites (before we made our own) is Fultons. Fultons is a family run sugar bush just west of Ottawa that’s been producing maple syrup since the 1840s! They make some of the yummiest syrup and you can buy it online if you aren’t in the area. Or live somewhere that doesn’t have a big maple syrup scene. Something that Fultons is good at is being part of the community. They collaborate with all kinds of companies in the area (Including Hummingbird Chocolate! We make a maple bar using their maple sugar, and it’s awesome.) One of their most recent collaborations was with an Almonte based vodka distillery. . 

Dairy Distillery

Dairy Distillery is based in Almonte Ontario, actually right around the corner from Hummingbird. These guys are real craftsmen. They have taken a product that normally goes to waste (dairy permeate) at the expense of the farmers, and made an incredible vodka. Vodkow, as they call it, is the result of fermenting the lactose heavy leftovers of the ultra filtered milk industry.

Normally, the hard working dairy farmers would be forced to pay a company to come and dispose of the permeate, which cut their already hard hit profit margins. The dairy industry is foundational to the economy of Canada, and supporting dairy farmers is crucial. This distillery has been amazing in their support of this wonderful industry. This vodka ends up being wildly smooth, and not harsh at all. I don’t drink vodka, and I now keep a bottle of this in the house, and use it in all kinds of things (Vodka Sauce recipe coming soon!) It also happens to be gluten free since it isn’t the product of and grain product, and is carbon neutral! 

The distillers have done some awesome experiments in the last year with cream liquors and recently produced a Maple Cream Liquor that was out of this world! (If you can’t find the maple liquor, don’t fret! I have made this milkshake with regular Vodkow, heavy cream, and maple syrup. And it was still superb!) Once I got this bottle, I immediately knew that this needed to be a milkshake. It was critical to my day being complete. 

Perfect Milkshake Toppings

But I couldn’t simply make a milkshake with no toppings. That would be sad, and honestly I really do need chocolate inserted in my life wherever possible. So the answer of course, was Brown Sugar Whipped Cream, and homemade Dark Chocolate Sauce. Obviously. Regular whipped cream is fine, but I always find it to be a little too cloying in its sweetness. Using brown sugar instead of icing sugar gives it a more caramelly deep taste that isn’t so intensely sweet. And it matches the wonderful maple flavour! Homemade chocolate sauce just seemed necessary, I mean, I could eat this stuff with a spoon. So even if you just make the sauce and eat it alongside a glass of Vodkow, you’ll be happy. 

This is a scary time to be living in, but it’s important to remember that we’re all in this together. Even though we must stay separated we can still try to share happiness through phone calls and video chats. Or through cat memes and puppy videos. And of course with ice cream, and maple syrup, and just a wee bit of vodka!

Stay safe, Stay Home, Wash Your Hands, Love Eachother from a Distance. 

Maple Vodkow Milkshake

LizaLeigh

Maple Vodka Cream Liquor, French vanilla ice cream, brown sugar whipped cream, and homemade chocolate sauce. Yes please!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 2 Reasonable portions, Or 1 Stress portion.

Equipment

• Blender
• Handheld mixer or a big whisk and some elbow grease

Ingredients

  

Chocolate Sauce

• 1/2 cup 35% Cream
• 2 1/2 Tbsp Butter
• 2/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 115 grams Good Quality Dark Chocolate
• a pinch of salt

Brown Sugar Whipped Cream

• 200 ml 35% Cream
• 3Tbsp + 1tsp Brown Sugar
• 1/8 tsp Vanilla

Maple Vodkow Milkshake

• 8 2oz Scoops French Vanilla Ice Cream
• 1/2 cup Maple Vodkow Cream Liquor or substitute with 2oz vodka in 1/2 whipping cream, and 1.5 tbsps maple syrup
• 1/2 cup Maple Syrup

Instructions

 

Chocolate Sauce

• Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Heat gently until all combined, melted, and smooth. Stir it occasionally.
• Set aside until use. It doesn't need to stay warm, but it's extra yummy when it is.
• Store this sauce in the fridge for up to two weeks. To use, simply heat in the microwave for 20 seconds or until liquid again.

Brown Sugar Whipped Cream

• Meanwhile, combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.
• Using a hand mixer or just with a whisk, whip it up until it's all combined and holds stiff peaks. If you're whisking by hand, this can take about 7-8 minutes.
• Keep cold until ready to use.

Maple Vodkow Milkshake

• Combine the ice cream, vodka cream, and maple syrup in a blender and pulse until combined and smooth. Don't over blend or it will be a bit too melty. You're better to have some chunks of ice cream then a too melty milkshake.
• Pour the milkshake into two tumbler glasses or one big glass. Top with the whipped cream (you can use a piping bag or just dollop it on with a spoon) and drizzle with the warm chocolate sauce. Enjoy!

Keyword maple, Maple Milkshake, maple syrup, Milkshake, Vodka, Vodkow

It’s not only maple season it’s also seed starting season! And that means watching out for your seedlings becoming leggy. Check out my post about How I Deal With Leggy Seedlings.