There’s nothing like a fresh seasonal cocktail to get a party going… Last month, a bunch of food bloggers came to Asheville for a food blog conference. Lt. Dan and I were so excited to have our food blog buddies in town, we decided to host a party at our house for people that would be in early.
We called on some of our favorite local and national companies to help make the party special for our guests and ended up throwing a better bash than we could have ever imagined! Photo Credit: Southern Kissed Since August is the beginning of apple season here in western North Carolina, we thought it would be fun to incorporate one of our favorite ingredients, Musselman’s Apple Butter, into the menu.
We asked local Chef Elliott Moss from Buxton Hall (also from Punk Wok and formerly The Admiral) and Chef James Adam Grogan from Chai Pani to create a menu for our party that was apple butter-inspired. Photo Credit: Southern Kissed We also asked bar manager Jesse Ratliff from MG Road Lounge to create a signature apple butter cocktail for our guests as well as a couple vibrant bourbon beverages. Here Jesse and Kyle are shaking grilled peach and blackberry cocktails with Four Roses Bourbon.
These local foodie heros created a sensational array of food and beverage the food bloggers could not stop talking about. To me, that is considered party-success!
Chef Moss used apple butter to create a grilled apple jam topping for pork, along with green bean amandine salad and warm root vegetable salad.
Chef Grogan used apple butter in his spicy baingan bharta eggplant spread and naan, along with kathi lamb rolls and pani puri.
Check out this video shared by Chris Bryant of Chef Grogan serving made-to-order Indian street food in my kitchen!
Photo Credit: Southern Kissed Along with our apple-icious menu, we had a fabulous chocolate bar provided by the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and Chocolate Cherry Cookies using Lucky Leaf Pie Filling. The dark salted caramels from French Broad Chocolate Lounge are my absolute favorite! Photo Credit: Southern Kissed When we throw a party, Dan and I usually end up doing the hosting, cooking, and bar-tending ourselves; it was so nice to have help from friends. This time we actually got to relax with our guests. We even had our friend Nikki Whited from East West Vintage Rentals come to decorate for us! Thank you so much to everyone who participated!! Jesse’s Bonita Apple Butter Cocktail was a huge hit. It not only made a fabulous late-summer beverage, but is perfect for fall. Jesse infused apple butter with aged rum to create a liquor with dark apple sweetness, then blended it with more apple butter, lime juice, pineapple juice, and orange liqueur to balance the intense apple flavor with a bright tangy punch. You are going to love this cocktail. We all did!
What You Need To Make This Apple and Rum Cocktail
Ingredients
For the Apple Butter Infused Aged Rum:
Bottle Aged Rum We used Mount Gay Black Barrel Musselman’s Apple Butter
For the Bonita Apple Butter Cocktail:
Apple Butter Infused Aged Rum Musselman’s Apple Butter Fresh Lime Juice Fresh Pineapple Juice Orange Curacao Grand Marnier Demerara Sugar Syrup (Which is an 1:1 sugar to water ratio) Ice Apple Slices and Lime Wedges for Garnish
Step by Step Instructions
For the apple butter infused aged rum:
For a Frozen Bonita Apple Butter Cocktail:
For a Bonita Apple Butter Cocktail On the Rocks:
Check out these Apple Inspired Recipes as well:
Slow Cooker Apple Butter Yeast Rolls Recipe Spice Apple Swedish Meatballs Recipe Asian Apple Butter Beef Ribs Recipe Smoky-Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash Recipe
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