Summer Sweet Corn & Limoncello Cocktail
Corn in cocktails. It makes perfect sense. Don’t try to resist.
Three years ago, I did this Summer Sweet Corn Moonjito cocktail for From Scratch Magazine. I remember researching ‘corn cocktails’ on the interwebs and there were NONE. Baffling. So I fiddled around and came up with a corn spin on the mojito. And frankly? It was really good. Not to brag. Surprisingly good.
So, as we head into summer sweet corn season in these parts, I decided it was time to do another corny drink. And, out of curiosity, I did another search for recipes. And guess what? Now, there are TONS of them! I’m not going to sit here and say I started the corn cocktail trend…BUT YOU KNOW I’M THINKING IT. Hahahaahaha!!!
This recipe also happens to call for limoncello, and because we are rolling in lovely citrus right now, I decided it was a great opportunity to try my hand at making homemade limoncello. So let’s start with that, because it’s got to be made ahead (or, you know, skip this step and buy it at the store). I followed this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.
Next on the high-maintenance list is to make your corn ‘milk’. Which is essentially corn juice. But I like to call it milk. Because it’s milky.
For this, you will need about 3 cups of fresh corn kernels. Pop them in a blender and blend until you’ve got a smoothie consistency. Add a bit of water, if needed. Now you’ve got to strain that stuff through a strainer or cheese cloth, and collect the liquid.
For to make the cocktails:
- 2.5 oz corn milk
- .5 oz limoncello
- 1.5 oz moonshine
- 4 lemon basil leaves, plus one for garnish
In the bottom of a rocks glass, muddle your lemon basil leaves just until the fragrance is released. If you don’t have lemon basil, try lemon balm leaves instead. Place a large ice cube in your glass.
In a shaker with ice, combine corn milk, limoncello, and moonshine. Shake until well-chilled. Strain into glass and garnish with a corn kernel-kabob and a single lemon basil leaf. Drink up and be as surprised as this chicken at how much you like corn cocktails now.
***Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that this chicken’s name is actually ‘Corn’ (short for Veronica Corningstone, of course)?