Homemade Irish Cream

Grey

Senior Insider
This looks like a fun project.

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/how-to-make-homemade-baileys-irish-cream.html

The Best Drink for Holiday Parties: Homemade Irish Cream
Welcome to December, the month of eggnog-fueled holiday parties and nutmeg-flavored hang-overs. If only there were something you could make for all the holiday parties you'll be going to (or hosting) that is better than eggnog, dead simple to make, and a guaranteed ticket to social-gathering micro fame. It turns out, there is. It's time to make a batch of homemade Irish cream.
First, the obvious: Irish cream might seem like it's been around forever, but it's actually a fairly recent innovation. Baileys was the first brand on the market, in 1974. Other brands followed (Carolans, Duggan's, Irish Manor, etc.), but lately Irish cream just doesn't get much respect from the gastronomically enlightened. The complaints are numerous: It's too sweet, it's a girly drink, it will give you a brutal hang-over, it's booze for people who don't like booze, etc.
To hell with all of them. The same people who turn up their noses at a bottle of Bailey's will invariably change their tune when presented with a glass of homemade Irish cream (go ahead and call it artisanal if you'd like). Maybe people enjoy the DIY factor, or perhaps there's inherently appealing novelty in the idea of making something that nobody else would think to make, or maybe it's because the homemade stuff really is better than Baileys. After all, it just tastes like melted ice cream that gets you drunk. Whatever the case, homemade Irish cream is always — always — a major hit at parties and people will hail you as a genius. (I know: I've been making my recipe for a decade.)
The other upside: This stuff is ridiculously easy to make. The prep is essentially just pour, stir, and chill. It keeps for about a month in the fridge, but you'll polish off your bottle long before New Year's.

Homemade Irish Cream

2 cups Irish whiskey (Bushmills, Jameson, and Tullamore Dew are all fine — don't use super high-end stuff)
2 cups heavy cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant espresso, dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Combine all ingredients in a large container and stir well. Refrigerate immediately and serve chilled over ice.
If you'd like, save a little bit to pour over Cheerios, a breakfast treat we can call a "Top O' the Morning." It's just the thing for Boxing Day.
 
made a batch...its better than Baileys.....fresher tasting and a bit more complex....its a clear winner

thanks!

baileys.jpg
 
feelin pretty good about having homemade Navan, Baileys ,and Vanilla Rhum in my bar right now..better kill it all before company comes for the holidaze
 
feelin pretty good about having homemade Navan, Baileys ,and Vanilla Rhum in my bar right now..better kill it all before company comes for the holidaze
You sound like you will kill yourself first so you don't have to worry
about company
 
MikeR, the recipe calls for chocolate syrup. Is that what you used? Wondering if a substitution would work.
 
yeah I stayed true to the recipe..... and it was very good...but the next batch I would go lighter on the choc syrup..... a little heavier on the almond and vanilla....and grate some fresh nutmeg into it....

its really nice..you get all the flavors when you sip it......unlike Baileys which all you really get is vanilla....the espresso in this recipe is a nice touch too
 
So I told Phyl I was going to make Baileys and she said what's in it - Irish Whiskey to start. She doesn't like Irish Whiskey she says- she is Irish- so I said what do you want- Amaretto. Finally- after 40 years she's Italian. Yay. So I won't be able to give an unbiased review.
 
feelin pretty good about having homemade Navan, Baileys ,and Vanilla Rhum in my bar right now..better kill it all before company comes for the holidaze

Ok Mike, do tell us about the homemade Navan.....

Rhum Vanille, check, Baileys, check, homemade Navan well I can't find a recipe for that!! LOL
 
What andy said only go a little heavier with the vanilla as the cognac needs it ..... It took two "so so" batches before I finally tweaked it to the point where in a self imposed blind taste test I couldn't differentiate between navan and my stuff
 
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