VEGAN BRANDY ALEXANDER FLOAT

Vegan Brandy Alexander Float
Makes one drink

1.5 oz (3 tablespoons) brandy
1.5 oz (3 tablespoons) creme de cacao
3 oz (6 tablespoon) almond milk
1/4 cup almond milk vanilla ice cream
Optional: vegan whipped cream and fresh grated nutmeg

Scoop ice cream into a glass by rounded tablespoons (you should end up with roughly 3-4 scoops). In a measuring cup, mix together brandy, creme de cacao, and almond milk. Pour over ice cream and top with vegan whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg.

A few notes about this recipe:

Traditionally, a Brandy Alexander is composed of equal parts brandy, creme de cacao, and half and half. However, I upped the milk quantity because almond milk is obviously significantly less creamy than half and half. Also because I’m a bit of a baby when it comes to how strong my alcoholic beverages taste.

You can use any milk/ice cream you prefer, of course. I generally use almond milk/ice cream because I find, when you’re veganizing a recipe, it doesn’t alter the flavor the way other milks (looking at you soy and coconut) do. American readers--So Delicious makes excellent vegan ice cream (cashew, coconut, soy, or almond) but if you can’t find that near you or if you live in a country where there’s not every product imaginable available to you *coughNewZealandcough*, you can always try making your own (and then let me know how it goes! I just added making my own ice cream to my list of veganizing challenges).

I’ve made this with both chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I prefer the vanilla but if you’re a massive chocolate fan, you can definitely try it that way instead!

For the love of your tastebuds, ONLY use freshly grated nutmeg. I cannot tell you how much better it tastes than packaged ground nutmeg. Not kidding, I always hated nutmeg until I was making a recipe with a friend that called for it and, because we were in France and you can’t find pre-ground nutmeg in grocery stores there, THANK GOD, our only option was to grate it ourselves. ROCKED MY WORLD. Also, you know if the French are doing it to their food, it’s gotta be better. Do yourself a favor and go buy the real thing.

And finally, I would be remiss if I told you how to make a Brandy Alexander but didn’t tell you to listen to Feist’s song Brandy Alexander. Especially since that was essentially mine and Kaitlin’s theme song for the summer of 2010. Kaitlin describes the significance that the drink/song has played in our friendship with her usual eloquence in her Brandy Alexander post and also gives you a killer recipe for a Brandy Alexander hot cocoa. Seriously, what can that girl NOT do?

Anyway, read her post and then fly to New Zealand to make said drink with Whittaker’s chocolate milk because she is not hyperbolizing when she said it’s the best chocolate milk in the world. How an alcoholic drink recipe turned into a pitch for a trip to New Zealand, I don’t know. But, in all fairness, I think I could make anything in my life a pitch for going to New Zealand.

Sorry, I digress. To sum up this post, always use freshly grated nutmeg, move to New Zealand, and make yourself Brandy Alexanders because Feist describes them with perfect accuracy when she sings they "go down easy."