It's hard to believe Cori and I will be getting married in just 3 1/2 (short) months. It feels crazy close and I feel super duper unprepared. Everything in my head that has been thinking about flowers, table settings, menu boards, and food trucks (can I get a HELL YEAH?!?), now has to start coming out. I can only equate it to what I assume giving birth feels like.
Not to downgrade giving birth. All you mamas out there have my mad respect. Some things I almost can't wrap my brain around.
This week, we're taking off a chunk of the next step by attending our first cake tasting appointment, and you KNOW how much I have been looking forward to that.
The cake will actually be somewhat small, while the rest of the dessert table will be laden with mini pies, cupcakes, and other sweets. Variety is the spice of life, and I want people to get super spicy. Is that what I mean? I think it is.
To get everyone in the mood for frivolity, I have made you lovelies a cocktail - Chocolate Mint Mojitos! It tastes like a straight up Girl Scout Thin Mint. If you don't know what I'm talking about, hunt down a Girl Scout when it becomes cookie season again and get yourself a box (or three) of the dang things. Or just make this mojito. Or both!
I'm not gonna play around here... the secret is all in which kind of mint you buy, which makes this drink even more amaze-balls than it already sounds. Chocolate mint is something Cori and I caught sight of one day when we were shopping for plants (which feels like a weekly occurrence). The smooth, mellow chocolate flavor of the mint really comes to life when muddled with a simple syrup and lime bits. Get it all in there and crush the crap out of it. Crush it. Crush it good.
One of the easiest things to make in the world is a simple syrup. It's just two parts sugar to one part water brought to a boil on the stove, then immediately turned off and left to cool completely. It can be stored in a bottle with a good closure for about one month. Use it to sweeten tea, lemonade, and various cocktails!
We happen to have a fancy dancy cocktail shaker at our disposal. While the shaking is key to keeping the drink chilled, if you don't have one, you could use a plastic cup and a glass cup (one needs to be larger than the other), and shake the bejeezus out of your drink with them. I'd suggest wrapping a tea towel around the cups in order to catch any (inevitable) drips that may fly out. I know you don't want to lose all that goodness...
So while I muddle over the choices between salted caramel, dark chocolate, and raspberry creme cake layers, sipping on this lovely will certainly ease my stress as I head into wedding countdown crunch time. Oh yes... yes it will.
Chocolate Mint Mojitos
makes 1 mojito
1/4 cup (2 oz) simple syrup
juice of 1/2 a lime plus rind after squeezing
10-15 chocolate mint leaves
1/8 cup (1 oz) white rum
club soda
mint sprig
lime wedges
ice
In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, combine the simple syrup, lime juice and rind, and the mint leaves. Muddle together with a muddler until mint leaves are almost completely crushed. Add 3-4 ice cubes and the rum, close the shaker, and shake to chill.
Strain into a a tall glass 1/2 full with ice. Top with club soda, more lime wedges (lightly squeezed into the drink before dropping in), and the additional mint sprig.
Enjoy while contemplating cake and cookies.