In these last days of 2020, it’s been a joy to see our community throw its full weight behind supporting local makers and small businesses with a renewed sense of urgency and purpose. Shopping small has never been more important, and we’re taking extra delight in the handmade, the small-batch, the singular gifts that show love for the recipient and the community, too. Our friend Maggie’s instagram feed is a constant source of inspiration; she’s an entrepreneur guide and ardent champion of small businesses who curates a top-notch list of (mostly women-created) products we’re thrilled to buy.

It’s a great season to support small business, a great season to stay home and a great season to make something yourself and drop it with a sweet note at your neighbor’s door. And so, this season, we find ourselves returning to one of Maggie’s earlier ventures, her first cookbook, Food Gift Love, a collection of giftable recipes that’s just right for right now. In these pages you’ll find something to make for anyone on your list, and instructions on how to package it beautifully. We’ve got herby sea salt on deck but this week we’ll be making a double batch of the Irish Cream—one decked with pretty ribbon for the neighbors, and one just for us.

Irish Cream from Food Gift Love
by Maggie Battista

MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS // PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES

Between my parents’ diverse backgrounds, my childhood dinners overflowed with amazing Latin and Italian food. Sweet plantains were served with finger-thick slices of whole-milk mozzarella and homemade refried beans were sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Distinct foods from their cultures mingled quite happily.

My husband, born in America but of Irish descent, added yet another unique food history to the mix. Alas, Irish cream wasn’t one of them. Only created in the 1970s in Dublin, Ireland, the whiskey and cream-based liqueur is rather young by spirit standards. Anecdotally, it’s considered a ladies’ drink, but in my family, Irish cream ends practically every celebration and remains the nightcap of choice.

While my cookbook-writing career is on pause these days, I'm celebrating and toasting to a new endeavor. 2020 has been a complex moment in our shared history and I have been called to use all of my business and storytelling expertise—all of my personal magic—to empower other authors, small business owners and entrepreneurs to make impactful work that inspires and serves their communities. I believe that it's up to all of us to inspire and serve in 2021 and I will put my creative energy to my new business, We Are Magic Studio.

But on the eve of 2021, I will no doubt toast to new ventures with this thick and extravagant spirit. Choose your favorite whiskey and don’t make it too fancy. A nip of Amaretto from the liquor store works well here. And whether made with whole milk or coconut milk, my Irish Cream is just the drink to celebrate the season and welcome the promise of a new year.

ingredients

1¾ cups (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole milk (or unsweetened coconut milk)
1 cup good whiskey
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Amaretto
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 large eggs

Special Equipment: 4 (8-ounce) glass bottles with airtight lids, sterilized, and a narrow-mouth funnel

Place all the ingredients in the container of a blender. Blend 30 seconds or until the chocolate syrup streaks disappear in your blender.

Funnel into small glass bottles and store in the coldest part of your fridge, ready to give away to guests. Store up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

Gift Wrap

Glass bottle with airtight lid
Masking tape
Ribbon

Transfer the Irish Cream to a clean pretty bottle. Wipe the rim and seal. Write the label on a piece of tape and adhere it to the bottle. Trim a small length of ribbon, fold it in half and wrap it around the neck of the bottle, tucking the tips through the loop.