Dairy-Free Baileys

A repeat of last year's present to me good friend and camera assistant, Niamh, this year I have made another improved batch of dairy-free Baileys; a cream liqueur made with whiskey.

I have a lot of friends, family members, and acquaintances who have varying degrees of food intolerances and sensitivities, which is how I got into this kind of alternative cooking in the first place. Of all the sensitivities, however, I've found dairy the hardest to emulate.

I love dairy: milk, cream, butter, ice-cream, chocolate, toffees and fudges and all sorts are my favourites, and having a mug of hot chocolate before bedtime is part of my typical night time routine. My brother has a Pakistani friend, who tells him that many good stories of revelry in Pakistan begin with "We bought a load of ice-cream", the same way that Irish stories begin with "We bought a load of beer", and these are the kinda stories that I need more of in my life. As such, I find that dairy-free things just lack something: they lack that richness and sweetness that is associated with cow dairy products.

However, a close second to cow milk is coconut milk: it's rich, sweet, and creamy. Even though it's not the same, it's nice in its own way. This is what I use generally when I replace cow milk; although, I have heard that oat milk is an even better mimic of cow milk.

So, to make a dairy-free Baileys, I reached for some coconut milk. It turned out very well; a good second best to real Baileys.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Dairy (use substitute in italics for dairy free)
☑ Gluten
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Refined sugar products

INGREDIMENTS:

• One 14 fluid ounce can (400 millilitres) of full fat coconut milk
• One 14 fluid ounce can (400 millilitres) of light coconut milk
• 2 to 4 tablespoons (30 to 60 millilitres) light brown sugar, to taste
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) instant coffee powder
• Two pinches of ground cinnamon
• A pinch of ground nutmeg
• 3 to 5 shots (105 to 175 millilitres) Irish Whiskey, to taste

HOW-TO:

• In a large saucepan, heat the two coconut milks together, stirring, until smooth. Heat until gently steaming.
• In a glass, mix the cocoa powder and about 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) of the heated milk together to a paste. Add this to the rest of the milk. This makes sure the cocoa powder dissolves properly.
• Stir in the coffee powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then start adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Once the mixture is sweet enough, remove from the heat.
• Add in the whiskey, one shot at a time, until it's the right strength for you. I know my friend likes strong liqueurs, so I added in a good bit of Whiskey.
• Allow to cool before bottling in a 35 fluid ounce (1 litre) glass bottle

Good quality Irish whiskey is expensive, so this is a very special present. If you only want to use a little whiskey, you can spike only half the mixture and keep the other half for making nice coconut hot chocolate.