Piece of Cake Cocktails

By: Sandy Smith

Craving a cocktail but saving your calories for dessert? Girl, stop -- life’s too short! You can kill two birds with one delicious stone by making up some of these cake-themed cocktails. Celebrate a birthday with a Cake Batter Martini or mix up some Chocolate Cake Shots for your next girls’ night in. Go on…have your cake and drink it, too.

Cake Batter Martini

Yummy, festive, and fun, these colorful cake-flavored martinis are perfect for a birthday celebration. Celebrating with a group? Triple the ingredients, then store in the fridge in a pitcher.
Yield: 2 cocktails

Ingredients:

3 ounces cake-flavored vodka (I like Three Olives)
3 ounces white creme de cacao
2 ounces amaretto
2 ounces heavy whipping cream
1 ounce white chocolate liqueur (I like Godiva)
nonpareil sprinkles to garnish

Preparation:
Moisten the rim of two cocktail glasses with water or cream and dip into sprinkles. Set aside.
Combine vodka, crème de cacao, amaretto, cream, and white chocolate liqueur with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously to mix.
Strain into prepared glasses and enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini

Now you can enjoy everyone’s favorite potluck dessert in cocktail form! If you’d like, serve this with a brûléed pineapple ring garnish: Just pat pineapple rings dry with a paper towel, sprinkle with sugar, and torch or broil to caramelize.
Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients:

3 ounces vanilla vodka
4 ounces pineapple juice
splash of grenadine
maraschino cherry to garnish, optional

Preparation:
Combine vodka and pineapple juice with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a splash of grenadine and garnish with a cherry, if desired.

Red Velvet Cake Martini

All the delicious flavor of this novelty chocolate cake without the food-color overload. For a fun garnish, rim glass with cream cheese frosting and dip into colorful sprinkles.
Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces hazelnut liqueur (I like Frangelico)
1 ounce white crème de cacao
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce cherry liqueur (I like Grand Marnier Natural Cherry)
1.5 teaspoons grenadine, optional
To garnish: 1 tablespoon granulated sugar mixed with 1 scant teaspoon cocoa powder

Preparation:
Moisten rim of glass with crème de cacao. Dip into sugar-and-cocoa mixture to coat rim of glass. Set aside.
Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add remaining ingredients and shake vigorously, about 20 seconds. Strain into prepared glass and serve.

Chocolate Cake Shot

This is one of those recipes that’s pure cocktail alchemy. It doesn’t have a single chocolate ingredient, but the ingredients come together to create a flavor that is pure chocolate-cake magic. To enjoy, shoot the shot, then follow with a bite of the sugared lemon wedge.
Yield: 1 shot

Ingredients:

1 ounce hazelnut liqueur (I like Frangelico)
1 ounce vodka
sugar
lemon slice

Preparation:
Moisten rim of shot glass with lemon slice and dip into sugar to coat. Set aside.
Combine hazelnut liqueur and vodka with ice in a cocktail shaker; shake vigorously.
Strain into prepared shot glass. Dip lemon wedge into sugar and serve with shot.