Sweet & Creamy Carajillo

A Carajillo is a delicious combination of espresso and brandy, tweaked to pair with custard. Gives this Sweet & Creamy Carajillo a try with the dessert or honestly, as the dessert.

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I decided to make this Sweet & Creamy Carajillo and pair it with the Gluten Free Portuguese Custard Tarts because I originally wanted a Brandy Alexander. Partly because I thought I would enjoy the pairing, but mostly because I loved the name of the drink. I had never had one, but did some research. A Brandy Alexander, as explained by Liquor.com, is a cocktail that mixes Cognac, Creme de Cacao and Cream, then is topped with nutmeg. I was a little nervous to try it but figured, why not. The problem is I did not have the best Cream de Cacao, and it kind of ruined the drink. So if you get cream de cacao, go for the nicer one; otherwise tootsie rolls is what you’ll get.

Well, since that cocktail was gross, I moved on from the Brandy Alexander. I still wanted a drink with the Quick Gluten Free Custard Tarts and thought, espresso was a classic after dinner drink in Europe. Well I did a little research and realized there is a brandy and espresso drink, the Carajillo. The Carajillo combines espresso and a liquor or liqueur, and often Brandy or Kahlua are used. Well, this sounded perfect! I just didn’t want to drink espresso late at night because I would not fall asleep with a full shot. However, I figured maybe a little coffee liqueur would be fine. So instead of espresso, I went Kahlua.

But it still wasn’t quite what I needed. I wanted soemhting to pair with custard and didn’t want anything too sharp. I wanted soemthing to bridge the gap to the custard. So I added cream. I do not often have cream around my house, so I used full fat coconut milk the first time. It was amazing! But when I was going milk custard, I figured why not use regular cream. It works both ways.

All this to say, I am glad the Cream de Cacao didn’t work. The Sweet & Creamy Carajillo paired with the Quick Gluten Free Custard Tarts is phenomenal! It is so good, I can’t wait for you to try it!

Sweet & Creamy Carajillo Recipe Notes & Substitutions

Brandy– This recipe calls for brandy or cognac. This is NOT flavored brandy such as apple or blackberry brandy. When I made this cocktail I used cognac. I love a glass of cognac over ice. In fact, I prefer cognac and brandy to whiskey. With that in mind, I recommend not going cheap on the brandy. You do not need a $100 bottle, but go for something in the $40-60 range. It will last a while and will taste considerably better than the cheaper kind. The flavored kind such as apple or blackberry will be far too sweet for the cocktail and throw it off balance. If you do not want to use or do not have brandy, try bourbon. Bourbon is a little sweeter than whiskey and therefore would work well with the flavors. Then I would use Irish Whiskey, or whiskey you would put in coffee. Both will work in the drink and both should still work in the food pairing. If you want to use vodka, go for it, that becomes a White Russian so it would be good.

Cream– Use full fat cream for this. Too little fat content could cause the cream to curdle when added to the more acidic alcohol environment. For this you can use either real cream or with full fat coconut milk. Both are awesome. I usually use the coconut milk because I always have some at my place.

Coffee Liqueur– I used Kahlua for this, but use whatever coffee liqueur you have! It should have nice coffee flavor as well as some sweetness. The sweetness is important to be able to pair with the custard tartlet. With alcohol and dessert pairings, the drink should be as sweet if not sweeter than the dessert. If the drink is not sweet enough it can cause the alcohol and some bitterness to shine, which throw the balance off.

Cinnamon– Completely optional garnish, but I love what it adds to the drink. There is also some cinnamon in the custard tartlets, so it helps the pairing work even more. If you do not like cinnamon, leave it out!

Vegan Option– Use full fat coconut milk in place of the cream. I have tried it, and it is amazing.

Why this pairing works.

The Sweet & Creamy Carajillo and the Quick Gluten Free Custard Tarts are incredible together. First off, the espresso flavor that comes from coffee liqueur, in my case Kahlua. I wanted the espresso because it felt like that would be a nod to how these tartlets would be consumed, with an espresso; and for good reason. Espresso and vanilla play off each other so well! It is why Vanilla Latte’s are so popular! The vanilla enhances some of the fruit and chocolate notes of the espresso, while counterbalancing the bitterness. Vanilla is also a beautiful flavor because it is light and subtle enough to not outshine ingredients. But vanilla is potent enough to stand up to stronger flavors.

Adding a bit of cinnamon to the tartlets, while optional, also plays off incredibly well with the coffee. It helps to further enhance the fruit notes, like cinnamon in a cherry pie! I also love cinnamon in coffee because it makes it more alive. The cinnamon brings in a comforting flavor and can help bring out some sweeter notes. This, similar to the vanilla, helps to counter balance the bitterness of coffee further. The cream added to the cocktail helps with the bitterness of the coffee and also bridges the cocktail to the custard. The cream cuts the brandy and smooths the coffee to not overwhelm the custard like straight brandy would.

Tthere were a couple reasons I chose brandy. First, I really like Brandy! It brings more flavor and intensity than vodka, but not quite as harsh as whiskey. When I am drinking something on the rocks, I often drink brandy. It is smooth and delicious, and maybe my affinity for wine makes me biased. Brandy has so many incredible tasting notes from vanilla, butter and cashew to raisin and apple to floral notes like violet and jasmine. There are so many layers to Brandy, it is incredible. Each of these layers adds to the cocktail and pairs with the coffee.

The vanilla, butter and cashew round out the bitter coffee and meet so well with the custard and complement the butter crust. The raisin and apple add to the fruitiness and again bring a new flavor profile to the custard tartlet. The floral brings some depth and intrigue to the exhale of this cocktail and food pairing.

This pairing seriously is incredible! I love how the drink truly compliments the Quick Gluten Free Custard Tarts, be sure to give this a go and take a (mental) trip to Portugal.