Try dessert with a kick with this Frozen Mudslide—Kahlua, Baileys, and vodka are blended together with thick and creamy ice cream to make a sundae for adults only!
Have you seen a Frozen Mudslide? If so, you can venture a guess how it got its name. THIS mudslide, though, is much more enjoyable than the real thing, but probably just as messy.
If you wanted to witness the creation of a Frozen Mudslide, you would need to have spent much of the 1950s at Wreck Bar & Grill on Grand Cayman Island. That’s where a bartender named Old Judd used Baileys Irish Cream instead of regular cream to make a White Russian. ‘Needs must’ and all that. Due to the lack of cream, the Mudslide was invented.
Or so the story goes. Other more cynical individuals reckon the Baileys company created the Mudslide to encourage drinkers to buy their product. But I prefer the previous anecdote for no other reason than it features a guy (or girl?) named Old Judd.
Because of its sweetness, I tend not to think of a Frozen Mudslide as an alcoholic drink and choose instead to reserve it as a post-dinner indulgence. It’s a dessert (like the Bushwacker Cocktail I made recently), what with its chocolate, ice cream, and toppings, and, as long as I regard it as such, I know to limit myself to just the one on special occasions.
Speaking of special occasions, because the mudslide is kinda like a sundae, you can make bespoke versions to coincide with holidays. Candy-cane toppings? Cinnamon-heart sprinkles? Mint-green creme de menthe? You’ll have as much fun as you once did creating your own sundaes at the local parlor! (Do the kids still call them parlors? Ugh I feel old.)
Ingredients
- 1 ounce vodka
- 1 ounce Kahlúa coffee liqueur
- 1 ounce Bailey's Irish cream
- 2 scoop vanilla ice cream
- chocolate syrup
- chocolate shavings for garnish
Instructions
- In a blender, add the vodka, Kahlúa, Bailey’s Irish cream, and vanilla ice cream. Blend until smooth.
- Drizzle the chocolate syrup around the inside of your glass to give it a cool effect.
- Pour the mixture into the glass.Top it off with chocolate shavings, and perhaps a bit of extra chocolate syrup.
- Serve with a straw.
Nutrition
Tips & Tricks to Making the Perfect Frozen Mudslide
- Use a good-quality ice cream. It represents the majority of the drink so you want it to taste good. If you have the option, choose an ice cream that is particularly creamy.
- Baileys and Kahlua are the most popular Irish creams and coffee liqueurs respectively, but that doesn’t mean you must use them when making a Frozen Mudslide. Experiment with other brands, each of which has its own distinct taste.
- To enrich the taste, use chocolate-flavored vodka or mix it up with another flavor.
- Chill your glass in the freezer for as long as you can spare before making the drink, which will, in turn, stay cold longer.
FAQs
You’re going to want to use a hurricane glass. It has a long stem and an almost hourglass shape to it. It’s similar to a Singapore Sling glass, so if you have those, you can use them without fear of offending mixologists the world over. If nothing else is available, use a red wine glass. The recipe asks for chocolate shavings and perhaps an added squirt of chocolate syrup to finish it off, but I go over other toppings below.
Frozen Mudslides are best served immediately and not prepped beforehand; however, if you need to do so, I suggest making up the drink, blending it, then putting the blender jug in the freezer—covered to discourage odors—until you need it. When that time comes, give it a quick re-blend, prep your glass, pour, and serve. I also don’t recommend trying to salvage any leftovers; it won’t maintain its appeal.
I hope you’re sitting down for this (actually, maybe it would be better if you were out for a brisk walk) because a Frozen Mudslide will set you back 680 calories. A high number for an alcoholic beverage… but not for a dessert, which is how I choose to think of Frozen Mudslides. So perhaps have one after dinner as a treat and then move on to something lighter.
A Frozen Mudslide is an alcoholic drink but it is also a dessert. So build it like you would a sundae. Whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs, toasted coconut, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and a light dusting of cocoa powder (for this last one, you can either balance out the sweetness with unsweetened powder or make a really decadent treat using the sweetened stuff). It’s all delicious.
Not really. Those beverages are ready to drink and, because they’re designed to sit on shelves, don’t contain ice cream. Instead they (usually) include vodka and then an assortment of flavors like chocolate, coffee, vanilla, and caramel. They’re not bad when you’re in a pinch but if you have the ingredients for a homemade mudslide, I highly recommend you go that route. I suppose you could try adding the pre-made stuff to your ice cream, though I’d worry its taste would be too synthetic. Would be an interesting experiment though.
Frozen Mudslide Variations
The Teacher’s Pet (or Aggravation): Replace the vodka with blended Scotch.
On The Rocks: Forgo the ice cream (said no one ever) and pour the alcohol mix of vodka, Baileys, and Kahlua in a rocks glass over ice cubes.
Mudslide Mocktail: Omit the vodka, Baileys, and Kahlua. Use instead chocolate syrup and caramel syrup. You can also buy the Baileys and Kahlua coffee creamers, which don’t contain alcohol. You could incorporate those into your virgin mudslide. Play around with the ratio and enjoy your alcohol-free Mudslide.
Mudslide Martini: Pretty much the same as the ‘On the Rocks’ variety but served in a martini glass and without the ice.
Mint-Chocolate Mudslide: Add 1/2 oz. of creme de menthe or other similarly flavored syrup and top with crushed candy cane for a delicious dessert that freshens your breath!
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