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New Orleans Cafe Brulot

Ingredients

  • 2 oranges 
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 (2-inch) cinnamon sticks
  • ½ cup brandy
  • 2 tablespoons Curaçao, Grand Marnier or Cointreau
  • 3 sugar cubes (roughly a tablespoon)
  • 3 cups hot, freshly brewed French Market® Coffee
  • 1 long fireplace match

 

Directions

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 2 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

  1. Wash the oranges and lemon. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from one orange in a continuous coil. Stud the coiled orange peel with the cloves, about 1 inch apart. Thread one end of the coil through the tines of a fork and set aside. Peel the lemon and the remaining orange and cut the peels into 1/4-inch twists. Reserve 6 lemon twists for garnish.
  2. Combine the remaining lemon twists, the orange twists, the cinnamon sticks, brandy and orange liqueur in a small saucepan over low heat and heat for 3 to 5 minutes. When the mixture is warm, pour it into a brulot bowl or a sturdy stainless steel bowl with a flat bottom. Scoop up some of the mixture in a ladle. Light a long match and hold it to the ladle, igniting the liqueur. Using your other hand, carefully pick up the fork holding the clove-studded orange peel and hold it over the bowl. Slowly lower the ignited ladle and pour the flaming liqueur over the orange peel. The flame will spiral down the coiled peel and ignite the contents of the bowl. Be sure to stand a safe distance from the bowl. 
  3. Carefully detach the coiled orange peel from the fork and allow the peel to drop into the bowl. Slowly pour the hot coffee into the bowl, while stirring with the ladle to extinguish the flame. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Place a lemon twist in each demitasse or cafe brulot cup and ladle the aromatic coffee mixture, in small amounts at a time, into the cups.

A New Orleans classic after-dinner coffee cocktail first served at Antoine’s restaurant in the French Quarter in the 1880s, Cafe Brulot translates to burnt coffee, referring to the flaming of the liqueur during preparation. When served tableside it creates quite a show.