This is a small selection of recipes involving Irish Cream, mostly for using it as an ingredient for creating some delicious desserts but also a very good recipe for anyone who wants to try their hand at making a homemade Cream Liqueur.

Cream Liqueurs are a great ingredient for dessert recipes, in fact just a few spoons straight from the bottle poured over good ice cream and you have a real treat in seconds.  You don’t need to buy a top of the range brand for use in cooking – an own brand or lower priced one will do just as well.

The selection included here are recipes we have actually tried and tested – the rule for inclusion was that everyone who tasted them went “Yum!” and wanted more!

1. The Best Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur

There are many recipes floating around for making Irish Cream Liqueur at home but frankly most sound disgusting and overly sweet to me and the few I have tried have been quite cloying.

The recipe below, which was kindly provided by a friend, is the only one I’ve ever made myself and it’s pretty darn good! You can vary the whiskey, cocoa and coffee content to suit your own taste, but these amounts seem to work well.

The picture above is of a glass of this wonderful brew made just yesterday.

• 1 cup (8 oz) whipping or heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence
• 3/4 (6 oz) cup Irish Whiskey
• 1/2  (4 oz) cup good black coffee (how strong is up to you)
• 2oz good unsweetened dark chocolate
• 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

In a saucepan warm the condensed milk. Add the chocolate and stir until fully dissolved. Do not boil. Allow this mixture to cool completely then put everything in a blender and zap it for about 15-20 seconds. Drink.

This will keep for 4-6 weeks in a tightly sealed bottle in the fridge, though it’s unlikely to hang around that long. You may need to shake the bottle gently before use.

2. Low Carb Irish Cream Recipe

Those on a low carb diet can enjoy an after dinner drink or an occasional treat on a special occasion using the recipe below.

• 2 cups (16 oz) whipping or heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence
• 1/2 (4oz) cup Irish Whiskey
• 1/2 (4oz) cup good black coffee (how strong is up to you)
• 1/2 (4oz) cup water
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons granualar Splenda

Put the half cup of coffee and the water into a suacepan and disolve the cocoa and Splenda in it. Allow to cool completely. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

This one has a greater tendancy to settle out and will need to be mixed gently before each use.

Irish Cream Liqueur Recipes

All recipes are for 6 sensible portions or 4 portions for greedy hungry people!

Best Ever Irish Cream Chocolate Sauce

This sauce only takes about 5 minutes to make but does not keep – make it and then eat right away (this won’t be a probem!).

Irish Ingredients	US Ingredients
1 heaped teaspoon cornflour 250 ml water 1 heaped tablespoon castor sugar 200g of good dark chocolate, broken in small pieces 250ml of whipping cream or creme fraiche 30ml of Irish Cream	1 teaspoon cornstarch 1 cup water 1 tablespoon fine white sugar 7oz of good dark chocolate, broken in small pieces 1 cup of heavy cream or *creme fraiche 1 fluid oz or 1/8 cup Irish Cream

*Apparently creme fraiche is not widely available in the USA but we have been reliably informed it can be obtained from a health food chain called Wild Oats.

Add about a teaspoon of water to the cornflour and blend until smooth, then add the rest of the water. Put in a saucepan over a medium hot ring and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Once it is boiling, add the sugar and continue to stir until well blended. Add the chocolate piece by piece, stirring as you do until it is all melted.

Remove from the heat and mix in the Cream (or creme fraiche) and the Irish Cream. Return to the heat and stir for about 20-30 seconds, but do not allow the sauce to boil.

Pour it over anything you fancy – Ice Cream, strawberries, profiteroles, whatever.

Irish Cream Coffee Sauce

Irish Ingredients	US Ingredients
150g brown sugar 40ml water 400ml strong black coffee 40ml Irish Cream	1 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 fl oz water 2 cups strong black coffee 1 1/2 fl oz Irish Cream

Dissolve the sugar in the water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and boil until it turns light golden in colour. Add the coffee, bring back to the boil and boil until the mix is syrupy. This will take about 25-30 minutes at a good rolling boil.

Remove from the heat, mix in the Irish Cream and serve.

This is really good over bananas and ice cream and totally scrumptious with barbequed bananas especially, but it will basically improve almost anything you pour it over.

Irish Cream Granita

This looks and tastes terribly impressive – a sort of adult Slushpuppy! It is very, very easy to make and takes hardly any time though you do need to be around over about a 6 hour period to regularly stir the mix while it freezes.

Irish Ingredients	US Ingredients
150g granulated sugar 0.75 litres water 150mls Irish Cream	1 1/3 cups granulated sugar 3 cups water 2/3 cup Irish Cream

In a saucepan over a low heat dissolve the sugar in the water but do not boil. Remove from the heat and allow to become completely cold. When it is cold stir in the Irish Cream.

Pour into a shallow freezer-proof dish and freeze until the edges start to become frozen, then stir vigorously and return to the freezer. Repeat this process at least 6 or 7 times, at about half hour – 1 hour intervals.

Use within 24 hours.

This is lovely on its own but also goes very well with any summer fruits or berries.