Recipe

• 3 parts vanilla vodka

• 1 part lemon juice

• 1 part sugar syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a thin slice of lemon.

I bought a bottle of Absolut Vanilia for the express purpose of making Pornstar Martinis – a disappointing experience which I might report on in a future post. Since then, it's just been gathering dust on the shelf, and until now I couldn't think of anything to do with it.

Two nights ago, I fancied a cocktail, and being a little fed up of the usual suspects, I decided to invent something! I went to the shelf looking for something I hadn't tried in a while, and that vanilla vodka jumped out at me. I decided to keep it simple, adding lemon juice and sugar syrup, using the classic sour cocktail formula that's served me so well in the past, 3:1:1 (see, for example, the daiquiri or the whiskey sour). I conjectured that the vanilla and lemon would compliment each other quite well, with the sharp juice cutting through the sickly vanilla, and so I decided to name it after the famous Lemon Drizzle Cake.

The result was just as I had hoped, with a delicious cakey flavour and just the right sweet/sour balance. I'd recommend it to anyone, and it was much better than the very boring lemon drop!