If you’re going to be obsessed with all things orange, eventually you’re going to need to introduce orange drinks to your diet, right? And I’m not talking orange juice (booring) or fresh-squeezed carrot juice (I don’t have a juicer. boo). I’m talking the good stuff. You know, orange martinis. More specifically, pumpkin martinis. OK, OK pumpkin pie martinis.
I’ve been dreaming of pumpkin pie martinis for days, but forced myself to wait until Friday to experiment and indulge. Not that I’m afraid of a martini during the week. Because I’m not. I just wanted to have time to sit and enjoy it. So, earlier this afternoon, I took a little break from work and started doing some research. I saw plenty of awesome pumpkin pie martini recipes, but eventually decided to adapt one from Sweet and Sour in Boston. Which begs the question, how have I never heard of this Boston food blog before? Anyway, I LOVED the idea of the caramel pumpkin pie syrup and knew that it had to be involved in my martini.
Pumpkin Pie Martini (makes 1 martini):
Adapted from Sweet and Sour in Boston
• 2 oz vanilla vodka (or you could use 2 oz. vodka plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 2 1/2 T pumpkin puree
• 2 t caramel pumpkin pie syrup (recipe below)
• 2 ice cubes
Caramel Pumpkin Pie Syrup (makes enough for 8+ martinis):
• 1 C sugar
• 1/2 C warm water
• 1 T pumpkin pie spice
You’ll want to start by making the caramel pumpkin pie syrup. Now, syrup can be a bit of a pain of a thing to make. But one thing I’ve learned is that you just have to pay attention. I have a horrible attention span and love multi-tasking in the kitchen. But I tried my best to just pay attention to the syrup tonight.
Put about a 1/4 C of sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Keep your eye on it.
And it will start to caramelize. Once it begins to caramelize, you can add more sugar. Keep stirring to combine. In fact, my philosophy with caramelizing sugar is to just keep stirring and stirring.
Oooh, look! Call me crazy, but I thoroughly enjoy caramelizing sugar. When it comes to Friday night activities it might be close to the top of the list. Seriously.
Once all your sugar is caramelized, remove the pan from heat and add 1/2 C warm water. It will sizzle like woah, so make sure you stand back when you add the water.
Stir in the pumpkin pie spice and your caramel is done.
Now moisten the rim of your martini glass and cover it in some extra sugar mixed with pumpkin pie spice. If you so desire.
And prepare your cocktail. In a shaker, combine the vodka, pumpkin pie puree, caramel pumpkin pie syrup, and ice cubes.
Strain into your martini glass. Sprinkle some more pumpkin pie spice on top.
And enjoy your Friday night. I’m not even kidding when I say this tastes exactly like a pumpkin pie. The pumpkin puree gives it a little thickness, but it’s not too thick by any means.
It’s packed with the flavors of fall and I’m left wondering how I never made one of these before. Of course, it’s the kind of drink you likely only want to have one of. OK, maybe two. But it is pretty sweet. Just like pumpkin pie 🙂
And this will now be my new drink until Thanksgiving hits.
Except for tomorrow evening when I’m attending Cambridge Brewing Company’s Pumpkin Beer Festival. From pumpkin martinis to pumpkin beer? I’m game.
Chels and I want to thank everyone for their support for us in Project Food Blog. We didn’t make it past round #6, but we had a blast and are so happy we made it as far as we did. And really? We’re now thrilled to actually have some time to relax and not constantly be thinking about the next post! I haven’t had a free Friday night since August… But I’m obviously still blogging 🙂
Happy weekend, everyone! And don’t forget to go shopping at Stella and Dot this weekend for a chance to win the super cute Petra bracelet. I think it’s the perfect weekend to get a head-start on your holiday shopping!
What will you be sipping on this weekend?
[Sues]
Delicious!
What I really like about this is that it doesn’t involve any obscure and expensive liqueurs
Oh Great Pumpkin’s ghost, this looks delish, how about a dollop of whipped cream for garnish?
Dessert in a glass! Looks so pretty. Have fun at the beer festival too- I think that is going to be awesome. I’m totally bummed that y’all didn’t make it to the next round. You were my favorites- but you guys so rock for making it this far!
I’m not typically a cocktail drinker, but this looks amazing! I will definitely have to gather all of the necessary ingredients to make one (or a few) :).
This weekend, I will be sipping on mostly water – my husband and I are going hiking out in the Berkshires today! Oh, and I’m bringing a bottle of Kombucha because it’s totally necessary ;).
Enjoy the weekend!
what a great idea for a fall dinner party or cocktail hour! impressive that you held out til friday:-)
OMG! I’m sittin here getting ready for my long run and now I want that martini. Doesn’t seem like good pre-run fuel though! Great idea with the simple syrup. I will be making this tomorrow!
Anything with this much pumpkin pie goodness in it seems like the perfect way to start a Friday night. I’m all over this.
Umm YUM! Think I will be trying these tonight!
wow. totally digging that, looks fabulous!
Mmmm that sounds delicious and I’m not usually a big martini fan! Brian and I might be going to the CBC Pumpkin fest too! Maybe I’ll see you later 🙂
I’m a firm believer that cocktails shouldn’t be that much work, but I definitely wouldn’t pass this up if someone else was making it!
Unfortunately I’ll be sipping tea this weekend since I’m sick 🙁
Love this drink recipe!
I’m going to the CBC too. I went last year and had so much fun enjoying all beers pumpkin. Look for the 80s Prom Queen and say hi! 😛
Mmm…sounds fun. I tried making a homemade pumpkin spice latte and the pumpkin just made it too thick tasting for me. But a vodka based drink might be totally different. I’ll be drinking red wine tonight. Simple, easy, yummy.
Super cool drink. Happy Halloween!
Nisrine
nothing says happy fall weekend like a delish pumpkin cocktail! way to be creative, sues!
Definitely going to try these this weekend. Celebrating halloween moving into a new apartment. Cocktails are a must!
Yummmm!! I love sweet, sweet martinis. I just got some pumpkin ice cream from Trader Joe’s – maybe I should make some pumpkin martinis and call it a meal 😉
Oooh, now this is my kind of pumpkin pie! Yum! I’ve actually been doing pomegranate martinis lately, but these look awesome!
Pumpkin pie martini? PUMPKIN PIE MARTINI?!?!?! This just made my LIFE. And, I may finally have found a way to get my mom DRUNK! WOOT WOOT!
I wish I had seen these last night! We made caramel apple martinis which were awesome but I do love me some pumpkin 🙂
this is, like, the PERFECT “eh, it’s noon on thanksgiving, let’s start drinking while we cook” drink. LOVE IT.
yummy!!! the perfect drink for the month of November!
What an interesting martini-It tastes just like pumpkin pie? Really? You know I love cocktails and I am always searching for a new one. This is a cool one. I gotta tell you, I am planning to up the vodka in this one. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this one with us!
Wish I had one of these right now – looks so yummy!
This sounds so good! I made pumpkin bellinis for a Halloween party this weekend. I found them super tasty, others find them weird. Sigh. I guess they just don’t understand the punkin’ love.
Laura
Now that Halloween is over I’m definitely making these for Thanksgiving!
This looks great! I have a bottle of vanilla vodka that I’ve been trying to use in new drinks – I recently saw a simple recipe for Shipyard Pumpkinhead with a shot of vanilla vodka in it. It’s really tasty!
Wow, this pumpkin martini is cool, sounds like great! You both are great as Martha in my opinion.
Wow, I would never have thought of a pumpkin martini but this looks fabulous.
I’d love for you to submit one of your beautiful photos, and a link to your post, to my new baking photo gallery showcasing the beautiful baking, sweets and desserts, and of course cocktails.
AAAAAMAZING! I must try this immediately!
These look beautiful! I was going to try one similar to this with the addition of chocolate liquor 🙂
I loved following you in the challenge & have now added a link to your site [http://www.ringr.wordpress.com] on my “eye catching & mouthwatering” page (I’m just getting started) – hope the link is ok and thanks for the inspiration!
Heaven! This drink is right up my alley!
catcing up on some blog reading now that I’m home!! this looks delicious, l love a good pumpkin martini but have never made my own. sorry you guys didnt make it any further in the project. you shouldhave won! (i wonder who will…..)
I just made these. Delicious! I had try twice to get the caramel pumpkin syrup right. It hardened when I added the water the first time. I’m going to try to find another way to use up the rest of the caramel pumpkin syrup. That stuff is good!!
My only disappointment is that I found this recipe at 7am and now I want one! Can’t wait to try this, thank you!!
Success!! I tried another pumpkin martini recipe and gagged it was so bad…the one I made was not sweet at all and way too much booze! This one was perfect as is however for a pinch of creaminess that is reminicent of pumpkin pie I added a splash of cream….hey all the calories are already there…what’s a splash of cream…it really bumps it up!! Thank you for this recipe…the carmel pumkin pie syrup is really the shining star in this drink!!