DIY Irish cream

My sources* say that it's crazy to spend money on syrupy sweet irish cream concoctions such as Bailey's, Carolan's, and others, when you can make your own at home with Irish whisky, cream (or half and half? or whole milk?) and creme de cacao (and put it over ice, if you like). I can't see how you can help but save $$$ doing it yourself, but what my sources don't give me is a recipe. Has anyone made Irish cream at home with success, and if so, how? What type of milk or cream do you prefer? And do you have an Irish whisky preference? Jameson's seems to be the most readily available locally.

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* Walton and Glover, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Wine, Beer, Spirits, and Liqueurs

I made my own once using Bushmills. I don't remember the recipe off-hand, but it involved chocolate syrup sweetened-condensed milk and instant coffee (which I substituted. I shake my fist at anyone making a recipe with instant coffee!)

In the end, it wasn't much better than Carolan's and cost about the same (if not more)

It seems to me that if you wanted to make a bottle's worth of this, it will likely cost more than buying a $12 bottle of Carolans.

Todd Wilber came out with a great series of books called Top Secret Recipes where he did clone recipes of popular items like baileys.

The good thing is that he has the recipe for free on his website at http://www.topsecretrecipes.com

Ive made his version and I have to say that it was pretty good. You just have to remember that it is perishable and needs to be refrigerated

I've been sitting on this recipe for awhile, but haven't yet gotten around to trying it.
Possibly for the upcoming South Side parade in 2009:
http://www.yumsugar.com/1115736

Enjoy,
miss ellen

Thanks for the link! I realize it might not be cheaper than buying the bottled mix; I'm wondering if it's better. But I am curious about the cost angle too, so I'll keep track of the expenses and report back.

Alas ... no top-secret recipe for Stouffer's Noodles Romanoff ...

I haven't worked out the cost comparison yet, but on the basis of taste, the homemade Irish cream wins hands down, in my opinion. The flavors of the Irish whiskey, chocolate, and coffee (yes, I used instant coffee -- how else am I going to get it out of my cupboard?) really came through. The commercial mixes (Bailey's, Carollan's, etc.), by comparison, have no notable flavor standouts - just chocolate milk with a cloying sweetness and mild alcoholic effect. (Which is not to say I would turn a glass of it down if it presented itself in my life!)

I followed the "top secret" website's recipe, using, as some posters recommended here and there, sweetened condensed milk in place of evaporated milk + granulated sugar. Making it yourself, you can tweak it as needed - if the sweetened condensed milk effect is too syrupy, cut with skim or lowfat milk; if more alcoholic ping! is needed, add some Irish whiskey and then tweak with any of the other ingredients. Of course, you can also buy a bottle of commercial Irish cream mix and tweak it, but as I said, I haven't done the math on that yet.

Hi,

If you are much happier with the end result, does the math really matter?

Regards,

Progress report:

After two batches made with sweetened condensed milk, and two batches made with evaporated milk plus granulated sugar, I find I prefer the latter. The Irish whiskey, chocolate, and coffee flavors come through better (to my taste, anyway) when the mix is not as syrupy.

I haven't yet done all the math to compare homemade Irish cream to store-bought, but I have noticed it is not hard to get Jameson's on sale ate $19.99 (versus the $29.99 regular price for 750 ml).

On previous trips out to the DC area I have seen a coffee syrup, similar to chocolate syrup, for mixing with milk, in grocery stores, and I thought this would make a good alternative to using dried instant coffee. (Not that I mind using the instant coffee, as I mentioned before, if it'll get it out of the house that much faster without me having to drink it hot in the morning). But I recently came back from my annual Dilbert Convention in Washington DC, and have to report coffee syrup is not as easy to find out east as I thought it would be. Has anyone seen it in the Chicago area?

This is a rather tarted up version of an Irish Cream. I went with Vanilla and spices instead of coffee. You ca add a bunch more Angostura if you want to rev up that winter spice element.

Hours Irish Cream
.5 oz Licor 43
1 oz Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
1 oz Red Breast Irish Whiskey
1 oz Cream, Heavy
.5 oz Demerara Syrup (2 to 1 sugar to water)
3 drops Angostura Bitters

Glass: Rocks
Garnish: Flamed Orange Peel, Discarded

Cheers,

Toby

Here is a recipe for Irish Cream Liqueur: http://www.recipe4living.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?id=35428

Ingredients

1 3/4 C. Irish whiskey
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 C. heavy cream
4 eggs
2 Tbs. chocolate syrup
2 tsp. instant coffee
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Directions

Combine all ingredients and mix in blender. Put into a fifth bottle. Keeps refrigerated up to 1 month. Stir or shake before serving and serve over ice, if desired.

Thanks to you both, Alchemist and chewonthat. I'll try both those recipes. I am enjoying this particular research study very much. I think I'll have to invite some fambly members over for taste testing.

I just made up a batch of Irish Cream based on the recipe above, and WOW...it is so good. Fresh and creamy in a way that the bottled stuff will never be. The recipe makes a LOT - about 6 cups, so clearly I need to invite some folks over in the next month to help us out a bit. I posted about it on my blog as well. http://tinyurl.com/aaltee

And now, I think I'll go sip a little of this sweet cocktail.

Just wondering ... four raw eggs, sitting in the fridge for a month? Is that safe? Does the alcohol kill any bacteria? If in doubt, would some pasteurized egg product work as well?

I get my eggs fresh from the farm through my meat CSA, so they're definitely safe for this. Eggs do last surprisingly long in the fridge, but also consider that if you're buying them at Dominick's, they may be a few weeks old already before you bring them home. Local eggs are pretty available year-round here, and not only are they so much better tasting, I'd trust them more for applications like this. Also consider the preservative power of whiskey, too.