January 31st is National Brandy Alexander Day. We look at it as a transition out of Healthy Food Month at THE NIBBLE and a way to gird ourselves for Valentine’s Day carbs.

The creamy cocktail was often served as a nightcap.

It’s dangerously good—like a spiked milkshake—and you can have it as a dessert. We have served it with a small scoop of chocolate or vanilla ice cream in the center of the coupe.

Below:

> The history of the Brandy Alexander.

> Have fun with these recipe variations.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 50+ cocktail and spirits holidays.

> What is Cognac and the different classifications of Cognac. Brandy uses similar age-based classifications with differences by category*.
 
 
BRANDY ALEXANDER HISTORY

According to the Classic Cocktail Club of Milan, Italy, the Brandy Alexander was created in 1922 in London, “at the time of” the wedding of Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood to Henry, Viscount Lascelles (later, 6th Earl of Harewood).

But this is cocktail legend. the Alexander was created in New York City, with the earliest-known printed recipe dating to 1916.

The cocktail is believed to have originated at Rector’s (est. 1899), a seafood restaurant in the New York theater district.

The bartender there, one Troy Alexander, created the eponymous concoction as a snowy white drink for a dinner celebrating the Phoebe Snow advertising campaign of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. That first Alexander contained clear gin—a white spirit instead of the brown brandy that was to come.

Not to be confused with the Baby Boomer singer Phoebe Snow (1950-2011) who was not yet around, this Phoebe was a fictitious advertising character, a Gibson Girl-type who debuted in 1903.

She was always clad in a snowy white dress to highlight the cleanliness of the railroad’s anthracite-coal-powered trains, a clean-burning variety of coal. The smokeless coal of railroad’s locomotives could never shed coal dust on that white dress!

While the cocktail went on to be well received by the public, the use of heavy cream was so uncommon at the time that critics boxed it in as a “lady’s cocktail,” an “ignorable drink” for men, in the days of the stiff Old Fashioned. But the critics didn’t kill off the drink.
 
 
Irony: Prohibition Saved The Alexander From Obscuity

Ironically, Prohibition saved the drink. The heavy cream and sugar were perfect for masking the harsh, chemical taste of illegally distilled “bathtub” gin.

Subsequently, bartenders began experimenting with Cognac or brandy. The richer, oaky profile of aged grape spirit harmonized with chocolate far better than the piney notes of gin. This brandy version was sometimes called the Alexander #2.

After the repeal of Prohibition, the Brandy Alexander became a popular after-dinner drink or nightcap. It appealed to a new demographic of social drinkers who didn’t enjoy the burn of straight whiskey or dry martinis. The drink began to enter popular culture through literature and film.

By the 1960s, the Brandy Alexander was firmly established and the original gin version was largely forgotten. It fit right into the 1960s cocktail culture, where rich, creamy drinks (like the Grasshopper, Pink Squirrel, and White Russian) were at thepeak of fashion.

By this time, the International Bartenders Association (IBA) had essentially codified the Brandy version as the Alexander.
 
 
And Now, The John Lennon/Brandy Alexander “Incident”

On March 12, 1974, Lennon attended a Smothers Brothers concert at The Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood with a fellow musician, Harry Nilsson. Nilsson introduced Lennon to the Brandy Alexander, which would become Lennon’s favorite cocktail (he loved heavy cream and poured it on his breakfast cornflakes).

But his first reaction that night was to call it a milkshake, and he continued to down shake after shake.

Not surprisingly, he became heavily intoxicated and, encouraged by Nilsson, began to relentlessly heckle the Smothers Brothers with profanities. The situation escalated until security intervened.

During the scuffle that followed, Lennon lost his signature round glasses, and he and Nilsson were ejected from the club. The next day, Lennon and Nilsson sent flowers and apologies and the Smothers Brothers graciously defended Lennon to the world press.

Ironically, the original milkshake was made with whiskey.
 
 
RECIPE: BRANDY ALEXANDER
 
If you choose to use Cognac instead of brandy, use a VS or at best, a VSOP*.

Ingredients Per Drink

[1] A Brandy Alexander cocktail (photo courtesy Liquor.com | Gemini).

[2] A rolled wafer cookie is a fun garnish (photo © Taste Of Home).

[3] Brandy is a broad term for a strong, distilled spirit made by fermenting and distilling fruit juice. Cognac is a grape brandy made in the Cognac region of France*. There are different classifications of Cognac. For a creamy mixed drink, use a VS or VSOP (photo © Deeliver | Unsplash).

[4] The original Alexander, created to be snowy white, was made with gin. Here’s the recipe (photo © TexanErin).

[5] How about a Brandy Alexander milkshake? Here’s the recipe (photo © Bellyfull).

1. Fill a shaker halfway with ice cubes.

2. Add brandy, creme de cacao and half-and-half; shake well.

3. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with grated nutmeg. Or, rim the glass with a mixture of nutmeg and sugar.
 
 
HOW TO TWEAK THE BRANDY ALEXANDER

Since it follows a simple equal-parts template (1:1:1 ratio of spirit, dark crème de cacao, and heavy cream), the Brandy Alexander is incredibly easy to revise.

 

[6] This Gin Alexander is ready for dessert: It blends in some ice cream. Here’s the recipe (photo © Slipsmith Gin).

________________

*Cognac is a strictly protected name, an Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée or AOC under French and international law. It assures the buyer of a specific grape brandy produced in the Cognac region of France. It must be made from specific white grapes (mostly Ugni Blanc) with specific distillation techniques: twice-distilled in copper pots, and aged in French oak for at least two years. “Brandy” can be made anywhere in the world, and from any fruit.

This does not mean that other brandies are inferior to Cognac (although many are). Fine brandies from other regions can be more expressive than the blended, double-distilled nature of many Cognacs. Examples include:
> Armagnac, often considered more rustic and robust due to single distillation and column stills (we like Bhakta Spirits and Darroze).
> Calvados (Apple/Pear Brandy), with offering rich fruit flavors.
>Spanish Brandy, a.k.a. Brandy de Jerez, aged in sherry casks (we like Torres 30 Jaime I and Cardenal Mendoza).
>American Brandy: Check out Copper & Kings and Laird’s Apple Brandy (especially the 7½ and 12-year-old).

†The original Alexander recipe would have used white crème de cacao, for a snow white drink.

[7] Add a nutmeg rim, or mix nutmeg with sugar. Use a grater or Microplane to hand-grate nutmeg (photo © Taste Of Home).
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

This barbecue pork loin saves many calories
with a sugar-free blackberry sauce. Here’s
the recipe. Photo courtesy The J.M.
Smucker Company.

Everyone brings his or her best low-calorie dish, along with copies of the recipe to share and, if it’s a buffet, an index card to set in front of the dish, with the name of the dish and the cook, the ingredients and, if possible, calories per saving.

For more party fun, everyone can rank their top three dishes, and winners can be named.

The prizes?

Something low-calorie, of course! Or something no-calorie, like fancy brands of mineral water.

It’s a great party idea: Less cooking for you and the opportunity to try lots of new low-calorie recipes with your friends—who will be very thankful for all the new recipes they’ll be taking home.

• Enjoy an omelet for breakfast or lunch. Or how about Portabella Eggs Benedict: The portabella substitutes for the English muffin. No bread, no carbs.
• Make the perfect hard-boiled egg.
• Check out all the different types of eggs in our Egg Glossary. It’s egg-citing!
• Learn your egg nutrition.

Eggs are an inexpensive and delicious source of nutrition. Think of how to integrate them into your menus—such as this mushroom and smoked salmon frittata. You can substitute sausage or other favorite meat, or make it all vegetarian.

These are real chicken eggs—no retouching.
They come from different breeds of heritage
hens. Photo by Hudson Bedell | IST.

Make Diet Jello-O a fun diet food with Jello-O
Jigglers molds. Photo courtesy Kraft Foods.

If you’ve ever made Jell-O brand Jigglers for kids—Jell-O poured into egg-size molds that are particularly popular at Easter—those molds make colorful and tasty diet food when you fill them with Sugar-Free Jell-O, and are a treat any time of the year.

Choose your favorite flavors and make up a batch—we love cranberry, strawberry banana, orange, lemon and lime. You can serve the eggs whole or cut them with an egg slicer.

If you don’t have a mold, you can prepare the Egg Jiggler recipe in a 9″x13″ pan and then cut shapes with cookie cutters.

Serve Sugar-Free Jiggers with fruit, yogurt and cottage cheese, for light meals, snacks or dessert. Fun food takes the sameness out of dieting; and at just 10 calories a serving, Sugar-Free Jell-O is a caloric bargain.

• To buy the Jigglers mold: There’s a plain egg plus five fancy versions, from footballs to racing cars. Consider making low-calorie snacks for the kids, as well. ($3.50 each)
• The Jigglers recipe is usually on the carton, but here’s the recipe: Use vegetable oil or PAM to barely moisten the insides of the molds; wipe with a paper towel. To 1 package (8 serving size) or 2 packages (4 serving size) JELL-O Sugar-Free Gelatin Dessert, stir 1-1/2 cups boiling water (no cold water). Stir at least 2 minutes until completely dissolved (we use a whisk). Pour into measuring cup with pour spout. Using a funnel, carefully pour gelatin into mold through the fill holes until each egg is filled just to the top of the mold. Refrigerate at least 3 hours.
• Find more of our favorite diet foods in our Diet Nibbles Section.

Even if you don’t have kids, many experts believe that nutritious food helps improve school performance and helps to create healthy eating habits that will be carried into adulthood and passed on to the next generation. That impacts all of us as employers, supervisors, colleagues, neighbors and citizens. Nutrition also plays an important part in helping to reduce obesity, diabetes and other food-related diseases.

During the next two months, Congress will consider a Child Nutrition Reauthorization that will establish the budget and priorities for school lunches for years to come. Now is the time to let our representatives know that we care about the type and quality of food served in our nation’s schools.

Let your voice be heard; tell Congress you want schools serve better lunches to our kids:

If you don’t enjoy good nutrition at home,
maybe you can learn it at school. Photo
courtesy Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

• Provide $1 more per day per child for better school food.
• Strengthen nutritional standards regarding all the food offered in schools.
• Provide funding for healthy eating education and regional farm to school initiatives.

President Obama has committed $1 billion more to the cause of child nutrition, but it’s a big country: an extra dollar per day per child is needed. But funding for anything at this point is tight. You can let Congress know that America’s kids need more…$1 per day per child… for their school food. This is where you can help.

• You can add your name to this petition at SlowFoodUSA.com.