December 19
Trudi Canavan
About Trudi
Trudi Canavan published her first story in 1999 and it received an Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story. Her debut series, the Black Magician trilogy, made her an international success, and all three volumes of her Age of the Five trilogy were Sunday Times bestsellers. Trudi Canavan lives with her partner in Melbourne, Australia, and spends her time writing, painting and weaving.
For our Advent Calendar, Trudi has created three delicious cocktails inspired by her books:
The Blood Magic Cocktail
A few years ago a friend gave me a bottle of Cointreau Blood Orange for Christmas. I had some cranberry juice left over after serving Cosmopolitans at New Year, so tried mixing the two and invented one of my favourite cocktails. It’s sums up the ‘silly season’ in Australia well, as it’s refreshing in the summer heat and yet still Christmassy.
Tip: Blood oranges may not be in season, so prepare ahead. When they are available, slice and freeze to add to cocktails later in the year. The slices will keep your drink cold as well as looking spectacular.
Ingredients
60 ml blood orange liqueur (45 ml fresh blood orange juice and 15 ml sugar syrup for mocktail version)
60 ml cranberry juice
Shake with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Float a slice of blood orange on surface.
The Mischief Martini
I’m very partial to a martini, whether classic or novelty, dry or sweet or savoury. This one can be adjusted to taste. There is no non-alcoholic version, I’m afraid. You can befriend Mischief, but you can’t tame him.
Tip: Choose a gin that isn’t too heavy on the spices to avoid amplifying the cinnamoniness too much.
Ingredients
60 ml gin or vodka
15 ml dry or blanca Vermouth
15 ml cinnamon schnapps (I used Goldschlager for the extra magic of gold flakes)
Shake with ice and strain into martini glass rimmed with sugar spiced with a pinch of cinnamon.
The Place Between
Making gradient cocktails feels like painting with to me, as both require an understanding of materials and a steady hand. Get the layering right and your creativity has made a little visual alchemy.
Tip: The secret to a layered cocktail is that sugar sinks. If the orange-flavoured curacao doesn’t appeal, substitute other sugary liqueurs, grenadine or neat cordial. The top layer must be water- or alcohol-based to float – avoid liqueurs.
Ingredients
30 ml white rum (omit from non-alcoholic version)
lemonade
1 tsp Blue Curacao (or a drop of blue food colouring mixed with sugar syrup)
1 tsp dark rum (or a drop of yellow food colouring mixed with water)
Add white rum to champagne or highball glass. Top up with lemonade. Fill a teaspoon with Blue Curacao then drop liquid off the tip into the centre of the drink from a few centremetres above the surface. Fill a clean teaspoon with dark rum and gently spill the liquid off the sides into the top of the drink.
I hope there’s something for everyone in my trio of book-related cocktails, and you enjoy trying them out. Please, drink responsibly! And have a safe, festive and magical Christmas and New Year.
Find out more about Trudi:
Looking for your next page turner?
Order Trudi’s Maker’s Curse from Little Brown or support our local bookshop Transreal Fiction - Scotland’s leading SciFi and Fantasy bookstore - in Edinburgh.