Author Notes
When I make my Butternut-Sage Scones, there's always a bit of butternut liquid leftover from draining the cooked squash. One day, I thought why not turn it into a simple syrup, not sure of what I'd actually use the syrup for, and this martini was born. The Maple-Sage Sugared Walnuts are adapted from the recipe for Maple Sugared Pecans in the cookbook In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley, one of my favorite cookbooks. —mrslarkin
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Ingredients
- For butternut-sage simple syrup
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1/2 cup
butternut liquid, drained from a cooked, mashed butternut squash (see Butternut-Sage Scones recipe), or water
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1/2 cup
turbinado sugar
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1/4 cup
fresh sage leaves
- For the maple-sage sugared walnuts and the butternut-sage martini
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1 cup
raw walnuts, halves and pieces
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1 tablespoon
chopped fresh sage
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1 tablespoon
egg whites
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2 tablespoons
maple syrup
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1 tablespoon
light brown sugar
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fresh sage leaf – one large, one small
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1/4 ounce
Nocello (walnut liqueur)
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2 ounces
vodka
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3/4 ounce
butternut-sage syrup, plus more for rimming glass
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1 tablespoon
finely crushed maple sugared walnuts
Directions
- For butternut-sage simple syrup
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Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to steam. Remove from heat, let cool while the sage infuses the syrup.
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When cool, strain syrup into a jar. Keeps for a week in the refrigerator.
- For the maple-sage sugared walnuts and the butternut-sage martini
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FOR THE MAPLE SUGARED WALNUTS: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place walnuts and chopped sage in a small mixing bowl. Mix egg white and maple syrup in a small cup. Add to walnuts and stir well. Sprinkle the brown sugar over and toss to coat nuts completely. Spill walnuts onto cookie sheet, and spread out in one layer.
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Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring a few times, until nuts are nicely toasted. Slide parchment off of hot cookie sheet onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
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Finely crush a small amount of nuts equal to about a tablespoon. I use my mortar and pestle. Reserve the rest of the walnuts for another use.
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Alternatively, skip the maple sugared walnuts and simply rim the glass in granulated maple sugar.
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FOR THE BUTTERNUT-SAGE MARTINI: Rub inside of martini glass, as well as outer edge, with large sage leaf.
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Place 1 tablespoon butternut-sage syrup in a flat plate. Dip rim of glass in syrup, turning edge of glass all the way around.
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Place crushed maple sugared walnuts, or granulated maple sugar, in a flat plate. Dip wet rim of glass into the mixture, turning edge of glass all the way around.
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In a cocktail shaker filled 2/3 with ice cubes, add Nocello, vodka and butternut-sage syrup. Shake. Pour into prepared glass. Garnish with small sage leaf.
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Cin cin!
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