Cherry Brandy Old-Fashioned

The gingerbread decorating weekend. David and Karen brought Teddy, Anna, James, and Anna's plan, which was more specific than I had expected and which Helen executed with the focused competence she brings to kitchen projects proposed by grandchildren. Anna directed. Teddy decorated two gingerbread men with the same watchful precision he brings to everything — they looked like they had opinions. James covered his with approximately one jar's worth of sprinkles and considered this successful. The kitchen, afterward, had the appearance of a confectionary emergency. Helen cleaned it with the calm efficiency of a woman who has cleaned up after children in December kitchens for thirty years.

The fruitcake came out of its tin for inspection. It has been soaking in brandy since November and it is correct — dense and dark and smelling of the spices and fruit that have been consolidating for six weeks. This is not the fruitcake that people make jokes about. This is the fruitcake that those jokes do not understand. There is a version of fruitcake that deserves mockery and a version that deserves reverence. I make the second version. My grandmother made the second version. Her mother made the second version. The first version is someone else's problem.

The Christmas cards went out Thursday. Forty-seven of them, to former students and colleagues and neighbors and the woman at the farmers' market and Margaret Pierce the historian, who has written back three times now and who appears to be writing something involving my grandfather's sugarhouse records that I am genuinely curious about. Each card has a small piece of maple candy taped inside, which is something my father started in 1962 and which I have continued without interruption. Helen seals the envelopes. I address them in longhand. Some things should not be done on a computer.

Christmas in one week. Sarah and Tom and Ben and Lucy are coming Thursday. The farmhouse is ready. The tree is up — a Balsam fir from the farm on the Hinesburg Road that has been selling us trees since Teddy was born. Helen decorated it Wednesday while I watched from the doorway. She knows where every ornament goes and why. Some of them are forty years old. Some of them were made by children's hands that are now grown. The tree carries the history of the house in its branches. I could not explain how this works. I know that it does.

The fruitcake has been drinking brandy since November, and it seemed only fair that we join it. When I lifted the tin lid and the smell of six weeks’ consolidation came up—dark fruit, warm spice, and that particular brandy depth that tells you the work has been done correctly—Helen looked at me and I looked at her, and we understood that the moment called for something in a glass. The Cherry Brandy Old-Fashioned has been our Christmas Eve ritual since before David and Karen were married, a drink that belongs to the same tradition as the fruitcake itself: unhurried, built from good ingredients, and not interested in apology.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: 1

Ingredients

2 oz brandy
1/2 oz cherry brandy or cherry liqueur
1 tsp maraschino cherry syrup (from the jar)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters
1 sugar cube (or 1 tsp simple syrup)
1 large ice cube or several standard cubes
1 maraschino cherry, for garnish
1 orange peel twist, for garnish

Instructions

Muddle the base. Place the sugar cube in a rocks glass and saturate it with both dashes of Angostura bitters and the orange bitters. Add the cherry syrup and muddle until the sugar is mostly dissolved. If using simple syrup, just combine the liquids directly.
Add the spirits. Pour the brandy and cherry brandy over the muddled base. Stir gently with a bar spoon to combine, about 10 seconds.
Ice the glass. Add a large ice cube or a generous handful of standard cubes to the glass. Stir again for another 15–20 seconds until the drink is well chilled and slightly diluted.
Garnish and serve. Express the orange peel over the glass by holding it skin-side down and giving it a firm twist over the surface of the drink, then run it around the rim and drop it in. Add the maraschino cherry. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cherry Brandy Old-Fashioned — A Toast to the Fruitcake That Deserves Reverence