Party for One: Picard Inspired Cocktail & Snacks
Looking for some themed snacks while you catch up on the latest Star Trek? I’ve got you covered! I’m making a Party for One inspired Picard—the recipes included are single servings. If you live the small batch life too, make sure to follow me!
The Theme: Picard (Star Trek series)
The Cocktail: Earl Grey Hot Toddy
The Snacks: Croque Madam & Chocolate Cookie Borg Cubes
This post is not sponsored, endorsed or affiliated with Picard or Star Trek. This is fan-made.
Let's be a little extra! Who says it has to be some big birthday party or something to create themed party food? I’ve created a cocktail & some snacks you can make to enjoy while you watch this epic new adventure with one of our favorite Starfleet captains. I like to create small batches since it's usually just me and sometimes just a couple others.
What’s on the menu?
Earl Grey cocktail--I'm calling it a hot toddy
Croque madam with Star Trek insignia cutout
Chocolate cookie & cereal marshmallow cubes
A huge thanks to my friends Kalie and Mya for helping with the egg in toast part. It was not cooperating for me!
Earl Grey Hot Toddy
Ingredients
Earl Grey tea bag (I recommend Twinings if you can find it)
Freshly boiled water
30 ml Earl Grey infused gin (recipe below)
1 tsp Earl Grey simple syrup (recipe below)
1 lemon
Method
Choose your mug. Bonus if it's a Star Trek mug or Trekky-looking one (if you like mine, look for Irish coffee mugs).
Place tea bag in mug. Add boiling water, but don't fill the mug. Leave about 1/2-1 inch. Let steep for time instructed, 2-3 minutes.
Remove tea bag.
Add 30ml infused gin and about 1 t simple syrup. Add more syrup to suit your taste. Stir.
Cut a small piece of lemon peel (about 2 inches long), making sure to avoid the pith (white part).
Holding the lemon peel over your mug, gently twist. This loosens, aka "expresses" some of the oils. Gently run the lemon around the top edge of your mug, making a couple circles worth.
Discard the lemon peel. Top with additional hot water, if needed. (Tip: do this right before serving.)
Notes:
Not a fan of alcohol? Skip the gin! It'll be basically just tea with an extra tasty sugar syrup, but still good!
If you don't have a fresh lemon, skip this part. Trying to use essential oils or bottled lemon juice will probably ruin your drink.
I've tried adding lemon juice to this to make it more like a classic hot toddy, but it completely drowns out the earl grey flavor I want.
Earl Grey Simple Syrup
Simple syrup is 1 part water, 1 part sugar, heated until sugar is dissolved. You can add other flavors to this recipe. Here's one for Earl Grey!
Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 Earl Grey tea bags
Method
In a small saucepan, add water and sugar. Bring to a boil.
Remove from heat, add tea bags, and let steep for 5-6 minutes.
Remove tea bags and transfer to a small jar.
Store unused syrup in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Earl Grey Infused Gin
Ingredients
1 Earl Grey tea bag
60+ ml gin of choice (I used Tanqueray no. 10)--I made a couple shots worth for my experiments, but you can make as much as you'd like
Method
Place tea bag and room temperature gin into a small sealable glass container. Close lid and let sit out of direct sunlight for 2-3 hours.
Remove tea bag.
Unused portion can be stored for a while, as gin has a, well, really long shelf life. If your house gets warm or you're not so sure about the things that grow, feel free to store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Borg Cube Treats
This recipe can be tweaked depending on what chocolate cookies/cereals you have. I used chocolate Oreos which have way too many calories, as well as a single serving of a chocolate rice cereal. Whatever you use, it needs to be the right size and the 3 cup amount for this recipe.
Ingredients
1 T butter (unsalted)
1/8 t salt (skip if you're using salted butter)
140 g marshmallows (5 oz)
3 cups chocolate cereal/cookie mix, cookies chopped down to large chunks
Cooking spray (coconut if you have it, or something buttery)
Method
Line a loaf pan with parchment or waxed paper--I like to cut the corners to have it sit better. Lightly grease.
Blitz cookies in a food processor, if necessary. I used Chocolate Double-Stuffed Oreos and it took about 2 rows. Keep the chunks big (not too powdery).
Add marshmallows and butter to a large microwave safe bowl. I like to use my Pyrex (I'll add a link in the photos).
Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave an additional 30 seconds at a time, as needed. Butter should be melted and the marshmallows shouldn't have any chunks.
Add salt. Mix.
Pour cereal/cookie mix into marshmallow mixture. Stir quickly to coat while it's still warm.
Scoop evenly into loaf pan. Press gently into place with back of spoon or a measuring cup.
Allow to cool before cutting into cubes.
Notes
I would have loved to add green sprinkles to this! Tag me if you make it with them.
Definitely don't feel you have to use Oreos or at least don't use as many if you're calorie-counting. Using just chocolate cereal will still be good!
Croque Madam with Starfleet Insignia
What is a croque madam/monsieur? Basically it's a ham grilled cheese sandwich you can get all over France for a light meal. It's my favorite afternoon snack when I visit. Croque monsieur is the "baseline" version which is basically a ham and emmental grilled cheese sandwich with cheese on top. The Croque madam version has an egg on top too.
For this version I'm making a cutout for the top slice of bread to add the egg to, like a "toad in the hole," "egg in a basket," or whatever you call it where you're from.
Ingredients
2 slices of bread
2 slices of cheese (emmental if you can find it, or Swiss will do)
1-2 T shredded cheese (I cut up my sliced Swiss into shreds for this because they didn't have blocks of the brand I wanted)
3-4 slices of ham
butter
1 egg
Method
Preheat toaster oven or oven to 350F. Preheat skillet on medium.
Cut out a Starfleet insignia shape out of one slice of bread. Don't go all the way to the crust, but it should be pretty big. Eye it if you can, or you can make a stencil. See my photo at the bottom for how big it should be if you're using large eggs.
Butter both sides of cutout slice and one side of other slice. Add a small knob of butter to the skillet. Place the cutout slice, top side down in skillet. Carefully crack egg into cutout shape, making sure it doesn't overflow too much and all the corners get some egg. Add salt and pepper to your taste.
While skillet is cooking, stack up your other slice on a baking sheet. I like to use some foil or something in case things get messy. Place bottom bread butter side down, add 1 slice of cheese, the ham, and other slice of cheese.
Place in oven to begin cooking. Set a timer for 5 minutes to take it out if you get busy with the egg. It's ready when the bottom is browned how you'd like it.
Once the egg is looking solid on the bottom, CAREFULLY flip--you'll want to be sure the egg is loosened first. Sprinkle cheese around insignia design. Cook until egg white is done to your liking--it'll cook another minute or two in the oven after this, so try to do a little under.
Move to top of sandwich and bake for another minute or two, until cheese is melted.
Serve immediately (so make this last!)
