The kids are back to school and it is Mom’s Night! Gather your mom friends together that you haven’t seen over the long, busy Summer season and enjoy catching up with a Ladies Night complete with the perfect end of Summer appetizer and signature cocktail, the Peach Plunge!

My favorite Ladies Night drink is one that I rarely get unless out for a Ladies Night—the Lemon Drop. The sweet and sour combo is always one that makes me feel like cutting it up with friends. I wanted to create a drink with that same feeling, that also helped celebrated the best flavors of the end of Summer and early Fall. This Peach-variation of the Lemon Drop was dubbed the Peach Plunge by my husband upon first taste! He included some cheesy tagline about plunging you into the flavors of Summer. It was perfect!

The Peach Plunge Cocktail Recipe

This end-of-summer sipper is sweet and sour and has the spices you’ll recognize from your favorite peach cobbler desserts. It all starts off with a homemade Spiced Peach Simple Syrup. Simple Syrup is easy to make and a cocktail staple. A traditional simple syrup is simply 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water heated over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved into the mixture. It can be stored, sealed, in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Similarly, the Spiced Peach Simple Syrup will include sugar and water, but this mixture has a bit more to it than the traditional simple syrup. Call this a slightly more complicated, but equally easy syrup.

Spiced Peach Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup frozen peaches
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Supplies: small heavy-bottomed saucepan, sieve, and heat resistant jar with airtight lid

Directions:

• Add all ingredients to the saucepan and heat on a stovetop at medium to medium-high heat. Stir occasionally, you do not want the sugar to burn.
• Bring ingredients to a low boil for 5 minutes, or until peaches are very soft and all sugar is incorporated into mixture.
• Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for 30 minutes to cool and let flavors meld.
• Pour the mixture through a sieve reserving the liquid. Use a fork to squeeze all liquid from the peaches. Discard the peach/spice mixture. The liquid, once cooled, is your Spiced Peach Syrup!

Now, on to the cocktail! This recipe makes 1 cocktail.

Peach Plunge Cocktail Ingredients:

• Supplies: 1 shaker, ice, martini glass
• 2 oz Vodka
• 1 oz Peach Vodka (or peach schnapps)
• 1 oz Spiced Peach Simple Syrup
• 1/2 oz of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Garnish: Slice of Peach and Sugared Rim

The Peach Plunge: A Peach Vodka Cocktail Twist on the Lemon Drop – Directions:

• Add the vodka, peach vodka (or peach schnapps), lemon juice, and spiced peach simple syrup in a shaker over ice and shake or stir until thoroughly chilled.
• Take a lemon slice around the edge of a martini glass and dip the edge of the glass into granulated sugar to rim the glass.
• Strain the chilled cocktail mixture into the sugar rimmed martini glass, top with a slice of peach.
• Enjoy!