After School Snack · The Baldwin Bar

By Eric Twardzik · 09/07/2018

Most people go looking for bread and preserves when they want to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But Ran Duan, proprietor of The Baldwin Bar and The Baldwin & Sons Trading Co. in Woburn (as well as Blossom Bar in Brookline) has found a way to update the nostalgic snack using his cocktail shaker.

It starts with an assortment of almost random-seeming ingredients: blanco tequila, amaro Averna, RumChata, crème de cacao, heavy cream, roasted peanut oil, and an entire egg.

The cream, egg, and initial dry shake give the After School Snack a milky texture and a frothy head—and with the sweetness of Averna and RumChata, the drink starts to verge into dessert territory. Meanwhile, the nut oil and the garnish—including a spoonful of blackberry preserves topped with crumbled peanut and crispy panko flakes—help to capture the flavors of the iconic sandwich to a T.

“We had to figure out how to do this manageably,” says bar manager Patrick Orlovsky. “We could have made it more complicated. But it’s a really great drink, so why complicate it?”

After School Snack
1½ ounces Don Julio Blanco Tequila

¾ ounce Averna
¾ ounce RumChata
½ ounce Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao
¼ ounce heavy cream
¼ ounce roasted peanut oil
1 whole egg
Blackberry preserve, peanut crumbs, and toasted panko flakes, for garnish

Add all ingredients (besides garnishes) to shaker and dry shake to combine. Add ice and shake again until chilled. Strain into a jam jar plated over ice (or into a double rocks glass). Garnish with a spoon filled with blackberry preserve, peanut crumbs, and toasted panko flakes.

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