Advocaat is the Dutch egg liqueur — thick enough to eat with a little spoon — whose name means 'advocate' or 'lawyer'. The origin is folk etymology: some trace it to advocatenborrel, a 'lawyer's drink' said to smooth the throat, while makers like Bols tie it to a Brazilian-Surinamese avocado drink that Dutch colonists rebuilt at home with egg yolks once avocados were out of reach.
Sumptuously thick and silky, like spiked vanilla custard, sweet and warming with a gentle brandy heat. The cool whipped cream and dusting of cocoa make it feel like dessert in a glass.
Gentle heating over a water bath cooks and emulsifies the yolks while the alcohol and sugar are whisked in, producing a stable, spoonably thick liqueur without the eggs scrambling.
Variations
thin pouring advocaat (with cream/egg white), used in a Snowball cocktail, as a topping for poffertjes and ice cream
On the Palate
Where Advocaat Dutch sits in the Dutch flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 10 min
- 13 min
Separate fresh eggs and place the yolks in a heatproof bowl.
- 25 min
Add sugar and a pinch of salt, plus a little vanilla, and whisk until pale and thick.
- 32 min
Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, not letting it boil.
Watch outKeep the water underneath at a bare shiver, never touching the bowl to a boil — too much heat and the yolks scramble into sweet egg.
- 45 min
Whisk constantly as the mixture slowly warms and thickens.
- 53 min
Pour in brandy in a thin stream, whisking so the eggs do not curdle.
Watch outTrickle the brandy in a thin thread while whisking hard — dump it in cold and fast and the shock curdles the eggs.
- 65 min
Continue gently heating and whisking until the liqueur coats the back of a spoon.
Watch outIt's done the instant it coats the back of a spoon and a finger leaves a clean line — that's the spoonable thickness you're after.
- 75 min
Remove from heat and let it cool, stirring occasionally as it thickens further.
- 82 min
Spoon into small glasses, top with whipped cream, and dust with cocoa.
