I promised my friend, new mom April, that I'd share a delicious cocktail recipe, but decided to share five different drinks with TCK readers today as a part of her link up. Since tomorrow is the official start of summer, what better way to herald in a new season than by clinking a bunch of unique and delicious drinks?

1. Roman Holiday
This recipe comes from Katie At The Kitchen Door. I had to look up Amaro. Have you heard of it? I hadn't. The article I found about it likened it to sweet vermouth, which I love, so I planned on just swapping that in the recipe. Then, at our friendly neighborhood liquor store after a happy, energizing day at work, I spotted a gorgeous, almost vintage-looking bottle on the shelf. I must have been caught up in a Gregory Peck daydream because I bit the bullet on Amaro Montenegro.

The drink is a mix of rosemary-infused lemon-honey simple syrup, amaro, and prosecco. I knew April would love this - I learned about rosemary simple syrup from her ages ago!

Love, love, love La Marca. My mom bought it for me and my bridesmaids to sup upon while prepping for my wedding and it is crisp and refreshing and affordable.

It is PHENOMENAL. It's bubbly and refreshing, floral from the lemon and herbs, with an wonderfully rich, bitter undertone from the Amaro. I also highly recomment Food & Wine's excellent article about amaro that includes a very comprehensive run-down describing the different variations. (I know this because, four sips in, I nerded out and searched the whole web for info on amaro. I've used it other cocktails since and my love for it continues to grow.)

2. Tuscan Rosemary Lemon Drop
What to do with leftover rosemary... make more cocktails! The Nest mixed two of my favorite flavors - rosemary and lemon - in a delicious and refreshing beverage.

Their recipe calls for a plain simple syrup. I used more of the fresh rosemary and made a rosemary-infused simple syrup (I used 1/4 cup sugar and water). Then, mix in a shaker:

1 1/2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce limoncello
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce Rosemary Simple Syrup

I garnished with a slice of lemon. This is delicious. It's tangy and sweet all at the same time, with the great flavor and aroma from the rosemary. Definitely a winner!

This would also be outrageous in bulk for any kind of outdoor summer event. To lessen the alcohol component (or stretch your ingredients), you could also add in lemon-lime seltzer for a more refreshing twist.

3. Ginger Peach Iced Green Tea (non-alcoholic)
This recipe came about because I'm high maintenance. First, I have a tea obsession. It's Republic Of Tea Ginger Peach. Second, I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine so I opt for the decaf version. Lastly, I try to choose green tea when I can for both antioxidants and fewer-tooth-stain reasons. Let's call that "health" instead of "vanity", yes? I decided to DIY a caffeine-free green tea version of this flavor combination.

The ingredients:
12 cups of water
13 tea bags (I used decaf green by Twinings)
3 yellow peaches, pitted and sliced
1" knob of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
Lemon & honey to taste

Bring water to a boil in large pot. While water heats, embrace your OCD and tie one of the tea bag strings around the remaining 12 strings. It'll be easier to fish these out of the pool later on.

Once boiling, turn off heat and add tea bags, peaches, and ginger. Steep 10 minutes, then strain out the floaters.

Sample and season with honey and lemon to taste. Cool and then refrigerate until ready to serve.

I took a Tupperware bottle of this to my office and it's a really refreshing pick me up. Best of all, it hit all of my annoying must-haves - decaf, green tea, and the delicious spicy ginger and sweet peaches. I'll certainly be making more batches of this as summer wears on.

4. Mi-Madras
I'm taking a trip to The Cape in August and I cannot wait. A quaint little beach house a block from the beach, a big back yard with a grill, and all the fabulous beach cocktails I can stand. This basically means I'll revert to my college-era drink choices and opt for fruit juices glugged with vodka.

The Madras is one of my favorite cocktails - orange juice, cranberry juice (cocktail), and vodka over ice. I took inspiration from the fizzy Roman Holiday above to try a mimosa-esque twist.

I made a simple syrup from cranberries and orange juice (plus some zest). Once it steeped and cooled, I mixed it with an ounce of vodka and topped off the glass with prosecco (gasp, more La Marca). If you don’t want it to be quite as strong (sue me - I like alcohol in my alcoholic drinks) you could certainly swap club soda for the prosecco.

This drink was fruity, refreshing, and I loved the bubbly fizz. Plus, it's pink and pretty drinks are tastier, right?

5. Maker's Mademoiselle
Of all places, I found this recipe on the Pottery Barn website! It basically adds fresh citrus juice to a Mint Julep and I am now obsessed with this drink.

I didn't make a mint syrup - I simply ripped off a handful of fresh mint and muddled it in the bottom of a cocktail shaker with about a tablespoon of granulated sugar.

I also doubled all of the proportions to end up with two drinks. Finally, I added about 1/4 teaspoon of honey to the cocktail shaker to smooth out the bright citrus flavors.

I served it in my best ever antique store find - I got 11 of these coupes for $50. As such, the proportions of booze/juice to club soda had to be tweaked. I filled the glass about 3/4 with the mixture and then added a floater of the club soda on top. I loved the fizziness and lightness it brought to the drink, but also loved that the bold bourbon and zesty citrus flavors could take center stage.

Three cheers to the summer solstice! Make sure you can check out more cocktail concoctions on my Happy Hour Pinterest board!

Manhattan Cocktail Inspired Cheesecake

Years ago, my uncle Jim let me have a sip of his Manhattan. I... did not like it. Since then, I've actually come to love them and they're a go-to autumn and winter cocktail. In fact, we served them as the signature cocktail at our October wedding. (Jim, for the record, partook aggressively and loved every sip. I feel so exceptionally redeemed.)

A Manhattan is a bourbon-based cocktail with sweet vermouth, bitters, and either a twist of lemon or a cherry for garnish. For my man's birthday, I thought that these flavors could blend beautifully into his favorite dessert of all - cheesecake.

The final product was made of three parts: home-made cheesecake on ginger snap crust; vermouth-and-bitters cherry filling; and bourbon-spiked caramel.

I drool even typing those words.

This took awhile to make and I did it in phases, but I guarantee it's worth it. I made the caramel and the cherries a few days before I made the cheesecake, so I'll start there.

Manhattan Cherry Filling:
12 oz pitted frozen cherries (bless you, Dole; pitting cherries is the worst)
1/3 cup sweet vermouth (I prefer Dolin)
6 dashes Agnostura bitters
1/4 cup sugar

I combined the sugar, vermouth, and bitters in a sauce pan over low heat until all of the sugar melted. Then I dumped in the cherries and basically cooked everything down until the liquid reduced by half.

Bourbon Caramel Sauce
Before this cake, I'd never made caramel. Let me tell you - it's really easy until OH MY GOD CREAM AND HOT BOILING SUGAR MAKE YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO SELF-IMMOLATE. It's super calm until it's super intense and then everything is silky and creamy and delicious. Bear with me.

The ingredients? 1 c sugar, 1/4 c water, 1/2 cream, 3 - 4 tablespoons bourbon (Maker's Mark is the preferred bourbon in our house). You combine the sugar and water, bring to a boil, and stir until it starts to turn slightly golden. Here are my shaky "What Am I Doing?!" iPhone pictures of this:

Once it barely starts to turn that beautiful brown color, take it off the heat and slowly add in the cream while whisking. Maybe I did this entire thing wrong but OH. MY. GOODNESS. For about 15 seconds I was convinced I ruined my whisk and had a solid block of caramel-ish blob. But I kept stirring and finally everything was incorporated and silky smooth.

Ironically, I probably could have used a shot of 3 - 4 tablespoons of bourbon before the Is My Caramel Broken!?! meltdown. Instead, you add it to the very end. Careful if you're serving this to kids or non-drinkers - it isn't as sharp as drinking bourbon itself, but there is still some alcohol alive and well in the caramel.

The final product, as promised, is gorgeous. It's silky and sweet and goes with everything and then, just as you think you've tasted all the layers of caramelized sugar and cream, that punch of bourbon smacks you in the mouth. It's a good smack, I promise.

I refrigerated both the cherry filling and caramel for 3 - 4 days until I made the cheesecake. Both of them kept beautifully. In fact, the remnants of the caramel still live in my fridge and still tastes delicious drizzled on ice cream, cookies, or sometimes in a desperate PMS-ing moment, on the end of a spoon. We've all been there, right?

Are you still with me?? We're on to The Cheesecake. This was a large cake and I brought about half of it to my office to simply rid our fridge of leftovers. Not a single morsel remained. I've made cheesecake before and my secrets lie in two areas. First, I think that graham crackers have had their day when it comes to my cheesecakes and instead I make a ginger snap crust. I crumble ginger snaps, 1/2 cup melted butter, and sometimes some lemon zest and press it into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake it for 8 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees until it starts to set.

My second tip? Using a blend of ricotta and cream cheese. Ricotta is one of my favorite food groups cheese types and it is truly so versatile. The actual blend is as such:

12 oz ricotta (I prefer part skim)
16 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
Vanilla extract to taste

In a stand mixer or bowl, mix all ingredients except the eggs until smooth. Gently add each egg one at a time and mix until incorporated.

I poured half of the batter into the crust, added all of the solid cherries and most of the liquid from the filling, and topped it all off with the remaining half of the batter.

I had a little "juice" from the filling left over, so I poured it across the top and swirled it with a knife.

Tap the edges of the pan gently but firmly to remove any and all air bubbles. Place the springform into a larger pan and surround with water. This "water bath" will prevent the cheesecake from drying out while you bake it. Bake at 300 degrees for an hour or until the center is set. Cool in the oven (heat off, door open) for one hour and then move to a cooling rack.

Spoiler alert: the cherries all fell immediately to the bottom of the cake. In future iterations, I'd pour the entire batter into the pan first, then add the fruit on top, and then bake.

It still looks incredible, right? And let me assure you - it was.

This is truly my perfect dessert. The spiciness from the ginger crust, the dense cream cheese and the fluffy ricotta, the sweetness from the cherries tempered with the bitters and vermouth, plus the smooth caramel sauce on top. Every single bite of this cake deserved slow, careful consideration. Don't be scared of cheesecake - you can easily adapt it to your favorite flavors and making it fresh really makes a difference in both texture and flavor. I'll definitely feature more cheesecake varieties in the future!