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Widow’s Dream, Cocktail #78

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Widow's Dream cocktail
Widow’s Dream cocktail

The Widow’s Dream is cocktail number 78 on the Swank Cocktail Guide.

Widow’s Dream cocktail history

An April 1908 article in the Mixer and Server credits bartender, Jake Didier, who authored The Reminder, with creating the Widow’s Dream:

Jake Didier, author of “The Reminder,” has been anxious for some time to dedicaate something to the women who care nothing about the race-suicide question and accordingly has compiled the following, which he is pleased to call the

“”Widow’s Dream.”

Take a 2/12 oz. sherry glass; float carefully in successive layers in the following: 1/4 glass of Benedictine, 1 fresh egg, 1 pony of cream (on top) and serve.

The Mixer and Server, vol. 12, 15 Apr 1908, p. 22, Widow's Dream.
The Mixer and Server, vol. 12, 15 Apr 1908, p. 22, Widow’s Dream.

Widow’s Dream cocktail recipe

Widow’s Dream cocktail recipe
Widow’s Dream cocktail recipe

2 jiggers Benedictine, 1 Egg, 1 jigger Cream. Shake well with ice and strain into glass. Serve with 2 short straws.

Ingredients used:

  • D.O.M Bénédictine
  • Egg
  • Light cream

Widow’s Dream cocktail review

Our ratings (1-5 🍸)

Greg: 🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸
Kim: 🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸

We did not float the ingredient as suggested in Jake Didier’s original recipe, opting to shake well with ice per the Swank Cocktail Guide.

The Widow’s Dream is delicious. As so many after-dinner drinks are mint or chocolate flavor, the Bénédictine provides a unique flavor that we throughly enjoyed. The egg provides a rich, fullness, but could be easily omitted for safety reasons without any loss of flavor. If doing so, one could use heavy cream instead of light cream for an extra pop of decadence.

We recognize this cocktail contains raw eggs so, while we made and enjoyed this cocktail, we don’t recommend drinking anything with raw eggs, so our advice is to skip this one.

Next up… Cocktail # 79, XYZ

Swank Cocktail Guide: 80 cocktails in 80 days

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