Drinking dessert: the white chocolate martini at Crush

May 21, 8:25 AMBaltimore Food ExaminerKit Pollard

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A big glass of water, or the white chocolate martini? Photo by Alicia Barger.

I love dessert, but very often, if the meal is good enough, I'm just too full. Somehow, though, I'm never too full for another drink. That's why I love a restaurant with a robust dessert drink menu.

I had exactly that experience a couple of weeks ago, when Cooper and I had dinner with Mike and Alicia at Crush in Belvedere Square (510 East Belvedere Avenue, 443-278-9001).

Dinner itself was excellent. I started with the BLT scallops and had chicken for my meal - an unusual choice for me, but it was perfectly moist and drenched in a creamy mushroom sauce that was fantastic. Unfortunately, there was so much of it that I couldn't even eat half before I gave up (Cooper and Mike picked up my slack). As a result, when our waitress (who was great) came by with dessert menus, I really wasn't in the mood. Then she made the suggestion.

"I like a drink that's not actually on the menu," she said. "It's called a white chocolate martini." She went on to describe a simple drink: one part creme de cacao, one part vanilla vodka, all shaken over ice, then poured into a glass. That's it. "At home," she said, "I put a Hershey's kiss in the bottom of the glass. It's so pretty."

Knowing I wouldn't make it through a "real" dessert, I jumped at her recommendation (Mike did, too). But a few minutes later, when the drinks arrived at the table, I was feeling a bit of trepidation. After all, I'd just ordered myself a big glass of liquor. I might drink a lot of wine, but I don't drink tons of hard alcohol because, well, I'm not in college anymore.

Fortunately, the martini looked and sounded more potent than it actually was - by a lot. Mike and I both sipped our drinks and walked out of Crush a little warmer, but largely uscathed. And the drink itself? It was delicious. Just as advertised, it tasted like sweet chocolate, with just a bit of a kick. It's a perfect wintertime, cocktail-by-the-fire drink, or Valentine's Day party specialty cocktail.

So maybe it's not a perfect drink for the warm months of summer, but if you're sitting in an air conditioned room and need something to warm you up, you could do worse.