Dom pedro recipe: South Africa's drink for grown ups

Halfway between a dessert and a cocktail, the dom pedro is a South African classic. It's been around for decades and is a popular way to end a meal.

Essentially, the dom pedro is a grown-up version of a milkshake. The blended ice cream laced with alcohol is rich and creamy but lighter than a traditional dessert.

It's quick to make. Ice cream and cream are blended together with the alcohol of choice, then garnished with dark chocolate. The result is thick and decadent, flavoured only by the liquor chosen.

Dom pedros (or don pedros, depending on who you're talking to) have graced South African menus since the 1970s. While there have been rumours of the cocktail having Argentine origins, a local chef is widely acknowledged as making the first dom pedro.

While travelling in Scotland, he visited a number of whisky distilleries. At one, he poured the whisky over his ice cream, and so the don pedro came to be.

While dom pedros were traditionally made with whisky, Amarula is now a popular and distinctly South African alternative. Kahlua, Francelico and Baileys are also commonly used, with many bars and restaurants happy to use whichever liquor you prefer.