Sparkly Sunday

I decided to glam up football day with sparkly pink drinks.


As we lounged around on the couch watching the game, I was thinking about the raspberries that I needed to use, and soon. I wasn’t in the mood to bake and never need much of an excuse to open a bottle of champagne, so I asked Andy what he thought about raspberry and orange together. Fine, he said. What about raspberry, orange and basil??? The look on his face said it all, but then he elaborated that the addition of the herbs made him uneasy.

I pureed the ingredients together, leaving the basil out, and gave him a taste. It was good. I added the basil, pureed again, and gave him another sample. Even better. The basil seemed to open up all the other flavors. Winner! 

Raspberry Sparklers

6 ounces raspberries

5 tablespoons fresh orange juice (I used Clementines)

1-2 tablespoons sugar (depending on tartness of raspberries)

2-3 large basil leaves, roughly chopped

Champagne or sparkling wine

Put raspberries, orange juice, sugar and basil in a blender and puree until smooth and sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture through a strainer to remove raspberry seeds and excessive basil.

Spoon raspberry mixture into champagne flutes (I used 3 spoonfuls per glass), then add champagne slowly (raspberry mixture causes major foaming).

Garnish with raspberry, basil leaf, and slice of orange, if desired.

This recipe made about 3/4 cup of mixture; enough for 1 bottle of champagne.

I know this sounds like an odd combination, but the flavors really work well together. These drinks go down like punch, and even though it’s pink and has a girly name, it’s sure to please even the brawniest football fan.

Cheers!

  

Click here for a couple of my other fun Sunday afternoon cocktail ideas:

Strawberry-Amaretto Champagne Cocktails

Frozen Peach Bellinis