Love and Olive Oil
Sicilian Gin Spritz Cocktail

Sicilian Gin Spritz Cocktail

Grapefruit Hibiscus Royale and Sicilian Gin Spritz - Sparkling Wine Cocktail Recipes

Now is the perfect time to break out a little bubbly. But instead of just sipping it straight up like I know you were planning to do, why not use that sparkling wine in a clever cocktail? Because I’ll tell you what, sparkling wine makes a surprisingly great mixer for unique effervescent cocktails.

Grapefruit Hibiscus Royale Cocktail using Sparkling Rosé Wine

The best part of these cocktails? You can enjoy them morning, noon, or night. They’re just as suitable for New Year’s brunch as they are to toast the New Year at midnight! How many cocktails can say that?

Grapefruit Hibiscus Royale Cocktail using Sparkling Rosé Wine

The Grapefruit Hibiscus Royale combines fresh grapefruit juice with elderflower liqueur and a ginger-hibiscus sugar syrup, and is then topped with sparkling rosé. Pink on top of pink on top of pink. We added a preserved hibiscus flower in syrup for a garnish.

Sicilian Gin Spritz Cocktail with prosecco and blood orange juice

A classic Italian spritz features Aperol (a bitter orange aperitif) and prosecco. We added gin, fresh blood orange juice, and a vanilla bean and Meyer lemon sugar syrup for an incredibly flavorful and bright cocktail we call the Sicilian Gin Spritz. Serve over ice and garnish with a blood orange slice or a twist of orange peel.

Grapefruit Hibiscus Royale and Sicilian Gin Spritz - Sparkling Wine Cocktail Recipes

We developed these recipes in partnership with KitchenAid to showcase their lovely undercounter beverage center, which is worth its weight in gold (or at least Bottega Gold Prosecco which comes in an Oscar-worthy gold bottle). We went back and forth on whether or not to install this as part of the bar area in our renovated kitchen/living room, since I knew I’d be needing every last inch of that cabinet space for dishes and props, but I’m so glad we did. I’ll admit, it’s usually filled with beer, but we also like to keep some sparkling wines from Palm Bay International on hand for entertaining. And since our regular refrigerator is currently packed to the gills with holiday fare (that gigantic brisket we just bought to celebrate Hanukkah dinner this week is particularly problematic), this beverage center is already proving its worth many times over.

Cheers to a fabulous 2017!

Sicilian Gin Spritz Cocktail with prosecco and blood orange juice

Sicilian Gin Spritz

Gin, fresh blood orange juice, and a vanilla bean and Meyer lemon sugar syrup combine for an incredibly flavorful and bright cocktail. Serve over ice and garnish with a blood orange slice or a twist of orange peel.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 strips Meyer lemon peel
  • 1/2 vanilla bean (pod only, save the seeds for something else yummy!)
  • fresh squeezed blood orange juice
  • gin
  • aperol
  • Prosecco or sparkling white wine

Directions:

  1. Combine sugar with 1/2 cup filtered water in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add vanilla bean and lemon peel and bring to a simmer. Cover and remove from heat; let steep for 10 minutes, then strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove solids. Let cool. (Syrup can be made ahead of time: store in a jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks).
  2. Fill a lowball glass with ice. Add 2 ounces blood orange juice, 1 ounce gin, 1/2 ounce aperol, and 1/4 ounce sugar syrup per glass. For larger quantities, these ingredients can be mixed together beforehand (just make sure to keep the overall proportions the same). Top with prosecco.
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This recipe was created in partnership with KitchenAid® and Palm Bay International. All opinions are my own. Be sure to share your take on these recipes on Instagram using #MadeWithKitchenAid for a chance to be featured on the @KitchenAidUSA account!

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6 Comments

  1. Rating: 5

    I’m here @ Cooper’s Hawk Wine restaurant and asked my bartender to make this drink..didn’t have vanilla bean but everything else…DELICIOUS!!! Definitely a summer refresher with a little pow pow!  I’m not on social media so I can’t see my picture..lowball glass and everything BUT bean..yummy

  2. Thank you for sharing these recipes! They look great! I love the fruit print you have, as well! Are you the artist?

  3. This is beautiful and your new site design is awesome! I love the fonts, the color scheme, the drop down menus at the top, you did a fabulous job!

    • Thank you, Averie! <333

      I started to get jealous of all the pretty/cool/functional features on all the other sites I was designing, about time I did something for myself. :) lol

  4. I saw this on Kitchenaid’s Instagram and swore it was a recipe/photograph by you but didn’t see them mention you. Ha! (Maybe they did but I didn’t see it.) Lovely as always! Looks delish!

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