Holiday Party Cocktail and Appetizer Idea
These cocktails are fizzy, fruity and fun. They'll make your guests feel special.
Ingredients
- 1 750-ml bottle Champagne, chilled
- ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 3-4 big lemons)
- 1-2 cups simple syrup recipe follows
- 1 lemon halved and sliced thinly
- 1 lime halved and sliced thinly
- 1 small container of fresh raspberries
- Crushed ice cubes
For the Simple Syrup: yield: 2 ½ cups
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
Instructions
Make the Simple Syrup
- In a small pot, combine the sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the syrup to cool for 30 minutes. This will make about 2 ½ cups of simple syrup, but you will only need about 1 or 2 cups of it for the cocktail.
Assemble the Lemonade Raspberry Champagne
- In a large pitcher, combine the lemon juice, lemon and lime slices, and 1-2 cups of cooled simple syrup. This depends on how sweet you like it. Start by adding 1 cup, and add more as needed at the end. Add the raspberries. Pour in the whole bottle of Champagne and mix.
- Fill glasses with crushed ice and pour the cocktail on top. Serve immediately.
TIPS: If you want the Champagne cocktail to have more of a pink hue, muddle some of the raspberries first and let them gradually turn the drink pink as it sits. If you want each glass to have fruit inside them, garnish each individual glass first with some of the citrus slices and raspberries. Then add ice when guests arrive and pour the cocktail on top.