Hello everyone. My name is Louise, and today I’m guest blogging on Dawn’s blog. Dawn and I met in an e-course last year and we have been in contact ever since. So when she asked me to write a guest post for her, I happily obliged. I’m based in the Netherlands and I write a daily blog called 30s Magazine. My most popular blog posts are my table settings and recipes. Friends jokingly call me the Dutch Martha Stewart. So today I would like to share with you one of my favourite summer cocktails. It’s easy, it’s tasty, and it looks great.
One of the best things of the season is summer entertaining in your garden or, in my case, on my terrace. I love to invite friends over for drinks and a barbecue. Something that shouldn’t lack is a refreshing fruit cocktail that guests can spoon into their glasses as a drink, or if they like, drizzle over their ice cream. I love to make my self-invented ‘roses and raspberry cocktail’. It’s an explosion of flavours and colors: the sweetness of the fresh raspberries, the tanginess of the lemons, and the distinctive taste of rose water, mixed with bubbles and Cointreau.
Rose water and syrup is abundantly used in Turkish, Arabic and Indian dishes. They often mix it with coconut in desserts and with fragrant spices in meat dishes. In western cultures we tend to associate the smell with soap. Rose syrup seems to be an acquired taste for some. If you’ve never cooked with it, or think you don’t like it but want to give it a try anyway, I suggest using a delicate hand and tasting as you go. Too much rose flavour can overpower you if you never had it before, but just the right amount can be delicious. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Have a great summer! For the complete recipe, scroll down.
You’ll need (for 6):
- 8,5 oz fresh raspberries
- 2 green lemons, thinly sliced
- 1 bottle of lightly sweet sparkling wine
- 1,7 oz Cointreau (orange liquor)
- 5 oz rose syrup
- crushed ice
- rose petals for decoration
Directions
- Add the raspberries, lemons, Cointreau and rose syrup in a serving bowl
- Let it steep for at least 10 minutes
- Chill the bottle of sparkling wine
- Add the wine and crushed ice just before serving
- Add a few rose petals for decoration
I’ve never tried rose syrup but that drink certainly looks delicious!! Where do you find it?
Hi Michelle! I’m not sure where you find the rose syrup in the states, but I would think a store like Williams Sonoma would have it. I know I’ve seen rose water before.
Hi Michelle,
I think your best bet would be an Indian or Arabic store. In both cultures they use it a lot in desserts and cake.
This is so beautiful! I would love to make this for a book club meeting in the summer, or any time the ladies gather around the pool or patio! thanks!
Sounds delish and looks bee-you-tee-ful!!!