Latest news with #cocktail
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
When life gives you cumquats or kumquats make a marmalade and mezcal cocktail
In our Melbourne garden, the only fruit tree that produces with any regularity is a cumquat. Bitter little things, cumquats – spelled kumquats outside Australia – are not quite as versatile as most other citrus. So, I say 'when life gives you cumquats, make marmalade!' – then use it in a punchy and tangy cocktail. The Lady Marmalade is a late-night specialty in our household. You can make a non-alcoholic version by shaking up the marmalade with a tangy fruit juice. Grapefruit with a splash of lime works well; the marmalade adds texture and complexity that elevates the juice to mocktail status. The cocktail is made with mezcal and apricot brandy but you can swap out the mezcal for aged tequila, brandy or whisky. You could also use a brighter marmalade based on lime, lemon or grapefruit, and switch the lime juice for lemon to pair with a lighter spirit. To make the spiced marmalade, you'll need a saucepan, juicer, microplane, measuring jug and scale. For the cocktail, you'll need a rocks glass, shaker and a jigger. 500g cumquats 1 cup (250ml) water, or enough to cover the cumquats250g granulated white sugar, or to taste (I like to keep my marmalade quite tart)Pinch salt 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp smoked paprika ½ lemon, zest and juice Quarter or slice the cumquats (depending on size). You can cover the cumquats with the water and leave them to soak overnight if you have time. This softens the fruit, which helps it to cook faster and keeps the flavour fresher, but it's not imperative. If you do this, cook the cumquats in the same water you soaked them in. Put the cumquats, water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is tender and the sugar has dissolved. Add the salt, spices, lemon zest and juice while still over a low heat, then increase the heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue boiling for about 20 minutes, or until the marmalade has thickened. To check if it has reached setting point, place a small plate in the freezer until cold, then drop a dollop of marmalade on the cold plate. Tilt the plate and, if the marmalade doesn't run, you're good to go. If it runs, continue boiling for a few minutes, then use the same cold plate method to check again. Or you can just eyeball it, if you're a cowboy like me. Fish out any pips you can see. If marmalade is properly jarred and sealed in a sterile container, it can last in the pantry for up to six months. Once opened, keep it refrigerated and use within 12 weeks. 45ml mezcal 15ml apricot brandy2 tbsp spiced cumquat marmalade30ml lime juiceCubed iceCumquat halves, to garnish Add the alcohol, marmalade and lime juice to your shaker tins with ice and shake hard. 'Dump' into your glass (in other words don't strain it, just pour in the same ice you shook with), adding more ice if necessary to fill the glass. Garnish with a cumquat half. This is an edited extract from Behind the Home Bar by Cara Devine, with photography by Gareth Sobey (A$36.99, NZ$36.99, Hardie Grant Books), out 1 July
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
When life gives you cumquats or kumquats make a marmalade and mezcal cocktail
In our Melbourne garden, the only fruit tree that produces with any regularity is a cumquat. Bitter little things, cumquats – spelled kumquats outside Australia – are not quite as versatile as most other citrus. So, I say 'when life gives you cumquats, make marmalade!' – then use it in a punchy and tangy cocktail. The Lady Marmalade is a late-night specialty in our household. You can make a non-alcoholic version by shaking up the marmalade with a tangy fruit juice. Grapefruit with a splash of lime works well; the marmalade adds texture and complexity that elevates the juice to mocktail status. The cocktail is made with mezcal and apricot brandy but you can swap out the mezcal for aged tequila, brandy or whisky. You could also use a brighter marmalade based on lime, lemon or grapefruit, and switch the lime juice for lemon to pair with a lighter spirit. To make the spiced marmalade, you'll need a saucepan, juicer, microplane, measuring jug and scale. For the cocktail, you'll need a rocks glass, shaker and a jigger. 500g cumquats 1 cup (250ml) water, or enough to cover the cumquats250g granulated white sugar, or to taste (I like to keep my marmalade quite tart)Pinch salt 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp smoked paprika ½ lemon, zest and juice Quarter or slice the cumquats (depending on size). You can cover the cumquats with the water and leave them to soak overnight if you have time. This softens the fruit, which helps it to cook faster and keeps the flavour fresher, but it's not imperative. If you do this, cook the cumquats in the same water you soaked them in. Put the cumquats, water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the fruit is tender and the sugar has dissolved. Add the salt, spices, lemon zest and juice while still over a low heat, then increase the heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue boiling for about 20 minutes, or until the marmalade has thickened. To check if it has reached setting point, place a small plate in the freezer until cold, then drop a dollop of marmalade on the cold plate. Tilt the plate and, if the marmalade doesn't run, you're good to go. If it runs, continue boiling for a few minutes, then use the same cold plate method to check again. Or you can just eyeball it, if you're a cowboy like me. Fish out any pips you can see. If marmalade is properly jarred and sealed in a sterile container, it can last in the pantry for up to six months. Once opened, keep it refrigerated and use within 12 weeks. 45ml mezcal 15ml apricot brandy2 tbsp spiced cumquat marmalade30ml lime juiceCubed iceCumquat halves, to garnish Add the alcohol, marmalade and lime juice to your shaker tins with ice and shake hard. 'Dump' into your glass (in other words don't strain it, just pour in the same ice you shook with), adding more ice if necessary to fill the glass. Garnish with a cumquat half. This is an edited extract from Behind the Home Bar by Cara Devine, with photography by Gareth Sobey (A$36.99, NZ$36.99, Hardie Grant Books), out 1 July
Telegraph
a day ago
- General
- Telegraph
‘This could pass as homemade': The best and worst supermarket lemon sorbet
Cold, refreshing lemon sorbet; tangy and citric, with a depth of fruitiness. We may have (thank goodness) given up on serving scoops 'to cleanse the palate' between the fish and the meat course, but it's still an excellent way to end a meal. Or top it with a splash of vodka and a glass of prosecco to make a sgroppino, an Italian dessert-cum-after-dinner-cocktail. The high street offers many options, from supermarket own-label tubs to specialist producers. In my blind taste test of nine, I looked for a real fruit juice flavour, rather than the overwhelming taste of lemon flavouring. Lemon zest and oil have a place in sorbet, but not at the expense of juice. As for that important acid note, I want it to be nuanced and natural, not the sour slap of citric acid which has nothing to do with citrus fruit, as it is produced industrially by fermenting sugar. Skip to: I also scrutinised the ingredients lists, keeping an eye out for additions that manufacturers may use to improve the texture and slow the melt (more on which below) – after all, they have to produce a sorbet that will survive a journey home, perhaps an hour in a hot car, before being returned to the freezer. Effectively, it's partially defrosting and refreezing, which is disastrous for the texture of a homemade, all-natural sorbet. Some of those made with industrial emulsifiers (which give sorbet a spumy, or foamy, texture, melting to a froth rather than a syrup) did, in fact, taste good – but the best-flavoured one contained none at all. Which, in my books, is pretty cool indeed. How I tasted Each lemon sorbet was scooped into a glass while I was out of the room. The glasses were assigned a letter to anonymise them. I returned and tasted, making notes on flavour and texture. Once the identity of each had been revealed, I compared their ingredients lists and the weight-to-volume ratio.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Cocktail of the week: Câv's grapefruit ranch water
In essence, this is a twist on a classic ranch water that deviates slightly from our house recipe to make it more accessible for domestic purposes. It hinges on the bright, citrus notes of Alma Finca orange liqueur, and we add some homemade grapefruit cordial to give it some extra pinch; at home, just steep some grapefruit peel in the sugar syrup overnight instead. If you like, make up a big batch and serve socially by putting it in a soda stream at the table for people to help themselves. Serves 1 15ml fresh lime juice 15ml standard 1:1 sugar syrup Grapefruit peel, to steep in the syrup (optional; see recipe introduction)15ml Alma Finca orange liqueur 30ml tequila – we use Ocho blancoSoda water, to top1 wedge grapefruit, to garnish Measure the lime, syrup, Alma Finca and tequila into a highball glass filled with ice, stir to combine, then top with soda, garnish and serve straight away. Chris Tanner, co-owner, Câv, London E2
Telegraph
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
Arak summer cup cocktails
My friend Sami makes the most amazing Massaya wine in the Bekaa Valley, just above Beirut. He also distills his own arak using obeidi grapes and organic aniseed – it's a seriously good drop. It's perfect as a base for a refreshing summer cocktail like this one, or just as a breezy aperitif on its own. If you don't have arak to hand, don't worry – sambuca, ouzo or pastis will do the trick just as well. Ingredients 150g mixture of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries (you can use just two types of berries if you like), plus extra to serve a couple of handfuls of garden herbs such as mint, lemon verbena, lemon balm, basil etc, plus extra to serve 80g granulated sugar 4 measures (either a single shot or double shot, as you prefer) of arak (sambuca, ouzo or pastis would also work) ice, for serving 300ml kombucha Method Step Hull the strawberries and cut any large ones into quarters and combine with the remainder of the 150g berries (raspberries and blueberries) as well as a couple of handfuls of garden herbs in a large jug or bowl. Step Bring 300ml water to the boil and add 80g granulated sugar. Stir then simmer for about 1 minute until it dissolves. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes. Step Pour the sugar syrup over the jug/bowl of fruit and herbs. Step Leave to infuse until it cools completely to room temperature, stirring now and then. Step To serve, add 4 single or double shots of arak (or your spirit of choice) to the jug of infused syrup and berries. Gently muddle it all together. Step Half fill four tall glasses with ice then pour in the arak fruit infusion. Stir well.
