Simple cocktail whets holiday spirits
The perfect holiday cocktail is easy to assemble in crowd-pleasing quantities, attractive and goes down smooth. This Poinsettia cocktail from Valerie Peterson’s entertainingly irreverent “Peterson’s Holiday Helper” is the perfect fit.
Poinsettia cocktail
To make simple syrup, simmer 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 cup of water until the sugar is dissolved, then cool.
3/4 cup cranberry juice
3 ounces simple syrup
6 ounces orange liqueur, such as Cointreau
750-milliliter bottle Champagne, chilled
18 fresh cranberries
In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the cranberry juice, simple syrup and orange liqueur. Shake well (until the shaker is covered with condensation). Strain the mixture, dividing it between 6 Champagne flutes.
Add the Champagne, dividing it between the glasses. Garnish each drink with 3 cranberries skewered on a cocktail pick. Serves 6.
– Recipe from Valerie Peterson’s “Peterson’s Holiday Helper,” Clarkson Potter, 2008.