Guilt Free Cocktail: Limoncello Mint Sorbet

The beginning of the school year historically seems to bring out the humidity in Iowa weather.  This week is projected to be no exception.  This time of the year is perfect for a cool cocktail, and one with guilt free properties is especially delightful.  Fresh fruit adds a seasonal touch to this refreshing drink.

Limoncello Mint Sorbet

2  cups water

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup limoncello

1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 large lemons)

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

2 cups blackberries

Lemon slices (optional)

* Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; add lemon juice and mint. Cover and chill.

*Strain juice mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon sorbet into a freezer-safe container; cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm. Serve with blackberries; garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

* If you don’t want to use the limoncello, you can substitute 1/2 cup of prepared lemonade.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:  184 CALORIES, 0.2 G FAT, 0.6 G PROTEIN, 34.3 G CARBS, 2 G FIBER

Guilt Free Cocktail: Blueberry Punch

I have a sweet tooth at times, so fruit is the ultimate guilt free indulgence for me.  Succulent, juicy berries bursting with flavor are one of my favorite things about summer.  I like to use the abundance of fresh fruit this time of year to my advantage by making some cocktails.  An added bonus for this recipe:  the antioxidants that make the berries blue may trigger increased fat burning.

Blueberry Punch

1/2 cup blueberries, plus 12 for garnishes

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups sparkling water

6 ounces elderflower flavored liqueur

4 lavender sprigs for garnish

* In a small saucepan, bring to a boil the blueberries, sugar and water.

* Cook 1 minute, breaking up berries with a spoon.

* Strain syrup, reserving liquid (you should have about 1/2 cup); let cool 15 minutes.

*  Fill a large pitcher with ice. Add blueberry syrup, sparkling water and elderflower-flavored liqueur (such as St-Germain); stir well.

* Pour into 4 glasses; garnish each with 3 blueberries and a lavender sprig. Serve immediately.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

177 calories per drink, 0 g fat, 22 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein

Guilt Free Cocktail: Watermelon Margarita

One of my favorite summer fruits is the watermelon!  It is an absolute delight to find one that has the perfect amount of sweetness and quenches your thirst and sweet tooth all at the same time.  I am convinced that I could polish off an entire melon by myself if I was hungry and attempted.  This recipe from Hungry Girl gives you the best of both worlds, a sinful feeling margarita and delicious fresh fruit.

Watermelon Margarita

1 1/2 cups cubed seedless or seeded watermelon
3 oz. tequila
1 tbsp. lime juice
3 no-calorie sweetener packets (like Splenda or Truvia)
2 cups crushed ice or 10 – 16 ice cubes

* Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour, sip, and enjoy!

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

1/2 of recipe (about 16 oz.): 138 calories, <0.5g fat, 2mg sodium, 10.5g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 7g sugars, 0.5g protein

Pineapple, Lime & Coconut Spritzer

This wine spritzer is a refreshingly cool thirst quencher to enjoy with friends and family on a sunny weekend gathering.

Pineapple, Lime & Coconut Spritzer

3 cups pineapple juice

2 cups coconut water

1/2 cup fresh lie juice

2 cups of sparkling white wine

* Combine pineapple juice, coconut water and fresh lime juice in a large pitcher.  Chill for 30 minutes (or up to 12 hours).

* Just before serving, add sparkling wine.

* Serve over ice, garnished with 1/2 pineapple slice.

Purple Haze

A friend of mine recently introduced me to the type of sushi that I find palatable.  She paired the sushi with both a Japanese beer (Sapporo) and also introduced me to a warm Sake and Chambord drink that she aptly titled Purple Haze.

Sake is a fermented rice beverage that traces its roots back to third century Korea. There are over 100 breweries (kura) in Japan.  Sake is usually 15-20% alcohol.

Chambord is a black raspberry liqueur.  It uses a unique three step process to make the liqueur a high quality product.  To make Chambord they perform a double fruit infusion and extraction, marry the flavors and blend the flavors.  Chambord is 16.5-23% alcohol.

The Sake and Chambord were served warm in a teapot, giving it an earthy, homey feel.  The raspberry flavor kicked the intensity up a notch.  The Purple Haze concoction was a fabulous accompaniment to the meal.

Pomegranate & Lime White Wine Spritzer

This spritzer has a nice amount of tartness because of the pomegranate and lime added.  And you can not discount the fact that this drink is full of antioxidants thanks to the pomegranate!  Nutmeg Nanny included this cocktail in her 12 days of boozy Christmas, and that series alone makes me love this nanny and website.

Pomegranate & Lime White Wine Spritzer

1/2 cup seltzer water

1 cup white wine

1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds

1 lime wedge

* Put ice in a glass.

* Add white wine and a splash of seltzer water.

* Add pomegranate seeds and lime wedge.

Bamboo

In a Bamboo cocktail, the two kinds of bitters add a new dimension to the sherry, making it more aromatic. A fellow blogger, The Cultivated Mind, recently wrote an interesting post about The Return of Bitters, so if you are interested in learning more about this product, check it out.

It was invented in Japan in the 1890s and can be perceived as an old man’s drink. Bamboo can be translated to a barrel-aged cocktail with a few adjustments to the original recipe as well.

Bamboo

1 1/2 ounces dry amontillado sherry

1 1/2 ounces dry vermouth

2 dashes orange bitters

1 dash Angostura bitters

Lemon twist

* Combine sherry, vermouth, bitters and cracked ice in a mixing glass.

* Stir ingredients for 20-30 seconds until well chilled.

* Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

* Add a twist of lemon to serve.

Barrel-Aged Bamboo

16 ounces sherry

16 ounces dry vermouth

1/2 ounce orange bitters

1 teaspoon Angostura bitters

1-liter oak barrel

(For Serving:  Ice and Lemon Twists)

* If the barrel is new and dry inside, fill it with water and let stand until watertight (about 24 hours) and drain.

* Fill the barrel with all of the liquid ingredients needed for your cocktail, using a funnel.

* Age the cocktail until it has taken on a softer, rounded but not overly oaky flavor (about 1 month).  Taste a sample once a week to ensure that you are not letting it age too long.

* Strain the cocktail through a coffee filter-lined funnel into a glass container.

* If you age a new cocktail in the barrel after a previous one, it may pick up on some of the flavor from the first cocktail aged in the barrel.  This can be a fun thing to play around with while aging drinks!

* Store until you are able to enjoy!

* To serve, pour 3 ounces into an ice-filled cocktail shaker and stir until chilled.  Strain the drink into a chilled cocktail glass and serve with a lemon twist.

Tinto de Verano

Tinto de Verano is a simple Spanish red wine spritzer.  It literally translates to “red wine of the summer.”

Tinto de Verano

1/2 cup red wine, preferably from Spain

1/2 cup lemon-lime soda, such as 7-up or Sprite

lemon slice

* Fill a glass with ice.

* Pour in the red wine.

* Then add soda and top off with lemon slice.

* Enjoy immediately.

Birthday Cake Martini

In honor of a dear friend’s birthday, I would like to share this decadent recipe for a lovely birthday cake martini.  What better way is there to feel like a kid again than to drink a cocktail with sprinkles on the rim, especially when those sprinkles fall into the drink and make whimsical, colorful swirls?

Birthday Cake Martini

3 ounces fluffed marshmallow vodka

1 ounce cream of coconut (be sure to stir well before using!)

2 ounces Amaretto

3 ounces Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur

Honey

Sprinkles (nonpareils work well)

In a shaker, combine vodka, coconut, Amaretto and White Chocolate Liqueur. Add ice and shake. Use honey to rim the glass with sprinkles.  Cheers to birthday celebrations!

 

 

 

Raspberry White Wine Spritzer

The Raspberry White Wine Spritzer is another simple, summer drink that will only take a few minutes to prepare at the end of a hard day at work so that you can quickly sit outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather or a beautiful sunset.  Sound Eats provided the basics for this easy to prepare recipe.

 

Raspberry White Wine Spritzer

white wine, chilled

fresh raspberries

sparkling water, chilled (flavored works well)

agave

* Crush the red raspberries and put in a glass.

* Pour in the white wine and sparkling water to taste.

* Drizzle with agave for added sweetness if needed.