Sparkling Nectarine & Honey Cocktail

This simple sparkling drink is a very light and refreshing end of summer cocktail. It can easily be diluted with club soda or seltzer, to taste.

The recipe was adapted from drinkoftheweek.com. I used a white nectarine and lemon seltzer instead of club soda. The original recipe also suggests using plums, peaches, cherries, or apricots instead of nectarines.

Yield: One drink

• 1 1/2 oz vodka
• 1 oz honey syrup (half honey, half warm water)(I used Italian Melata di Bosca honey)
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 nectarine, sliced, plus more for garnish
• club soda or lemon seltzer
• fresh mint, for garnish, optional

1. Muddle the nectarine slices in the honey syrup.
2. Add the vodka and lemon juice and stir.
3. Top with ice and club soda or seltzer.
4. Garnish with nectarine slices and/or mint, as desired.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Speaking of strawberry cocktails… the added bonus of this amazing fresh strawberry ice cream is that the sweetened vodka-based macerating liquid makes a wonderful base for a celebratory summer cocktail. Nice! 🙂

The texture and color of this ice cream was absolutely incredible. It was the perfect use for my precious, freshly-picked strawberries. The ice cream recipe is from Martha Stewart Living; I included a recipe for the bonus cocktail below.

For the Ice Cream:

Yield: 1 1/2 quarts

• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved (about 3 cups), plus 8 ounces more, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for macerating
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup vodka or silver tequila

1. In a blender or Vitamix, puree halved strawberries with lemon juice and salt. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. (You should have 1 1/2 cups of puree; reserve any excess for another use.)
2. Combine milk, cream, 2/3 cup sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes.
3. Strain mixture into a bowl set in an ice bath and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in strawberry puree. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
5. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar and vodka. Add chopped strawberries and macerate at room temperature at least 2 hours, or in the refrigerator, covered, up to 12 hours.
6. Process puree mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. When it has the texture of soft serve, drain macerated berries (reserving syrup for another use) and fold into ice cream.
7. Transfer to a loaf pan and freeze, wrapped in plastic, at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.
8. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.

For the Bonus Cocktail:

Yield: 1 cocktail

• fresh juice from 1/4 large lime
• 3 oz strawberry-vodka-sugar macerating syrup
• tonic (for a sweeter cocktail) or seltzer (less sweet), as desired

1. Combine lime juice and macerated strawberry syrup in a glass.
2. Fill with ice and top with tonic or seltzer, as desired.