Spiced festive spritz
This delicious spritz from Yotam Ottolenghi's Christmas Menu is a brilliant way to start the holidays. It’s all about taking those familiar festive spices – cinnamon, star anise and cardamom – and pairing them with the brightness of pomegranate and orange, then letting it all mingle. The result is refreshingly light yet deeply aromatic.
- Makes8
- CourseDrink
- Prepare10 mins
- Cook5 mins
- Total time15 mins
- PlusCooling
Ingredients
- 750ml Prosecco
- 250ml sparkling water
Spiced pomegranate syrup
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 large orange (scrubbed), pared zest, plus extra peel for decorating
- 12 whole cloves
- 15 whole star anise
- 15 cardamom pods, bashed open using a pestle and mortar
- 150ml pomegranate juice
- 150g caster sugar
Method
For the syrup, put all the ingredients in a small saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for 1-2 minutes, then take off the heat and set aside to cool. Once cool, pour into a sterilised jar and chill for up to 2 weeks.
For the spritz, fill 8 white wine glasses ¾ full with ice, then divide the Prosecco among them, followed by some sparkling water and 25ml syrup per glass. Drop in a whole spice from the syrup and a twist of fresh orange peel to decorate.
Cook’s tip
You can make the syrup up to 2 weeks before and store it in the fridge. Pair with your favourite bubbles or wine, stir into hot chocolate or drizzle over ice cream.