‘Tis the season for berries and fresh herbs. Both of these provided inspiration when I was looking for a special drink to make for this month’s Gourmet Dinner Club gathering. This group of ladies loves Proseco (well, really anything bubbly), so I wanted to come up with something fun to serve for our summer gathering. I decided on a fresh blackberry and rosemary syrup to go with the sparkling wine.The rosemary adds a level of complexity to the yummy sweet berries – perfectly ripe at this time of the summer. And, everything is always better when you add a bit of bubbly to it.

This syrup is very versatile – you can add it to other cocktails, sparkling water, lemonade or even use it to top vanilla ice cream.

Blackberry-Rosemary Sparklers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blackberry-Rosemary Sparklers

Print Recipe
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups of blackberries about 10-12 ounces
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 750-ml bottle Prosecco or other sparkling wine, chilled
  • Garnishes: fresh rosemary sprigs and blackberries

Instructions
 

  • Over low to medium heat, simmer blackberries, sugar, water, and rosemary in a small heavy saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced by about two thirds, about 30-40 minutes.
  • Pour into a very fine sieve set over a glass measuring cup (there will be about 1/3 cup). Discard solids (do not press on them). Chill syrup, covered, until cold.
  • Pour 1 1/2 teaspoons syrup into a small flute and fill glass with Prosecco.

Notes

- This recipe makes more syrup than you'll need for 6 drinks. Use additional for extra cocktails or stir it into sparkling water or lemonade or use it on top of ice cream.
- Syrup keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

 

Source:  variation of a recipe from Gourmet (September, 2002)