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Bubbly Pear

Sparkling Italian Cocktails to Ring in the New Year

New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest party nights of the year which makes this annual occasion ideal for serving exquisite and impressive drinks. While a glass of champagne is the traditional way to celebrate, consider shaking things up this year by trying these fun, fizzy Italian inspired cocktails. Ring in 2020 with these sparkly cocktails, featuring favorite Italian bubbly such as Moscato and Prosecco and liquors including Limoncello and Amaretto.

This New Year, it’s out with the old, traditional glass of champagne and in with these new, sparkling delights.

Prosecco Gold Rush

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 12 oz Prosecco, chilled
  • 2 oz vodka, chilled
  • 1-1/2 ounces cinnamon schnapps

Preparation

Pour Prosecco into a clear glass without ice. Add vodka and cinnamon schnapps and stir to mix gold flakes evenly through the drink.

Bubbly Pear

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 6 parts pear flavored vodka
  • 1 part lemon juice
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 small ripe pear, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch dice
  • 1 bottle sparkling Moscato

Preparation

Place the lemon juice, sugar, pear and pear flavored vodka in a bowl and stir well to combine until sugar is fully dissolved.

Divide the pear mixture into six champagne glasses.

Fill each glass with Moscato and garnish with crystallized ginger or mint sprigs.

Sparkling Limoncello

Serves 10

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle pink Moscato
  • 1 200ml bottle Limoncello
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • pink food coloring

Preparation

Place sugar in a zip lock bag, add a bit of natural red food coloring and shake until combined to your desired color.

Place the colored sugar on small plate. Wet edges of champagne glasses under tap then dip in sugar.

Fill glasses with 1/4 Limoncello then fill the rest with Moscato.

Cranberry Amaretto Kiss

Serves 8

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup whole cane sugar
  • 2 cups unsweetened cranberry juice
  • 1 cup vodka
  • 1/2 cup Amaretto
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Preparation

Whisk whole cane sugar and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Mix cranberry juice, vodka, amaretto, orange juice and 6 tbsp sugar syrup in a pitcher and stir. Chill in the refrigerator. Pour into Martini glasses and serve cold.

Angelo Azzurro Cocktail

Ingredients

For each cocktail

  • 3 parts gin
  • 1-1/2 parts triple sec
  • 1/2 part blue curacao

Preparation

Add cracked ice to a martini shaker and pour in the blue curacao, triple sec and gin. Shake vigorously. Strain and pour into the glass. It is traditionally served in a martini glass with a lemon peel.

Frangelico Tuscan Mule

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 oz Frangelico
  • 4 oz ginger ale
  • lemon slice

Preparation

Pour the ingredients over ice in a tall glass. Garnish with an orange slice.

Prosecco Sfocata

We’re not sure why this is called the Blurry Prosecco in Italian, since it does not have as much alcohol as many other drinks. You could also enjoy it at a New Year’s Day brunch.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 cup fresh raspberries, plus more for garnish
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • Prosecco, for topping off
  • fresh mint, for garnish

Preparation

In a blender, puree together the orange juice, raspberries and sugar.

Pour 1/4 cup of the raspberry-orange puree into the bottom of each glass and top with prosecco. A few fresh mint leaves really make this easy cocktail sparkle!

Italian Mimosa

Also a great drink for New Year’s Day Brunch

Ingredients

  • 1 oz orange vodka
  • 2 oz blood orange juice
  • 3 oz Prosecco

Preparation

Mix first two ingredients. Strain into a flute glass and top with Prosecco. Garnish with blood orange wedge.

Nini Bellini

A Peach Bellini is the classic Venetian cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe peaches
  • 750 ml Prosecco, chilled

Preparation

Halve your peaches, remove the stones. Place into a blender or food processor and pulse until as fine as possible. Add a splash of water if needed. If you want a very smooth Bellini, you should pass the purée through a sieve, but if you prefer the more rustic style that you will find at Harry’s Bar, which is where the recipe originated, just place the purée into a pitcher and add the Prosecco. Gently mix the ingredients together. Divide between six glasses right away and top off with a little more Prosecco.

New Year’s Eve Countdown Cocktail

One of the newest New Year’s Eve traditions in Italy is to quickly eat a dozen grapes at midnight. Make sure to get sweet grapes. It is said that for every sour grape, there will a sour month during the year!

Ingredients

  • Prosecco
  • 12 grapes

Preparation

Place a dozen grapes on a wood skewer and place it into a tall champagne glass. Fill with chilled Prosecco and wait for the stroke of midnight to enjoy!