TIME FOR A TIPPLE: STRAWBERRY BELLE-INIS -

It’s blazing June here under the tropical skies where The Good Ship Resilience is anchored, and it just so happens the stores are full of strawberries.

Of course, strawberries keep about as well as secrets in high school, so this month’s cocktail recipe is an idea for how to use ’em up once you’re tired of pouring cream over the little beauties.

You’re probably more used to seeing Bellinis made with peach. That’s all very well, but peach season’s not for another two months, and I’m thirsty right now…

Strawberry Belle-inis

(with thanks to Claire at the Vancouver Elementary School Track Race Finals.*)

Recipe

- - 1 cup of ripe strawberries
  - 1 tablespoon of sugar
  - 2 fingers of cherry brandy
  - 1.5 cups of Prosecco, Cava or other sparkling wine (bonus points if you can find a rosé version)
  - A handful of ice-cubes

Method

Reserve two strawberries to garnish, top the rest and whizz them up in a blender.

You have a choice here – either strain this mixture through a sieve so your Bellinis are nice and clear, or leave the pulp if you want to kid yourself you’re making some kind of fibre-full health food.**

Now add the sugar and brandy to your clear or pulpy liquid, and blitz it in the blender again. Add the ice cubes and hit “blend” one last time.

Pour this nectar of the gods into two champagne flutes and top up the other half of each glass with your sparkling wine.

Clink glasses and enjoy the first taste of summer!

(If you’re not drinking, you can still enjoy this lovely summer cooler. Just leave out the brandy and swap in sparkling water or fizzy lemonade for the sparkling wine.)

*You were right, this is exactly what the afternoon was missing for spectators!

**Having tried both, unless you’re super picky about strawberry seeds in your teeth, it’s really not worth straining the strawberry puree! Also it takes either the patience of a saint, or forward planning, neither of which are my strong suits.

ABOUT F.K. MARLOWE

F.K. Marlowe is a Shropshire lass who lived in London and Beijing before settling down with her husband, three daughters and rescue pup in Vancouver. She writes horror stories with a tendency to the paranormal, and Young Adult fiction with fangs and sass.

Marlowe doesn’t worry overly much about the placement of semi-colons and the like, having spent far too long pootling about in academia to take them seriously. (She has an Oxford first in English Lit, plus a Master’s and PhD from Leeds). She has, however, discovered that life is the best education for a writer, and plans to continue her studies there as long as possible.

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