The Cherry Bakewell Fizz is an interesting alternative to the classic Kir Royale.
Developing new cocktails is a great part of mixology where you look to combine great flavour combinations in the right proportions. Much of the inspiration for new cocktails comes from food. Obviously. Sometimes I may read about a cocktail with what I consider to be interesting flavours mixes. Sometimes I think about a food and work out how to reproduce the flavour.
Cherry Bakewell
A cherry bakewell tart is a great piece of cake. More than once I’ve been to Bakewell, a beautiful if touristy town in Derbyshire. When there you’ve just got to have a locally produced bakewell tart. Same when I go to Melton Mowbray. Got to have the local pork pie. I digress.
The basic flavour profile of the bakewell tart is of course cherry & almond. It’s not difficult to reproduce that. You only need 2 ingredients. Also it’s important that the finished drink is sweet. Cos that’s what the cake is like. It’s the same with the development of the jam doughnut. The finished product had to be sweet and sugar-rimmed.
The Kir Royale is a well-known cocktail which is merely champagne (or whatever fizz you’re using) combined with creme de cassis. The blackcurrant liqueur. I’ve always thought that adding just liqueur to fizzy wine makes the finished product a bit too sweet. So I prefer a version with a little spirit – such as lemon vodka to smooth it out a bit.
Cherry Bakewell Fizz – the recipe
This can be poured straight into your wine flute. Add these ingredients together
- 25 ml Amaretto – doesn’t have to be di Saronno
- 10 ml Cherry Syrup – I use Monin
- Champagne / Prosecco / Cava to top up
Then stir with a long handled spoon as vigorously as possible without spilling, to mix the syrup and liqueur with the fizz.
Keeping glasses cool – a tip
It’s always a good idea to have your cocktail chilled. However ice in your flute won’t necessarily do it. So what I used to do when running parties with Cocktail Shaker Boys was set up some glassware at the start of the evening and add ice to the empty glasses. Then when you get a request for say your Cherry Bakewell Fizz, you simply tip the ice from the empty glass into another empty glass. You now have a nicely chilled glass to pour your freshly made cocktail into.