Call it an adult slushy, slurpy, frosé, soft-Italian ice, or a milkshake—whatever you call it, it’s delicious. This fun frozen cocktail by Alex Province is inspired by his travels to Rioja, Spain, where they enjoy lemon-sorbet-cava milkshakes after meals.
• ON-DEMAND: Listen to Faith and the gang describe this cocktail during The Faith Middleton Food Schmooze®. •
Contributor Chris Prosperi imagines it as a summer barbecue palate cleaner, and Robyn Doyon-Aitken wants to start her next girls’ night with one in hand. Faith is going straight-up picnic dessert, here, and sees beautiful cups of sorbet-rosé shakes served with chocolate cookies or delicate chocolate cookie straws (pirouettes).
Alex made these for us in the studio with a dry sparkling rosé from Venice, Italy, but you can use any Cava, as Alex does, or other sparkling wine for this, really.
Photo: Toby Oxborrow/Flickr, creative commons
| Servings |
| 4 people |
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A touch of heavy cream adds enough richness to make these cocktails dessert-y—but at the same time—there’s a lightness and whimsy to them. Feel free to doctor these up the way you’d like them. Experiment with sorbet flavors (just be sure to use a good-quality sorbet). Remove the vodka, if that’s not your spirit. Add raspberries or Meyer lemon. Garnish with mint, or even a grilled herb for a little nuance. This is creamy frosé your way!
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- 1 pint good-quality lemon sorbet (Alex used Blue Moon Sorbet. It’s made in VT, and available all over New England).
- 1/2 bottle dry sparkling rosé (or Cava or any sparkling wine)
- Zest of 1 lemon (you’ll need some fine zest to incorporate into the cocktail, but some larger ribbons for garnish)
- 2 shots vodka
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- Leave a pint of sorbet out at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to soften (the softer, the better). Turn the sorbet out into a medium-sized metal bowl. Add the sparkling rosé and use a whisk to incorporate. The wine will help soften the sorbet even more.
- When the cocktail is smooth and drinkable, fold in finely grated lemon zest, vodka, and heavy cream until well blended.
- Pour into flutes (or any kind of cup if you’re at a picnic!) and garnish with little ribbons of lemon zest.
So we made this the other night, but the heavy cream didn’t mix well at all. It formed little globules. The taste was great, but the appearance not so pretty. Sort like it would look mixing olive oil into water. is there any trick to getting the cream mixed well in this otherwise delicious drink?
Alex suspects the acidity from either the cava or the sorbet is responsible for curdling the cream. It’s never actually happened to him. But, he suggests adding the cream as a very last step and working it in well next time you try this. (Or you could always grab that mini aerator you froth your coffee with. That might do the trick).
In Veneto region these are known as “sgroppino”. I have every time I go to Venice! Lovely in spring or summer while people watching in Piazza San Marco at La Lavena! ❤️