New Years Toast – Raspberry Cream Mimosa

Its New Years Eve!  Crazy how time flies isnt it?

Debbie and I have been MIA for a week now, not intentionally, but it just happened with everything going on.  We had an amazing Christmas filled with family and friends.  Kevins dad, Harry, sister, Lisa, brother-in-law, Kyle and their 2 yr old daughter, Harper, spent Christmas at our place which was a lot of fun and a LOT of presents under the tree!  For our official dinner we were also joined by Mark and Debbie, my sister, Sam and brother, Matt, Debbies mom (and my grandma) Pat, Marks parents, Moe and Judy, and Kevins aunt and uncle, Hans and Betty.  Full freeking house!   Dinner turned out great thanks to Debbie and Pats help in the kitchen.

We had a wonderful Christmas, but its also nice that the craziness is over…  I still have a weeks holiday from work which is so nice, because I need to clean my house, work out, and get my butt back in gear with this blog.  Debbie and I have a few ideas for the blog in 2015 so hopefully you will hear about those soon.

I will tell you one blog related New Years resolution right now though:  I resolve to start using apostrophes when proper grammar demands it. lol.  I’ll try anyways…

Actually, I don’t really want to make New Years resolutions.  I usually don’t anyways.  However, I always feel like the beginning of a new year is full of possibility.  A chance to do better, make a positive change in your life, set new goals and reflect on what worked and what didn’t in the year just passed.  One of my girlfriends makes a vision board every year because she finds that it helps her to achieve her goals if she writes them down and reads them from time to time.  I know that when you say something out loud, tell someone, or write it down, it makes an idea in your head all that much closer to a reality.   I think I’m going to follow her lead and make a vision board, or a vision document (on my laptop) this year.

One thing she said that she’s doing different this year is to choose a personality strength to cultivate in addition to setting goals.  I love this idea. Why not try to improve something that your already doing well and maybe use that strength to affect other parts of your life positively.

Alright, on to the cocktail. It is New Years Eve after all and you need a fabulous cocktail to celebrate and bring 2015 in properly…

We know its not friday, but New Years Eve deserves a special cocktail.

This mimosa was inspired by Tyler Florence and his Orange Cream Mimosa.  It’s the same idea, but we used real fruit in our creamy granita and he uses orange juice.

First you need to make the creamy granita and it needs about 4 – 6 hours in the freezer so make it ahead of time! (Don’t worry, you have lots of time for this still)  When you are making the raspberry puree, just use the amount of sugar in the recipe as a guideline.  Some raspberries are sweeter than others so they will need more or less sugar.  You want the puree sweet, but just to enhance the raspberry flavor, not make it like raspberry candy.

When you put the cream in and mix it, resist the urge to drink it all up.  It tastes amazing and I will admit that I had a couple spoonfuls before I threw a cover on it and put it in the freezer.

This cocktail is so freeking good!  And also really easy to serve to a bunch of guests.  Just scoop a dollop of the granita into each glass and fill with sparkling wine or champagne and give it a stir.  Super easy.

What are your New Years plans?

This year Kevin and I might just bring in the new year watching a movie at home.  Kevin’s not feeling so hot today and his throat is pretty sore.  Debbie, the lucky bum, is in Hawaii with Mark.  She’s been beach bumming it and has also been swimming with manta rays!  So awesome!

Happy New Year Everyone!  Make a mimosa toast and kiss your hunny…

3.58 from 14 votes

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Raspberry Cream Mimosa

Course Cocktail

Prep Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Cooks with Cocktails inspired from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

• 1 bag frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup half and half cream
• 1 bottle of sparkling wine or champagne
• raspberries rolled in sugar for garnish , or just plain raspberries

Instructions

1. Thaw the frozen raspberries in a small pot over medium heat.
2. Once they get soupy, add the sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves. Taste it. If its not sweet to your liking, add a little more sugar. Some raspberries are sweeter than others.
3. Puree the raspberries or blend them up good.
4. Pour them through a sieve so that you get rid of the seeds. Let the mixture cool.
5. When its cool, add the cream and mix.
6. Throw it in a container and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
7. When you are ready to assemble your drinks, spoon a bit of frozen raspberry cream into a glass. A table spoon or two, however much you like. Then pour sparkling wine over to the top and drop in raspberry or two for garnish.
8. Serve.