Ina’s French 75
According to Ina Garten, television host and bestselling author of many cookbooks, “Dear friends of ours who love great cocktails brought me Brian Van Flandern’s inspired first cocktail book, called Vintage Cocktails, and I’ve bought every book he’s written since. This very special Champagne cocktail from his book is both sweet and lemony, with the rich flavor of Cognac.”
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) VS or VSOP Cognac
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) simple syrup (see note)
- 1/3 cup (3 ounces) freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
- 2 cups (8 oz./250 g) ice cubes
- 1 (750 ml) bottle good Champagne, chilled
- 4 long strips of lemon zest (see note)
Directions
Pour the Cognac, simple syrup, and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker and add the ice. Shake for at least 30 seconds (it’s longer than you think!). Pour the mixture into 4 Champagne flutes to fill each glass about two-thirds full. Fill the glasses with Champagne, garnish with the lemon zest, and serve ice cold. Makes 4 drinks.
Note: For this simple syrup, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and cook until the sugar dissolves. Cool.
Note: Use a sharp vegetable peeler to zest the lemon in strips, taking care not to get the bitter white pith.
Reprinted from Cooking for Jeffrey. Copyright © 2016 by Ina Garten. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.