marasca fizz

this drink is the cover picture of a wonderful book, tiny bubbles, which were given a few years ago and is, i think, the book which got David and I into making and drinking cocktails at home. it focuses on cocktails made using sparkling wine – champagne, cava, prosecco etc. – and was a lovely gift.

this is a great drink – the delicate flavour of the kirschwasser is at the fore but complements the champagne well and is surprisingly refreshing given the amount of sugar and sweet cherries involved. lovely for summer.

place a little loose sugar on a plate. wipe 1 maraschino cherry along the rim of the chilled champagne glass then dip in the sugar - if you do this while the glass is upside down you will make less mess (don’t turn it the right way up until the glass has been dipped in the sugar). put 2 sugar cubes in each glass and add 3 dashes of angostura bitters, 30ml kirschwasser or other cherry brandy (we used my homemade kirsch) and 2-3 maraschino cherries (the recipe suggests 4 but i think 2 is ample) plus a dash of the sugar syrup they came with. top slowly with chilled bubbly and stir carefully.