Cocktails, Anyone?

Kelley came over this weekend and what better opportunity to craft a new cocktail from the bottle of St. Germain that I just got? Over the last year, I've been reading a lot about St. Germain, an elderberry flower liqueur just launched in 2007.

I had no clue what elderberry flower liqueur might taste like. I was imagining something kind of floral and lilac-like, something that I might not like. Wow, was I wrong! This liqueur has a gorgeous perfume of passion fruit, pears, dried peaches, and dried apricots, but mainly of passion fruit.

I can see lots of dessert and sauce applications for this liqueur. How about a splash of it in a fruit salsa, or crème anglaise, or crème brûlée? But mostly I can see excellent cocktails and I devised one that is still unnamed.

1-1/2 parts vodka
1-1/2 parts St. Germain
1/4 part Campari
2 dashes orange bitters
1/2 part fresh lemon juice
1/2 part simple syrup
Float of prosecco

Rim a chilled martini glass with colored sugar (this cocktail is tart). Shake all ingredients except the prosecco and strain into the glass. Float prosecco on top. Cheers!

Finally, I was taking some bottle photos for the restaurant blog with one of my trusty assistants. Have you ever had just too much help with something? Here then is Martini in action.