The Saucy Italian Drunken Noodles recipe I just made gave me the idea for today’s post. I wanted to make something Italian with a bit of a twist and it needed to have alcohol. This Very Berry Bellini recipe seemed tailor-made. The classic Bellini is made with prosecco and peach puree. This berry version keeps the prosecco and substitutes a variety of fresh berries and vanilla simple syrup for the peach puree. And it sounds amazing!
Today we’re bumping up the berry factor and making very berry bellinis. Made with a trio of berry goodness: strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. It’s fruity, slushy and I’m willing to bet you won’t be able to stop at just one.
The Ingredients
The nice thing about this recipe is that it’s full of delicious summer berries. I love any excuse to eat (or drink in this case) berries! They were easy to find at my local grocery store, along with the prosecco.
I’m sure I could have found vanilla simple syrup at a larger liquor store, but I didn’t even look. Simple syrup is easy to make with sugar, water, and vanilla extract, and I had all of those things in my pantry. It saved me a trip and a few dollars, but I did have to take the time to make it and let it cool.
The Process
The instructions for this recipe couldn’t have been simpler: put all the ingredients into a blender and blend. Real-life just didn’t cooperate for me, at least on my first try.
The First Try
I made a huge mess the first time I blended up a batch of Very Berry Bellinis. It all seemed to be going well until I started blending. My blender’s pitcher holds 40 ounces (5 cups), and it had plenty of room for all of the ingredients. So far, so good.
Then I hit the pulse button a few times. It turns out there wasn’t enough room for all the ingredients plus the foam caused by blending a carbonated beverage like prosecco. I had sweet pink foam all over my kitchen counter. Oops!
After cleaning up the mess, I had to sample and photograph my bellini (in that order). The upside was a damn good berry bellini. However, I noticed the drink separated into layers very quickly (picture below). From top to bottom it was foam, berry slush, and liquid. It didn’t look much like the photos with the recipe, and I was kind of bummed about that. I was also determined to find a solution.
The Second Try
The next day I gave the Very Berry Bellini recipe another try with some modifications. First, was quartering the strawberries. They were small, to begin with, but I got more into the measuring cup by cutting them into smaller pieces. More berries are always good!
Second, no blending the prosecco. I started by blending everything else and testing the consistency. It wasn’t as thick as I wanted, so I added another cup of ice cubes for a total of 3 cups. I would have used crushed, but my icemaker has decided I no longer need crushed ice.
Then I poured my berry slush into a large pitcher and slowly stirred in the prosecco with a long bar spoon. It did foam a bit, but nothing like blending it the day before. The results were what you see in the main picture with this post. This version looked a lot like the author’s pictures, and I think I could taste more of the prosecco.
My theory is that I was able to blend the berries more this time, and that gave it a richer color and smoother consistency. It did eventually separate a little, but it took longer and wasn’t as dramatic as the first try. This is the version I’ll stick with.
