Kir 75 Cocktail: A Piece of Cake #17.2

You don't *have* to drink this outside, but you're gonna want to.

Yesterday was absolutely gorge here in Brooklyn, which meant I needed to get outside and make this year’s first cocktails in the garden. I popped over to our favorite neighborhood wine shop to pick up a cold bottle of something, but ended up grabbing a bottle of Current Cassis, too. Ok, I’m going to admit, the cute packaging drew me in. But so did the idea of making a cocktail with it. I love black currant, and I’m partial to liqueurs that taste well… real. This has a juicy black currant flavor, but with a darker, savory quality, grounded by just enough bitterness. Yum.

This isn’t #spon… but I’m open to that.

I whipped up a quick cocktail that Hunter dubbed a Kir 75. It’s halfway between a Kir Royale and a French 75. I keep Forthave Gin on hand (when the budget allows). So, the Kir 75 is gin, shaken with a squeeze of lemon, a splash of the cassis liqueur, and topped with a cheap, but delicious cava. Oh, and I ground up some freeze dried strawberries to rim the glass. You know, spring. The freeze dried strawberries came from Trader Joe’s—go get them, you’ll need them for upcoming recipes in the next few weeks. I also had black currant powder in my pantry (I know…), so I threw that in, too. But you can totally skip it and still have a nice, springy cocktail.

Kir 75

2 ounces Forthave Gin

1 ounce Current Cassis 

Squeeze of lemon

Cava

Strawberry-Black Currant Rim

¼ cup freeze dried strawberries (I use Trader Joe’s.)

1 teaspoon black currant powder (optional)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar 

Pinch of salt 

1. Blitz the ingredients for the rim in a spice grinder, until finely ground. If you have a mortar and pestle, you can use that, too!

2. Rub the rim of the serving glass with a slice of lemon, and dip into the powdered strawberry mixture. Fill with ice cubes.

3. Add the gin, cassis, and lemon juice to a shaker with ice. Shake well. 

4. Strain into the prepared glass. Top with cava, and garnish with a lemon twist. 

   

   Once you have a bag of freeze dried strawberries, you find all kind of ways to use them.

Latest & Greatest:

If you’re not a paid subscriber, here are a couple of my favorite moments from the last few recipes that you’ve missed:

• “Here’s a public service cake-nouncement: rotate your cake layers when you’re baking them! Halfway through the bake time, gently rotate your pans 180 degrees, and switch them from the top rack to the bottom rack of your oven. Gently.”
  - Banana Pudding Layer Cake: A Piece of Cake #17

  

• How to Build a Brodo: “Feel free to change up the combo, but these are my basics. If you have other stock scraps (eg: celery offcuts, carrot peel), toss them in, but these basics give you maximum flavor without creating a muddy color or an overly vegetal taste. This formula easily translates to a vegetarian stock; giving you a depth of flavor without the bones. If you’re skipping the bone, throw some mushroom stems into your broth. Then add some oyster mushrooms, shitakes, or super fancy morels to the final dish. Just gently cook the mushrooms in butter and add them in as you plate.”
  - Ham & Cheese Tortellini: A Piece of Cake #16

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Quick Bites:

• The spring weather has me looking forward to summer, and subsequently, doing things outdoors. Here are some outdoor essentials Andrew and I are eyeing: 

  • I got Andrew this Nomadix quick-dry beach towel for his birthday. A couple of friends picked them up last year and they come highly recommended. 

  • The Igloo Legacy Coolers are so chic and classic. I def want the green one for camping and picnics. 

    

  • I’m obsessed with this FrenzyBird folding table and the story Zach Brooks wrote about it for Eater. It’s an aluminum table that folds up and holds four chairs inside of it. Zach keeps the table in the family car so they can eat takeout in the parking lot of restaurants that otherwise don’t have outdoor dining options. Genius.

A Piece of Cake is written by Bill Clark and edited by Andrew Spena. Photography by Hunter Abrams. Logo design by Brett LaBauve.