Spicy Frozen Plum Sangria
And now we reach the part of the summer program where we cling desperately to the frozen drinks. It's still hot as balls but you can start to catch the first faint traces of pumpkin spice wafting on the air.
Plum season, y'all. I'm always all about them plums right now. And the sangria. And the frozen sangria.
Why spicy? I dunno. I have a lot of damned jalapeños growing in my yard right now. Also? I kinda like putting spice in things that maybe everyone else doesn't want to put spice in. So don't put jalapeños in this if you think it's weird. YOU DO YOU.
S P I C Y F R O Z E N P L U M S A N G R I A
Makes 4 servings. More or less.
1 bottle dry red wine
1/2 cup plum brandy
2 each, red plum, black plum, pluot, pitted and cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 cup jalapeño honey simple syrup (instructions below)
1/4 cup elderflower liqueur
1/2 cup tart cherry juice
plum slices and jalapeño slices for garnish
For the jalapeño honey simple syrup, you'll need:
3 whole jalapeño peppers, sliced
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
To make the syrup, combine jalapeños (with seeds, for more punch), honey, and water in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a simmer and stir until honey has completely dissolved. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and strain peppers.
Combine plum brandy, red wine, and plums in a pitcher. Leave overnight to soak. Pour off liquid into ice trays and place in freezer. Dump wine-soaked plum bits into a freezer-safe container and place in freezer. Freeze everything for several hours or overnight until solid.
To make the frozen sangria, place frozen plums and cherry juice in blender and blend until smooth. Add wine cubes, elderflower liqueur, and honey simple syrup. Blend until smooth. Garnish with skewered plum and jalapeño slices.
Here's a very dignified photo of me holding this lovely tray of drinks.
And here is how things usually look.
Cheers to clinging to summer by drinking lots of frozen wine.
