Chilling with Digestivi for Dessert: Negroni Sorbetto and Sgroppino al Limone

The weather is starting to warm up, so why not think about refreshing drinks that double as digestivi and dessert?  The Negroni, first made by Florentine barman Fosco Scarselli, is the quintessential aperitivo – one part gin, one part Italian vermouth, and one part Campari over ice, garnished with an orange wheel.

 This triumph of the barman’s art has delighted patrons for decades.  There are plenty of twists on the drink, from the Boulevardier to the Negroni sbagliato, the Cyn-Cin and beyond.  Here is another, an orange lover’s delight – a classic Negroni topped off with Prosecco and loaded with scoops of sorbetto kissed with liquor and citrus.  It’s a Fosco Float, and it combines the best the barman and soda jerk have to offer.

If it is lemon and Italian sparkling wine you are after, then look no further than a Sgroppino, that slushy marriage of Prosecco, vodka and sorbetto di limone (lemon sorbetto.) With a four hundred year history, this frothy charmer hails from Venezia, and takes its name from the verb sgropare, Venetian for loosen, as in loosening the knots in one’s stomach after a large meal.  While this chilly number works nicely as a cocktail, it really shines as a digestivo, and like the Fosco Float, doubles as dessert.

Both of these drinks share citrus sorbetti as a defining component.  Homemade sorbetti are best used within a couple of days of being made. Churn the sorbetto base until it is the texture of a thick, but pourable smoothie.  You may come across recipes that call for the addition of raw egg whites.  The egg whites act as stabilizers, extending shelf life, and contributing a creamy consistency. I prefer the dense sorbetto and more concentrated flavor that I can achieve without the egg white.  As the bases for sorbetti are not cooked, current food safety standards and the CDC dictate the use of pasteurized egg whites to avoid Salmonella.  For high quality pasteurized eggs, I suggest the widely available Davidson’s Safest Eggs. Visit Davidson’s website at www.safeeggs.com.

serves 2

2 oz. Campari

2 oz. Hendrick’s gin

2 oz. Cocchi vermouth

Prosecco

Negroni Sorbetto (recipe follows)

orange wheels for garnish

Combine the first three ingredients in a measuring cup and pour half into each of 2 chilled highball glasses.  Add 3 or 4 small scoops of Negroni Sorbetto to each glass and top with Prosecco.  Garnish with orange wheels. Serve with an ice tea or soda spoon.

makes 1 scant quart

The bitter orange flavor and luminous color of the Campari, combined with the floral notes of Hendrick’s gin and herbaceous Cocchi Vermouth are particularly complementary in this very adult sorbetto.  This sorbetto is excellent served by itself garnished with a wedge of orange or even a sprig of rosemary.  Use any of the three main cultivars of blood oranges, the dark Moro, or lighter, slightly sweeter Tarocco or Sanguinello.  If you can not find blood oranges, you may substitute Navel or Cara Cara oranges.

3 cups of blood orange juice

1 cup minus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon Hendrick’s Gin

1 tablespoon Cocchi Vermouth

2 tablespoons Campari

Combine 1 cup of juice and the granulated sugar in a small saucepan.  Heat over a medium flame until the sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally.  Increase heat and bring the mixture to a boil.  Remove from the heat and cool.  Add sweetened juice to the remaining 2 cups of juice, and place in the refrigerator until completely chilled, about 4 hours.  Transfer the mixture to an ice cream/gelato maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions until semi-frozen.  Add the liquors and continue freezing until the mixture has reached the consistency of a very thick smoothie.  Transfer the mixture to an airtight non-reactive container and freeze overnight to cure.

serves 2

4 oz. Prosecco

1 oz. Vodka

Sorbetto di limone (recipe follows)

lemon twists for garnish

mint sprigs for garnish

Place ¾ cup of sorbetto, Prosecco and vodka in the blender.  Blend on high speed until frothy.  Pour into chilled flutes and top each serving with a scoop of sorbetto, lemon twist and a sprig of mint.  Serve with an ice tea or soda spoon.

makes 1 scant quart

Sweet yet tart, this classic sorbetto is utterly refreshing, perfect on its own or in a Sgroppino.

2 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup fresh lemon juice

Peel of 2 lemons, preferably unsprayed

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel from 2 lemons, leaving the bitter white pith behind.  Make a lemon simple syrup by combining the water, granulated sugar, and lemon peel in a medium saucepan.  Heat over a medium flame until the sugar has dissolved completely, stirring occasionally.  Simmer very gently for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and strain, discarding peel.  Combine syrup and lemon juice.  Refrigerate 4 hours until thoroughly chilled.  Transfer to a gelato/ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions.  Transfer to an airtight non-reactive container and allow the sorbetto to cure overnight in the freezer.