A classic Kir Royal combines champagne and crème de cassis. My version calls for pomegranate juice instead of the cassis. The pom juice isn't as sweet and I think it's fresher tasting and more lively. Plus it gives the drink a gorgeous color. To savor the bubbles, serve this cocktail in classic champagne flutes.
Ingredients
4 Sugar Cubes (Or 1 ½ tsp) 4 Dashes Angostura Bitters 20 Ounces Champagne (2 ½ Cups) 4 Ounces Pomegranate Juice 4 Lemon Peel Twists
Instructions
1.Place 1 sugar cube in each of the 4 champagne flutes. Sprinkle 1 or 2 dashes of the bitters on top each sugar cube. Pour 5 ounces of champagne into each flute. Gently pour 1 ounce of pomegranate juice into each flute. Drop a lemon peel twist into each drink. Serve immediately.
Budino in Italian means pudding but this is more like a molten cake, moist and almost gooey in the middle when served warm from the oven. I like to serve the budino with a scoop of homemade Banana Chocolate-Chunk Ice Cream (in my cookbook, Cooking From the Hip), but it's also great with creme anglaise and fresh raspberries or strawberries.
