Lark events helped me create some new recipes in the first year of my business, when I created one batch-size cocktail a week. I didn't expect friends and local businesses to ask for recipes specifically for their events, but it’s been fun—and necessity has certainly been the mother of my invention in the kitchen!
I was asked to create a signature cocktail for Big Read Lakeshore, a community reading project, which that year highlighted the book “When the Emperor Was Divine” by Julie Otsuka. It was fun to search for ideas for a cocktail with Japanese influence, and I found inspiration from The Artful Desperado, Gabriel Cabrera. The star anise in his recipe caught my attention.
The recipe is also inspired by Moroccan flavors, but it’s a serious fusion, with elderflower syrup, star anise, and figs. Overall the theme here is lavish and elegant—two things that I love in recipes. Enjoy this mix of sultry flavors, and buy fresh figs while they are ripe and available in stores (or at Trader Joe’s once in a while!). Freeze figs for the winter months when rich, luscious fruit will be a welcome treat!
Fig Sangria
Serves 20 (or a few more) in a 10-ounce rocks glass
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
6 star anise seeds
1 cups lemon juice
2 cups grapes, frozen
1 cup figs, trimmed and cut in quarters
9 cups dry white wine
½ cup non-alcoholic elderflower liqueur
3 cups club soda
1 rose, for ice cubes (in two empty ice trays, add one rose petal per cube, add water, and freeze)
25 mint leaves (or a few stems of mint) for serving
For Star Anise Syrup:
In a heavy-bottom pan, combine 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar with 6 star anise seeds. Heat over a medium flame or medium heat.
Boil for 5 minutes and remove from the stove, then chill completely. Discard seeds right before use.
For Sangria:
In a gallon jug, mix 2 cups Star Anise Syrup, 1 cup of lemon juice, 9 cups of white wine, and ½ cup non-alcoholic elderflower liqueur.
Directly before serving, in a large 1 ½ gallon serving container (if possible), combine pre-mixed syrups, wine, and lemon juice.
Add 3 cups of club soda and mint stems. Serve rose ice on the side.
Inspired by the West Elm blog featuring Gabriel Cabrera, The Artful Desperado.
Purchase the Lark Cocktails book for dozens more great recipes! #livinglark
