Ingredients for 1 begonia cocktail with orange vodka
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Slice of (organic) orange peel
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50 ml vodka
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100 g sugar
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1 tbsp dried mint
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Zest and juice of 1 (organic) lime
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10-15 pink or red begonia flowers *
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30 ml orange lacquer
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chilled carbonated water
How to make it
Place the orange peel in the vodka and leave to stand for at least 1 hour, and preferably a couple of days.
Heat the sugar with 200 ml water in a saucepan, and add the mint, lime zest and juice. Simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes to form a syrup, and pass this through a sieve. Chop the flowers up finely, add to the syrup and roughly puree so that syrup turns pink. You can sieve the syrup again if you want to.
Pour 20 ml (approx. 11⁄4 tbsp) syrup - or more if you prefer - into a large cocktail glass. Add the liqueur and the vodka and top up with sparkling water. Keep the rest of the syrup for later cocktails.
Ingredients for the lemonade
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150 grams sugar
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150 ml water
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100 grams begonia flowers
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2 lemons
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Optional: sparkling water
How to make it
Boil 150 g sugar with 150 ml water until all the sugar has dissolved. Crush the begonia flowers and mix with the sugar syrup. Leave to cool completely. Then blend the mixture thoroughly with the juice of two lemons and place in the fridge until needed. You can add sparkling water if desired.
The begonia lemonade and cocktail can be finished with the lovely DIY begonia stirrers. Serve with a small begonia fritter, a summery seabass or a finger-licking tart blanketed in begonia petals.
* Worth mentioning: never just tuck into a (cut) flower or plant. Only use edible flowers from specialist suppliers that have been grown for consumption.
