Divallini Cocktail

A couple of years ago I tried the Bellini cocktail at the Baccarat Bar in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I fell in love with it. It's a very luxurious and shi-shi drink to be enjoyed for special occassions. For this New Year's eve I invented a cocktail I called the Divallini. Like the Bellini, I use Champagne as the main ingredient. I'm going to be serving these delish cocktails at our New Year's Eve party.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
• 2 TBSP. good Brandy
• 1 TBSP. Sugar
• Chilled brut champagne
• Grenadine
• 2 chilled champagne glasses

First, place the thawed raspberries in a bowl and add the 2 tablespoons of brandy and the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let it macerate for 15 to 30 minutes. Once it has macerated, mash the raspberries with a fork or purée in a blender. This can be done well in advance and kept in the fridge.

Spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoon of the raspberries into the chilled champagne glasses, 1 teaspoon of grenadine and slowly top up with champagne, stirring as you pour. You should ideally have one third raspberry purée to two thirds champagne. Serve straight away and enjoy!