Poinsettia Cocktail

Asked by susanlouella. Answered on 5th January 2012

Full question

Nigella's Poinsettia recipe in Feast calls for cranberry juice. Is it the pure juice, which is rather tart, or cranberry juice mixed with other juices, which is much sweeter and is more readily available in the supermarket?

Our answer

The Poinsettia cocktail appears in Christmas on p3 and is a mixture of cranberry juice and prosecco. Feast also has a cocktail made with cranberry juice - it is the Seasonal Breeze on p43 and is a mixture of Campari, blood orange juice and cranberry juice.

Both cocktails use the regular cranberry juice that is available in supermarkets (usually both in chilled and ambient form). This juice is more accurately a "juice drink" as it is sweetened either with apple or grape juice, both of which have a fairly neutral flavour, or with sugar or an artificial sweetener.

The cocktails do not use the type of cranberry juice that is blended with other berries, such as raspberries or blueberries, though you could certainly try one of these in the Poinsettia if you prefer.