Holiday Apple Pomegranate Sangria

Red wine with a bit of herbal simple syrup, fresh apples, raspberries, and pomegranate liqueur make for a festive sangria that will bring joy to your holiday celebrations. Make it ahead of time to give time for the fruit flavors to infuse into the wine.

Sangria is an adult beverage I’ve come to appreciate more and more ever since my friend Ann at The Fountain Avenue Kitchen posted her recipe for classic Spanish sangria. Since then I’ve made many variations of Sangria, both white and red versions, each one with its own special twist.

This year I wanted to make a holiday sangria and serve it up at my Holiday Cocktails, Appetizers & Desserts cooking class. I made it the weekend before for my friend and I to sample, just to make sure my concept was good. We both agreed, yes, it’s fabulous. So then I made it up again for the holiday cocktail cooking class at work. When we posted the announcement, we had a full class signed up as soon as we posted it. But, as luck would have it, we happened to get 9 inches of snow the day of the class and our class participants were dropping quickly as they had to run to pick up children or simply just to get home before the roads got too bad. Our workplace was eerily quiet that afternoon and only one of the participants that signed up ended up showing up for the class. We recruited a few more eaters/drinkers by shouting out “free food and wine” from the balcony. They didn’t mind joining us at all–we got through one pitcher of sangria, but it left me with another pitcher full of sangria to enjoy at home.  Oh shucky darn! 😉

The key to this fabulous sangria is the pomegranate liqueur. Just a small whiff of that cordial is enough to send me into a tizzy. It’s delightful! I had a little trouble finding it in my sleepy little town, but the helpful people at the first store I went to first scoured every corner of their store to find it, and then called around and found it for me at another location. It took MUCH longer to get the liqueur than I had planned for, but I was so appreciative of their effort and happy that my plan could come to fruition.

Make sure to eat the fruit along with the Sangria as you sip it. Both the alcohol and colors infuse into the fruit, making it a taste sensation all on its own. You can skip the rosemary simple syrup if you have to, but I do really recommend it for a little additional complexity of flavor. If you’re concerned about calories, substitute stevia for half of the sugar in the syrup. It will still taste divine, I promise.

Holiday Apple Pomegranate Sangria

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
• Yield: About 4 - 6 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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• 1 bottle red wine (I’ve used merlot and RedVolution red blend, both with good results, although I think I liked the merlot better)
• 1 apple
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 cup Pama pomegranate liqueur
• 2 Tablespoons brandy
• 2 Tablespoons orange liqueur
• 1 – 2 Tablespoons rosemary simple syrup (recipe below)

To top: Sparkling apple cranberry juice or club soda

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Instructions

1. In a pitcher, combine all ingredients except the sparkling apple cranberry juice (or club soda). Put in the fridge and let marinate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.
2. At serving time, pour into glasses, putting some of the fruit in each glass. Add a bit of sparkle by pouring a little sparkling juice or club soda onto each serving. Enjoy!

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Notes

To make the rosemary simple syrup: In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup sugar (or part sugar/part stevia), 1/2 cup water and 2 good-size sprigs of rosemary. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar in the water, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Tuesday’s Table.