The alcohol ban has been lifted (for now), it’s that February summer heat in Cape Town that makes me count the days to autumn and it is Valentines Day this weekend. I think that is reason enough for a cocktail or two and have taken a classic gin fizz and given it a bit of a makeover.
According to Liquor.com, the first printed recipe for a Gin Fizz appeared in the 1876 edition of “The Bar-tenders Guide” by Jerry Thomas. The gin fizz is the frothy, bubbly, protein-packed cousin to the Tom Collins, which combines gin, lemon, sugar and soda. It is a super refreshing cocktail with the foamy top created by adding an egg white to the mix. Shake all the ingredients without the ice as this helps the ingredients to combine with the egg white. Then shake again with ice until ice cold and strain the contents into your glass for that foamy layered look.
To make a gin fizz fit for Valentines Day, I added a few drops of red food colouring (use sparingly so it does not end up looking like a bloody broken heart), and a few drops of rose water for a beautiful floral flavour. Keep it local using one of the many delicious craft gins made in South Africa.
I hope you enjoy this post for a Gin Fizz. If you’ve made it, share it with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred. It is always a treat to see the recipes made and enjoy.
The images in this post has been shot on two brand new surfaces from my range at shop.heinstirred.com. COOKIE CUTTER and SUNKEN PAVLOVA are without a doubt my current favourites and I have to stop myself shooting everything on them.
And talking about the alcohol ban that was lifted, if you are looking for easy meal ideas, my cookbook, DRUNK AND HUNGRY is available as a digital download. As the title states, the book consists of easy and flavourful recipes for when you find yourself drunk, and hungry. Savoury, sweet, vegan, vegetarian, bacon, cheese, spice, and carbs are packed into 15 easy recipes to satisfy your hunger while tantalising your tastebuds. The book has just been announced as the South African winner in the Digital Books category in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. It will now compete for Best in the World in Jun 2021 at the Cookbook Fair in Paris.
Purchase the book by clicking on this link
Gin Fizz
Ingredients
- 60 ml gin
- 30 ml lemon juice
- 20 ml simple syrup
- 1 egg white
- 1 - 2 drops red food colouring
- few drops rose water (to taste)
- 4 ice cubes
- 30 ml soda water
Instructions
- Add the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, food colouring and rose water to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds
- Add the ice cubes and shake vigorously until the cocktail shaker feels well chilled
- Strain into a chilled glass and top with the club soda
