Cheers!
While you’re at home cracking open a new bottle of Two-Buck Chuck, the stars and nominees at this year’s Golden Globes will be sipping on the oh-so-fancy MoëtGolden Night, created by celeb chef Aida Mollenkamp. It’s made with MoëtImperial, cardamom syrup, pear brandy and garnished with a fan of fresh pear slices.
If you, amazingly, have those ingredients at home, you can whip up the cocktail by following the instructions below. If not, nobody said there was anything wrong that that Two-Buck Chuck, ya know.
Moët Golden Night
Makes: 6 cocktails // Enough simple syrup mixture for 8 cocktails
Total Time: 25 minutes
Hands-On Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
1/4 cup unrefined granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
20 whole cardamom pods, crushed using the back of a knife or a mortar and pestle
1/4 cup pear brandy
1 (750 ml) chilled Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut Champagne
2 small ripe Forelle or Seckel pears, for garnish
Instructions
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan, stir to dissolve the sugar, add the crushed cardamom pods and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer the simple syrup for five minutes, then remove from heat and allow to steep and cool for 20 minutes.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the simple syrup, discard the seeds and pods, and place the simple syrup into a liquid measuring cup. Add the pear brandy and stir to combine. (The pear-cardamom simple syrup mixture can be made up to two days ahead and the Asian pears can be peeled up to two hours ahead.)
Just before serving, cut the pear off the core and slice pear lengthwise into 1/8-inch thick slices. (Separate slices into stacks of three and spread slightly to make a fan. If cutting slices ahead of serving time, coat them with a little lemon juice to prevent them from browning.)
To serve, add 1/2 ounce of the pear-cardamom simple syrup mixture to six white wine glasses (this makes enough syrup for eight cocktails). Add four ounces of chilled Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut Champagne to each glass, filling each glass about halfway. Garnish each glass with three pieces of fanned pear slices and serve.
