Brunch Mimosas with Fresh-Squeezed Orange and Orange-Peel Cordial

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The mimosa gets a bad reputation because it's usually cheap bubbles cut with cardboard-carton juice. Squeeze the oranges yourself, strain the pulp out, chill everything hard, and add a spoonful of a five-minute orange-peel cordial made from the peels you'd otherwise throw away — it puts back the perfumed citrus oil that juicing leaves behind. Poured cold into a chilled flute with a dry Cava or Prosecco, it tastes like a hotel brunch cart instead of a college dorm.

Ingredients

• 2 navel oranges, for peel (juice them for the mimosas)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 2-inch strip lemon peel
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• 8 juicy oranges (Valencia, Cara Cara, or navel), for about 2 cups juice
• 2 750 ml bottles dry sparkling wine (Cava, Prosecco Brut, or Champagne), very cold
• 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur (optional)
• 6 thin orange half-wheels or wide peel twists, for garnish

Instructions

1. Make the cordial first so it has time to cool. Using a vegetable peeler, strip the zest from 2 oranges in wide pieces, taking as little of the white pith as possible. Reserve the peeled oranges for juicing.
2. Combine the orange peels, sugar, water, lemon peel, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer gently for 5 minutes — do not let it reduce hard or brown. Remove from the heat, cover, and steep 20 minutes off the heat.
3. Strain the cordial through a fine-mesh sieve into a jar, pressing lightly on the peels. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold, at least 45 minutes (it keeps 3 weeks in the fridge).
4. Juice the oranges, including the two you peeled, into a bowl or pitcher — you want about 2 cups (480 ml). Roll each orange firmly on the counter before halving to get more juice.
5. Strain the juice through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon, then discard the pulp. Straining is what keeps the finished drink from foaming up and turning cloudy. Cover and refrigerate the juice at least 2 hours, or overnight, until it's about 38–40°F. Warm juice will make the bubbles erupt.
6. Chill the sparkling wine in the refrigerator at least 4 hours, or in a bucket of half ice, half water plus a handful of salt for 25 minutes. Put six flutes or wine glasses in the freezer for 10 minutes.
7. Stir 3 tablespoons of the cold cordial into the strained juice and taste. Bright, sweet-tart oranges may need no more; a flat or sour batch can take up to 2 more tablespoons. Add the orange liqueur now if using.
8. Pour the sparkling wine into the chilled glasses first, filling each about two-thirds full and tilting the glass to a 45-degree angle so the foam stays down. Let it settle 15 seconds.
9. Top each glass with about 1/4 cup (2 oz) of the chilled juice mixture, pouring slowly down the inside of the glass — that's roughly 2 parts wine to 1 part juice. Do not stir; the pour mixes it and stirring kills the bubbles.
10. Garnish with an orange half-wheel on the rim or express a wide peel twist over the surface and drop it in. Serve immediately, and keep the open bottles and juice pitcher on ice for refills.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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