This delicious winter cocktail is bursting with seasonally ripe, fresh pear juice. The fresh pear and almond cocktail is shaken with egg white to give it a silky mouthfeel and delightful froth. A sprinkle of cloves ties in spice of the winter holiday season.

Happy Holidays!

I'm currently sitting at the lobby bar at The London Edition surrounded by cheery locals and travellers. This is our third December visiting London in a row - it really has become a tradition now. The Christmas decor in England is just breathtaking, and with so many charming markets, beautiful department stores, and festive afternoon teas, London is basically designed to get you into the holiday spirit.

The fresh pear and almond cocktail is served in a glass decorated with baby's breath and rough twine. — First Snow

We missed the mark slightly this year by not visiting until after Christmas. But if I see anyone trying to take their decorations down before we get to enjoy them, they will have another thought coming! ( 😉 jk) Just before we left Toronto, I had time to create this cocktail. I wanted to make something light and fresh - like freshly fallen snow.

how to make this pear almond cocktail

I used Bosc pears for this recipe. Despite their rough-looking exterior, their flesh has a delicate and spicy-sweet flavour. You can get enough juice from one pear for one cocktail.

A Bosc pear surrounded by baby's breath flowers.

Peel the pear, and chop it into small pieces (cutting out and disposing of the seed area). Put them into a small bowl and mix them together with a small splash of lemon juice to slow them from browning.

The pear is chopped and muddled into a purée.

Then use a muddler to mash the pear into a thick purée.

Next you're going to pour the pear purée into a cheesecloth and wring the juice out into a small bowl. Make sure to get all of it. The cheesecloth will keep out all of the pulp.

The pear purée is squeezed through cheesecloth to strain the juice.

mix it up

Because this cocktail contains egg white, we are going use a technique called dry shaking (without ice) followed by regular shaking (with ice). Make sure that you are using a pasteurized egg. For more information on how to handle eggs hygienically for cocktail use click here.

Add the pear juice, vodka, amaretto, orgeat syrup, and egg white into your cocktail shaker. Dry shake it now (without ice) for a good thirty seconds. This will activate the egg proteins to give it that beautiful smooth texture and froth.

And overhead shot of the fresh pear and almond cocktail.

Add a few ice cubes and shake the cocktail for another thirty seconds (a nice little arm workout) to chill and dilute the drink. Pour the cocktail through a small sieve into a glass. This is an important step because the sieve will catch any potential residual egg white strings that are trying to sneak into your drink.

Sprinkle with a little dusting of cloves (which conveniently masks any scent of egg) and voilà - your fresh pear and almond cocktail is ready to be served. Just be ready to mix up some more when this one doesn't last long.

A close up of the fresh pear and almond cocktail.

Decorating this glass was so simple. I simply bundled baby's breath flowers around the stem of crystal glassware and tied it up with some twine. I think these would look beautiful at a wedding.

A wide shot of the first snow cocktail with a Christmas tree in the background.

For another festive cocktail with a bit more depth and spice to it, you should try making my amazing honeycrisp apple sangria. It doesn't disappoint.

Honeycrisp apple sangria garnished with a star anise pod, surrounded with flowers and spices.

I used these:

cocktail bar set

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orgeat syrup

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First Snow {Fresh Pear Almond Cocktail}

5 from 10 reviews

Author: Asha
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving 1x
Category: cocktails
Cuisine: American

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Description

Ingredients

Scale

1 ripe Bosc pear

splash of lemon juice

1 oz (30 ml) vodka

½ oz (15 ml) amaretto

¼ oz (7.5 ml) almond orgeat syrup *

½ oz (15 ml) pasteurized egg white **

pinch of ground cloves

special equipment

cocktail bar set

cheesecloth

Instructions

Peel pears and chop into small pieces, discarding the seeded area. Mix pieces in a small bowl with lemon juice, then mash them into a purée with a muddler.

Put the pear purée into a cheesecloth and wring all of the juice out into a small bowl. Discard the pulp that remains in the cheesecloth.

Add pear juice, vodka, amaretto, orgeat, and egg white into cocktail shaker and dry shake (shaking without ice) for 30 seconds to activate egg proteins, producing the smooth texture and foamy top. Next, add a few ice cubes into the cocktail shaker and shake again for another 30 seconds.

Pour the cocktail through a sieve into a glass to catch any egg white that didn't get completely blended in.

Sprinkle the frothy top with a little dusting of cloves.

Equipment

cocktail bar set

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Notes

* Orgeat is a cloudy, sweet syrup with a strong almond flavour. It is made with almonds, sugar, and either rose water or orange blossom water.

** For information on how to handle eggs hygienically for cocktail use click here.

Nutrition

Serving Size:
Calories: 109
Sugar: 20.3 g
Sodium: 35.7 mg
Fat: 0.4 g
Carbohydrates: 37.5 g
Protein: 2.4 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg

Keywords: fresh pear almond cocktail

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First Snow {Fresh Pear Almond Cocktail}

Happy Holidays!