This Slushy Kava Is the New Drink of Summer
The Aperol spritz selfishly stole the spotlight this summer. With its fizzy refreshing bubbles, sunset hue and cute orange slices, I mean enough is enough already! Sure, it’s delicious, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make room on those long, balmy evenings for one more refreshment: thick, frothy cava sorbet.
The Italians don’t have all the fun – the Spanish also know how to stay cool when the sun feels like it’s 20 feet from your face. Cava sorbet, or sorbet de limon al-Cava, is made by mixing the icy, refreshing lemon dessert with sparkling wine. The resulting drink (if served quickly enough) is frothy and enticingly thick, but not in the suspicious way of a frozen margarita mix. The frothy sweetness and bright citrus flavor are sure to put a smile on your face, even through the beads of sweat.
How to make a simple cava sorbet
This drink is so easy to make, it’s amazing how it hasn’t become more popular yet. Add eight ounces of lemon sorbet to the blender jar or deep measuring cup if you use an immersion blender like I do. Pour three or four ounces of cava for dessert and add one or two fresh mint leaves. If you like your drink creamy, you can add a spoonful of cream or sweetened condensed milk to the mixture. Whisk it all until smooth. Pour the mixture into glasses and enjoy.
Can’t find Kava? Can’t find any sherbet? Luckily, this is a pretty flexible ingredient list. My Shoprite in Brooklyn didn’t have lemon sorbet in its regular pint container, and the freezer with little tubs of Italian ice was broken. So, necessity took the steering wheel into its own hands. I used Talenti mini lemon popsicles. Yes, this is a shady professional operation that I run here. I broke off pieces of sherbet from the stick and moved on.
This is not the only thing that can be faked. If you prefer prosecco, you can substitute sparkling wine or, better yet, champagne. Cava is a sparkling wine made using the same traditional fermentation method as champagne. You could even say that Cava is the Spanish version of Champagne, so if you can’t find Cava, you know what to do. You’ll get the same delicious taste without anyone knowing your Spanish drink is French. Or is it the Italian version if you use sorbetto? I’ll get back to you about this after I finish my cava sorbet.