Icy French 75 cooler

Popsicles – yes, please! Popsicles with alcohol in them— ok, game changer. Happy place here I come!  A perfect idea for this week’s Friday Cocktails!

I love summer because it’s warm and the days are long. I also like to have a cocktail occasionally but in the summer I enjoy lighter, icier, colder drinks.

One of my favorite cocktails is a French 75 so when I saw all of the different boozy popsicles it was one of the first things I thought of to try and make into a popsicle. Several people have done it successfully; I’ve seen the pictures.

But alas, I have tried several times and cannot get them to freeze solid enough to actually eat like a popsicle. (Kind of wondering if this is why all the pictures that I’ve seen are of the popsicles either in a glass or laying flat?)

But westviamidwest is about food/drink adventures and the lesson I learned from this process is that sometimes you can still get a great new idea even in a “recipe flop.”

While I couldn’t get an edible popsicle, I was able to get another great icy cooler made using the classic French 75 recipe.

Historically the French 75 became popular in World War 1. When it was first made people commented that it knocked you as hard as French 75mm shotgun! While I don’t think they are particularly that strong, they are quite delicious. Of course, there are many early references to similar drinks with liquor and champagne and fruit juice earlier in time, but the French 75 itself was coined in the early 1900s.

Most recipes I found made it with gin, but a few in recent years have started substituting Vodka. Being a purist and loving the original cocktail with gin, I stuck with it for my Icy French 75 cooler.

My first attempts were in the ice pop molds. While they did freeze, they were more slushy than solid. I could get them out in pieces but not as a whole popsicle. (Can you say “these melt really quickly”…because they start melting before you can say that!)

In the end, the cocktail itself is so good I decided to make it like the Icy Rum Slush Cocktail mixing it all together, then pouring into a baking dish and freezing instead of the ice pop mold.

When you take a sip of this you get flavor from every ingredient: first the sugar and the lemon, then the blend of champagne and the gin right at the end. With the icy texture it is perfect version of a French 75 for the warm summer days.

Cheers!

Yield: 4

Icy French 75 cooler

Print

Need a new summer drink that's light, refreshing and easy peasy? An Icy French 75 is a perfect choice for those hot summer months to add a little zing to your life.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 day

Total Time 1 day 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 24 ounces Champagne, Prosecco or any Sparkling Wine
• 8 ounces of Gin, I like Burnett's, but any Gin is fine
• 8 ounces Simple Syrup
• 6 ounces Fresh Lemon Juice

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients in a pitcher well.
2. Pour into a baking dish and place in the freezer for 24 hours.
3. At 24 hours stir and serve in either wine glasses or highball glasses.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

4 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 376Sodium: 45mgCarbohydrates: 46gSugar: 44g

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