Fresh Strawberry Margaritas

Happy Cinco de Mayo! The proximity of this, the best food holiday, with Mothers Day this year is a bit unfortunate because I don’t have time to do them both justice and if you know me but at all, you know which I will favor. In fact, my ideal Mothers Day would really just be one long extension of Cinco de Mayo anyway. I figured a beverage recipe would be perfect for a last minute addition to whatever menu you might already have planned, and these fresh strawberry margaritas are ideal with spring berries in season.

These are pretty simple and straightforward to make and if you have a decently stocked bar and the expected spring stockpile of berries, you likely have what you need on hand. As you might expect of a strawberry cocktail, this is on the sweeter side of things. As written it is a bit sweet for my taste. Consider dialing back the sugar in the recipe or upping the ratio of alcohol to strawberry puree. Play around to find your perfect balance. Even the mistakes will be delicious.

Prep 10 minutes
Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

8-10 strawberries, hulled and halved
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ cups tequila (preferably blue agave blanco)
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
¼ cup Aperol
¼ cup Cointreau
Lime wedges
Ice
Strawberry salt or sugar (see note below)

Directions

01
To make the strawberry puree, combine the berries and sugar in the bowl of a small food processor or blender (or use an immersion blender.) Process until smooth. This will likely be a bit more puree than you need for the drinks.
02
In a pitcher, combine the tequila, lime juice, Aperol, Cointreau, and ¾ cup of the strawberry puree. Stir well to mix. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
03
When ready to serve, wet the rims of glasses using a lime wedge and dip in either strawberry salt or strawberry sugar. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add 1¼ cups of the strawberry margarita mixture. Shake well to chill and strain into the prepared serving glasses over additional ice, if desired. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
04
Note: The original recipe suggests rimming glasses with strawberry sugar made by pulsing equal amounts of freeze dried strawberries with sugar in a food processor until finely ground. This is just too sweet for me and I think margaritas need salt. As an alternative, try grinding freeze dried strawberries alone and mixing with whatever coarse salt you prefer for rimming margarita glasses (don’t process with the salt, just mix them together after the berries are ground.)

Source

Frontera: Margaritas, Guacamoles and Snacks by Rick Bayless