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Spiced Apple Prosecco

Spiced apple prosecco is a sparkling Italian-American drink made by simmering cider with cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and brown sugar, then chilling it for bright, aromatic flutes. This version builds flavor by pouring a spiced cider shot into each glass and topping with chilled prosecco for a bubbly golden finish.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Drink
Cuisine: Italian-American
Calories: 170
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Spiced cider
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 star anise
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
To serve
  • 1 can (750 ml) prosecco, chilled
  • 1 apple, thinly sliced
  • 1 Cinnamon sugar for the rims

Method
 

Simmer spiced cider
  1. In a saucepan, simmer apple cider, cinnamon sticks, star anise, whole cloves, and brown sugar for 10 minutes, keeping the mixture at a gentle simmer. The spices should be fragrant and the liquid slightly reduced.
Strain and chill
  1. Strain the spiced cider through a fine mesh strainer to remove the spices, then chill completely. The cider should be cold before assembling the drinks.
Build the flutes
  1. Rim the champagne flutes with cinnamon sugar so a light coating clings to the glass edge. Let the rims set briefly so the sugar doesn’t slide off.
Assemble and garnish
  1. Pour 2 tablespoons of spiced cider into each flute. You should see a golden spiced layer at the bottom of every glass.
  2. Top each flute with chilled prosecco and garnish with an apple slice, then serve right away. Bubbles should rise immediately and the garnish should float near the surface.

Notes

To keep the spices from over-developing flavor, strain as soon as the 10-minute simmer is done, then chill the cider completely before assembly. Store the strained spiced cider in the refrigerator up to 4 days (freeze yes—up to 2 months), and rim glasses only right before pouring so the cinnamon sugar stays crisp. For a lower-sugar option, reduce the brown sugar to 1 tablespoon or use a sugar substitute that measures like brown sugar (taste first).