Apple Bellini

Put a festive spin on your fall brunch with this apple Bellini! Made with creamy apple butter and a touch of cinnamon, this sparkling apple Bellini is full of fall flavors, quick to prepare and easy to make. You won't find a more perfect fall brunch cocktail.

With the fall here, we can't have enough seasonal brunch sippers. Whether we're watching an early football game or curled up on the couch watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade with family, fall brings plenty of brunch opportunities, and that means bubbly cocktails in hand are a must.

Enter this apple Bellini. All it takes to prepare this sparkling fall cocktail is a quick stir and a generous pour of prosecco, and we have a delicious autumn Bellini that's perfect for any occasion. After one sip, I have no doubt you'll want to serve this apple Bellini with every fall celebration, so let's get to it, shall we?

What Is a Bellini?

Traditionally, a Bellini, which was named after 15th-century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini, is a classic brunch cocktail made of sparkling wine and peach puree. Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy, created this sparkly sipper as a seasonal cocktail, but it became so popular that it landed a permanent spot on the year-round menu.

However, we're giving this Bellini a fall twist by replacing the peach puree with apple butter. Like peach puree, apple butter has a thick texture, which gives this bubbly brunch cocktail a silkiness. Combined with the warm cinnamon, I find that slightly creaminess adds to the cozy autumn vibes.

Best Wine for Bellini

Given its Italian roots, prosecco is the customary wine for Bellinis. That said, you could certainly substitute Champagne for prosecco. If you go that route, I suggest a brut Champagne, which is dry. Cava, a sparkling wine from Spain, also makes a delicious substitution.

No matter what variety you choose, don't worry about grabbing anything too expensive since we're mixing it, but don't get the cheapest wine either. That $5 bottle with a plastic cork is not good. Something in the $10-$15 range works just fine.

How to Make

Cocktail mixing truly doesn't get easier than this Bellini. For a pretty touch, I like to rim the Champagne flutes with a mix of cinnamon and sugar. This step is optional, but it makes for such a nice presentation that I don't know why you wouldn't.

To rim our glass, we take an orange slice, cut it in the middle and run it around the flute to moisten. If you don't have any orange slices on hand, you can pour some water on a small plate and then dip the rim. On a separate plate, we stir together some cinnamon and sugar and then swirl our moistened rim into the mixture. Just like that, we have our fancy cinnamon-sugar rim.

Now we spoon our apple butter into the Champagne flute and sprinkle just a touch of cinnamon on top. We fill our glass about halfway and then stir to make one smooth mixture. Because we're dealing with bubbles, I find it's much easier to combine the two if we give ourselves some stirring room.

Once our prosecco and apple butter come together, we fill the rest of our glass, clink and sip away. Doesn't get much easier than that, huh?

Can You Make Nonalcoholic Bellini?

Sure, you can certainly replace the prosecco with a nonalcoholic option. My recommendation is to use sparkling cider to really play up the apple. Ginger ale is another tasty option that melds nicely with our apple butter, and I love the touch of sweetness it adds.

You can also substitute a lemon-lime soda. Obviously, it won't have the warm spice undertones, but we'll still get plenty of lively bubbles to mimic the prosecco.

Perfect Pairing

For this sparkling apple Bellini, we need a festive brunch treat. Fortunately, I have a some delicious options: my sweet potato muffins with ginger cream cheese filling, apple cinnamon rolls with maple cream cheese glaze or pumpkin crullers with caramelized maple glaze. Both come with those fall spices that match our apple butter and touch of cinnamon, and you can't go wrong bringing sweet maple and apple together.

When you need the perfect fall brunch cocktail, I hope you try this apple Bellini. Please let me know how you enjoyed this recipe in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. You can also catch me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

Cheers!

Looking for More Fall Cocktails?

• Chai old fashioned
• Sage-fig cocktail
• Gingered bourbon-apple cider cocktail
• Apple cider old fashioned

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