Happy Birthday Ma'am!

A big week for Blighty!

Today is Her Majesty’s birthday (her actual birthday, not the official one with all that colour trooping). Perhaps one shouldn’t mention how old dear Elizabeth is, but if you’re baking her a cake we suggest you pop down the shops and pick up about 83 candles.

Here on the farm, we’ll be raising a glass to Her Majesty. And what better way than with a glass of something from the beloved Belvoir Fruit Farms recipe book – the Dragon’s Breath cocktail.

Let’s be clear: we are not implying HRH has a bad spot of halitosis. Not at all. The Dragon’s Breath cocktail is in celebration of St George, dragon-slaying patron saint of England (and Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia, according to Wikipedia).

The cocktail makes use of Belvoir’s delicious Raspberry & Rose Cordial – available, of course, from our online store.

Here’s the recipe in full:

Method: lightly crush the chilli and raspberries in a shaker. Add all remaining ingredients and shake for 8-10 seconds (if you’re feeling brave, throw in a few tricks to make you feel like a Las Vegas bartender). Double strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a long red Thai chilli.

Toasting the Queen with a Belvoir Fruit Farms cocktail on St George’s Day. Could anything be more quintessentially English? (Perhaps watching the London Marathon with a slice of victoria sponge while moaning about the weather.)

Best of luck if you’re running the aforementioned marathon on Sunday. Remember to refresh yourself with plenty of water (or delicious cordial from you-know-who) during and after the race!

And if you do decide to make the Dragon’s Breath cocktail – or any of the Belvoir Fruit Farms recipes – please send us your pics. We’d love to post them on this blog.