Bellini

White peaches are not a detail but the heart of the recipe. They contain less acid than yellow peaches, so the purée remains soft and floral rather than sharply fruity, and turns light pink instead of orange. Yellow peaches make the Bellini flatter and sweeter, pushing it toward peach lemonade. Out of season, which in the Netherlands roughly runs from July to September, frozen white peach purée is a more sensible choice than a hard imported peach. Thaw the purée in the refrigerator and never in the microwave, or you will get a cooked flavor.

One template, three different glasses. The Bellini uses 5 cl of white peach purée and 10 cl of Prosecco; the Rossini uses the same amount of strawberry purée, and the Tintoretto uses pomegranate juice. The Mimosa is slightly different, as it uses equal parts orange juice and sparkling wine and is therefore thinner and fresher. All three were invented in Venice and named after painters, which explains why color matters so much. With peach purée, the Bellini is the thickest and softest of the three, and therefore also the most filling.

Puréeing the fruit yourself gives the best results: dip ripe white peaches in boiling water for ten seconds, peel them, remove the pits, and purée the flesh until smooth. Allow two peaches for three cocktails. Ready-made purée from brands such as Boiron or Ravifruit is a perfectly good alternative and often more consistent in quality. Do check the label for added sugar, though, because sweetened purée makes the cocktail heavy. Bottled ready-made Bellini, such as Martini's, is something else again and lacks the texture of fresh purée.

For eight glasses, you need 40 cl of peach purée and one and a half bottles of Prosecco. Feel free to make the purée a day ahead and store it covered in the refrigerator; a splash of lemon juice keeps the color light. Add the bubbles by the glass, because in a pitcher the fizz disappears within twenty minutes. Pour the purée into the flutes first, arrange them on a tray, and top them up as soon as the guests arrive. Then stir gently with a bar spoon, once and no more, or everything will foam over the rim.

What is Bellini in one sentence: prosecco with white peach purée, nothing else. Because it contains no spirits, a bellini cocktail is lighter than most aperitifs; prosecco is around eleven percent ABV and the purée dilutes it further. The flavor is therefore soft and floral rather than sharp, with just enough bubbles to lift the fruit. In English-speaking bars, the same drink is listed as a peach bellini, but nothing changes in the glass.

Prosecco comes in different sweetness levels, and you taste that difference immediately here. Brut is the driest and lets the peach provide the sweetness; extra dry contains more residual sugar despite its name and pushes the whole thing toward dessert. Choose a bottle you would happily drink on its own, because in a drink with two ingredients, a flat fizz has nowhere to hide. Serve well chilled, at around six degrees, and keep the bottle in the refrigerator until the last moment instead of in a bucket of lukewarm water.