I know it’s only Monday, but these blackberry jalapeño margaritas are good any day of the week. We picked around twenty five gallons of blackberries last summer. I made 100 jars of jelly, I canned six quart jars of blackberries in a simple syrup to be used for blackberry cobbler throughout the year, I made blackberry popsicles, we ate them fresh, We even tried to make blackberry wine, and I still ended up with five gallon-size bags of them in my freezer. It’s a good thing I froze them because frozen fruit is perfect for making frozen margaritas. I love spicy foods, and the jalapeño in this drink is perfectly balanced with the cold from the blackberries and the sweetness from the sugar.

The secret to everything blending like it should is a simple syrup. Start by making the jalapeño simple syrup. You can refrigerate any extra that you make, so mix up as much as you like. You just need equal parts of sugar and water. Heat them up in a pan. Cut slits in the jalapeño, and as you are stirring, crush it with your spoon to get all the flavor out. Heat it until all the sugar dissolves. Then let it sit longer if you want more jalapeño heat and flavor.

While that’s cooking, measure out your fruit, and put it in your blender. The amount in this picture is for two large glasses.

You can’t have a margarita without lime juice.

And you certainly can’t have one without tequila

Next add in the simple syrup. You can strain out the seeds and pepper if you want. If you like it hot, you can pour it all in. Start with a 1/4 of a cup of the syrup and then add more according to how sweet you like it. Then blend until you no longer see fruit chunks floating around.

For a special touch, rub some lime juice around the rim of the glass and dip it in some sugar. (Add a lime wedge if you’re feeling really fancy.)

et voila

Enjoy responsibly!

Blackberry Jalapeño Margaritas

makes 2 large servings

Ingredients:

simple syrup:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 jalapeno

4 cups frozen blackberries

2 Tbsp lime juice

1/4 cup tequila

Directions:

Make simple syrup by heating sugar, water, and jalapeño (with slits cut into it) until sugar dissolves. then blend blackberries, lime juice, tequila, and simple syrup – start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste. Serve immediately.