Prickly Pear Margaritas!

Prickly Pear Margaritas

Picked up some prickly pears on the way home from work and we decided to try making Prickly Pear Margaritas. I will post directions how to make the prickly pear syrup but this can also be easily purchased, if not local, definitely online. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, these are delish! Recipe below makes enough for two drinks, enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 6 oz tequila blanco
• 1oz Cointreau
• 3 oz lime juice
• 4 oz prickly pear syrup
• Kosher salt and turbinado sugar, for garnishing the glass
• Lime peels, for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine the tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and pear syrup in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously to incorporate.
2. Wet the rim of a margarita glass and dip into salt and sugar mixture.
3. Pour margarita into glass over ice. Garnish with a curled piece of lime peel. 

 Prickly Pear Syrup

Be careful picking the fruit, you can use tongs to avoid getting pricked. You can also burn off the little prickers with a flame or brush them off with a thick glove. Once cleaned and washed, slice both ends off and slice vertically along one side of the pear. Peel the skin off and discard.

In order to extract the juice, place the fruit inside a blender and pulse until liquefied. Place the juice into a fine mesh sieve and push out the juice into a pitcher or bowl. Discard the remaining pulp and seeds. Depending on the size of the prickly pears, 6 to 12 prickly pears will get you about 1 cup of juice.

Place one part juice to one part sugar in a pot and simmer for 5-10 minutes until slightly reduced. Cool and enjoy!