You can’t but marvel at nature, especially whilst cooking fruits like the colourful rhubarb. It is always a joy to create impressive looking dishes and drinks all done with nature-powered colourings. I have rhubarb popping up in my garden, and I’m on my second harvest already, so I thought a little celebratory drink to mark the arrival of spring is in order!

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Rhubarb and Ginger Gin Fizz

Syrup:

200g sugar

200 ml water

150g finely chopped rhubarb

1/2 vanilla bean, pod split and scraped

1 thumb of fresh ginger, finely chopped

Mixers:

100ml gin

100ml rhubarb syrup

150ml prosecco or other sparkling wine

a squirt of lemon juice

crushed ice to serve

4 sprigs of rosemary

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To make the syrup:

Combine all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook gently until the fruit is soft and the liquid has thickened slightly, about 20 minutes.

Pour and strain the liquid into a large bowl.

Pour the hot syrup into a sterilized glass bottle, cover or cork the bottle and refrigerate. The rhubarb syrup will keep for a week in the fridge.

Make the cocktails by mixing the gin, rhubarb syrup, and lemon juice in a jug or cocktail mixer. Divide the crushed ice between 4 glasses, pour in the mixture and top each glass with sparkling wine. Stir gently and garnish with rosemary sprigs. Serve immediately.