The honeydew the size of a human head had been sitting on my counter mocking me for yet another Costco overindulgence. When I saw the recipe for "cucumber, honeydew and cayenne frozen yogurt" in Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams I thought I had this problem solved. Until I saw the amount required--1/8 of a medium melon. Whaaaat? And then you only use 1/3 cup of honeydew puree? There was no way I was bringing this overripe monstrosity to my Sunday brunch meetup. What's a girl to do?
Pictured is the giant bowl of honeydew puree from most of the melon. See cat head shadow for scale. I forged ahead and made the cucumber/honeydew syrup--boil the above with a little sugar (proportions were roughly 1/3 cup honeydew puree, 1/4 cup cucumber puree and 1/4 cup sugar). That's about 10 times what I needed for the froyo.
I made a sparkling water and syrup beverage with the two tablespoons that wouldn't fit in the bottles. Delicious! What else is sparkling and tastes good with honeydew-cucumber syrup? Sparkling wine, natch!
Honey Please Do!
2 TBS honeydew-cucumber syrup
dash lemon bitters
sparkling wine
Put syrup in the bottom of champagne flute, add bitters. Top with sparkling wine.
They were a big hit at brunch once I stopped overflowing the glass-FWIW small, flat bottomed glasses cause massive issues with this particular beverage. Nothing to do with the bartendress--happened the very first cocktail I poured.