Ready to wow your guests next time you host the annual holiday party? Christmas Ornament Mimosas are a show-stopping cocktail that tastes just as good as they look!
Decorated with sugared cranberries and fresh rosemary sprigs, these holiday cocktails are incredibly festive but surprisingly simple to prepare. When you're ready to drink, simply uncover the ornament and pour over the garnishes. It's an interactive food experience that everyone will enjoy. Serve alongside my shredded apple pancakes.
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $0.78
- Total Cost (4 glasses): $3.11
- Those Other Guys: $6.99 per glass
Ingredients
- Champagne or Prosecco - Grab a good dry (brut) champagne or Prosecco for these mimosas. For non-alcoholic options, see the substitutions section below!
- Cranberry Juice - For this recipe, I used cran-apple juice. You can switch out the flavors of juice for your favorite.
- Fresh Cranberries - We're going to sugar cranberries and then freeze them. They look like they are snow-covered (so cute!), and also serve as a way to keep the drinks cool.
- Sugar + Water - Heat equal parts sugar and water together to make a simple syrup. We'll coat the cranberries in this, and then toss with a little more sugar before freezing.
- Edible Glitter - Optional, but it looks incredibly festive. A pinch of edible glitter in the ornaments really ties everything together! And don't worry; it doesn't affect the taste of your drinks at all.
Variations and Substitutions
Mocktail Mimosas: Instead of the alcohol, use ginger ale or sparkling lemonade.
Juice Suggestions: This recipe uses cran-apple for the color and to keep in theme with the holidays. You can substitute for any sort of other fruity mixer like orange juice, pineapple juice, guava juice, etc.
Sugared Rim: Dip the tops of the glasses into the simple syrup, and then some coarse, colored sugar for a fun sugar rim!
How to Make Christmas Ornament Mimosas
Step 1: First, let's create the sugared cranberries. Heat your sugar and water in a pot until it begins to bubble, then remove from heat and let it sit for 2 minutes.
Step 2: Add fresh, rinsed cranberries to the simple syrup and stir with a silicone spatula to get them evenly covered.
Step 3: Let the berries cool completely, then toss in a bit of extra sugar. Add the sugared cranberries to a parchment-lined sheet pan and freeze until ready to serve.
Step 4: For the ornaments, use a funnel to add in Prosecco or champagne.
Step 5: Then pour your cran-apple juice.
Step 6: Add a bit of edible glitter (optional) for extra festive drinks.
Recipe Pro Tips
- Keep the ornaments steady. While filling up the round ornaments, I set them on top of shot glasses so they wouldn't roll away.
- Changing the glass? Measure the width. The ornaments I bought fit perfectly on top of champagne flutes. Bigger ornaments can go on top of stemless wine glasses, if you prefer those. (They also will hold more liquid - win-win!)
- Rock around the Christmas Tree! For an even cooler hosting trick, hang these onto a Christmas tree (regular sized, or a mini one in the center of the table.) Set out your prepared glasses, and have guests pick their own ornament to pour!
Recipe FAQs
We thoroughly wash and dry the ornaments before adding anything to consume. For those who are wary to drink out of plastic, there are glass ornaments you can use - just be careful with potential breaking.
Any clear ornament with a removable lid will be fine for the cocktails. I recommend a completely closed lid to avoid any errant spills. The bigger the ornament, the more mimosa can fit.
It simply looks really festive! When you swirl the ornament, the glitter shimmering inside reminds me of a Christmas snow globe! Edible glitter has no taste or texture, so you could leave it out if you want.
Other Christmas Recipes You'll Love!
If you tried this Christmas Ornament Mimosas Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Christmas Ornament Mimosas
Equipment
- 2.36 inch Clear Ornaments with removable lids, washed and dried
- Funnel
- Champagne Flutes
- Silicone Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
- Shot Glasses to prop up the ornaments
Ingredients
- 4 oz. dry champagne or Prosecco chilled
- 12 oz. cran-apple juice or your favorite juice
- 1.5 oz. fresh cranberries
- ¼ cup granulated sugar plus more for tossing
- ¼ cup water
- edible glitter
- fresh rosemary sprigs
Instructions
Sugared Cranberries
- In a small pot, heat ¼ cup of sugar and ¼ cup of water on medium-low heat, stirring consistently until melted.
- Once the mixture begins bubbling, remove from heat and let it stand for another minute or so to slightly cool down. This is how you make a basic simple syrup.
- Rinse your fresh cranberries under running water. Pick through and remove any berries that don't look appealing.
- Add the cranberries to the pot and toss using a silicone spatula until the berries are covered in the simple syrup.
- Pour the syrup cranberries into a bowl or container, and pop in the fridge for 2 minutes until cooled.
- To that same bowl/container, add some more sugar, about 2 tablespoons to start - you add more if needed.
- Toss the simple syrup-covered berries in the granulated sugar.
- Add the sugared berries to a parchment paper-lined baking tray and set in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the dish.
Ornament Preparation
- Thoroughly wash your ornaments with dish soap and dry them completely if you haven’t already.
- Pour 1 ounce of champagne and 3 ounces of juice into the ornaments using a funnel.
- Add a small pinch of edible glitter - a little goes a long way. You can use a toothpick or tip of a knife.
- Seal the filled ornament with the lid, then set on shot glasses to keep steady, add to a baking tray, and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
Assembly
- Layer the bottom of four champagne flutes with frozen sugared cranberries and fresh rosemary sprigs.
- Remove the filled ornaments from the fridge, and gently place each one on top of the mouth of the champagne flute.
- Gently swirl the ornaments just before serving to get the glitter to float around, like a snow globe.
- When guests are ready to drink, they simply remove the lid from the ornaments and pour the contents over the sugared berries and rosemary. Enjoy!
Morgan Z. says
Im having friends over this weekend for our annual holiday party and wanted to have a signature drink. Tested these out yesterday and they are gorgeous! I used champagne and simply orange juice from the fridge. The ornaments came same-day delivery which was nice. Will grab other juice flavors from the store this weekend and try your suggestion of hanging some on a mini Xmas tree we have. Many thanks!
Shani W. says
Love to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Morgan 🙂