Tutti Fruity

On the surface, Tutti Fruity is a tropical fruit drink with spice and exotic flavors. In fact, it is a very Italian drink with amaretto and maraschino cherry liqueur. I used Lazzaroni amaretto and Luxardo liqueur brands, so no domestic knock offs here.

But "tutti" in Italian (especially in orchestral direction) means to combine voices following a solo. That is what you have here, a combination of fruit, each doing a counterpoint to each others' melodies that we already know so well. There's summery peaches and winter pears and apples. There's cherry (and I dropped some of my wishniak soaked cherries into the blender to up the alcohol content and dark fruit flavors for bass effect), and there's apples for juiciness.

Peels are pureed and give the drink texture and flavor as well. Then there's the funky interplay between gin spice with Bombay Sapphire East in my recipe (with lemongrass and black pepper botanicals) and almond and maraschino liqueurs that are a little bittersweet. If you have a lot of fruit and the liquors on hand, this is a "must do!"

• 2 oz. diced apples
• 2 oz. diced pears
• 2 oz. diced peaches
• 3 oz. gin
• 1 oz. amaretto
• 1 oz. maraschino liqueur
• 1 oz. pitted Michigan cherries (optional but recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a blender with 1 cup of cracked ice. Blend until smooth. Pour into a chilled highball glass. (Makes two servings.)