Alcoholic candy. Two of my greatest loves combined. This recipe uses an Old Fashioned cocktail syrup by Hella Cocktail Company simply because I am a fan of the brand, not for any sponsorship reasons (unless, ya know….heeeyy, Hella!) But you could really change this up to work for a lot of different cocktails. The whole thing has a whopping 2 ingredients, so it’s easy to change up. Use margarita mix and tequila for margarita candy, a mint syrup and rum for mojito ones for the summer, etc etc. I might do another post on this somewhere down the road with a few of my favorites.

 

The two ingredients in this one: Old Fashioned cocktail syrup and whiskey. I went with bourbon because I prefer it to rye in the real cocktail, but if you’re on Team Rye then go with that one. As for the syrup, I should say that simple syrups are not really used to make candy generally. You would typically use a much larger sugar to water ratio.

However this definitely makes things easier. The cocktail syrup eliminates the need for purchasing all the different ingredients that give these their Old Fashioned flavor, like orange, allspice, nutmeg, etc. AND you don’t have to balance out the flavors yourself, which can take some trial and error in candy-making since the cooking changes the flavors a bit.

This method means you can just dump a bottle into a pot, add some alcohol and let the heat do the rest. You will need a candy thermometer and a lollipop mold for this, although you could skip the latter if you just wanted to make a big sheet of hard candy and break it up into shards.

There are only a few key things to remember any time you are working with melted sugar. 1. Once the heat is on, don’t stir the mixture. Not even once. Just swirl it in the pan if needed. 2. Liquid candy is HOT. I know that sounds obvious, but trust me, you don’t want what is basically sticky lava to land on your skin. Just be careful, okay? 3. Sugar can take a long time to get hot, but once it gets into candy making temperature territory, things move fast. Be prepared and do not leave it unattended to, oh I don’t know, go water your plants, because you’ll come back to dark brown bitter burnt sugar just a minute later. Probably. I…wouldn’t know.

To make these, you will need:

• 12.5 oz Hella Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup (1 bottle)
• 1 Tablespoon bourbon or rye whiskey
• 1 additional teaspoon whiskey (optional)
• Lollipop molds, sticks and a candy thermometer

So to begin, prepare the mold, if you’re using one. If your mold has the little slots that hold the sticks in place, go ahead and get the sticks in now. I also like to have my mold on top of a big baking sheet with a silicone mat in it, just in case of spills  and for easy cleanup. If your mold is silicone you shouldn’t need to grease it.

Next pour the whole bottle of syrup into a large saucepan, or about 12 ounces if you’re using a different size bottle. Really this will work with any amount of syrup, you just might need more alcohol. Don’t we all?

Add in about a tablespoon of whiskey. The other teaspoon is optional at the end. This first  amount will cook off in the sugar, so the teaspoon is just to give the lollipops a tiny bit of alcohol at the end. It won’t make a huge difference either way, honestly, it’s just a little more fun. Go ahead and measure out the teaspoon now if you’re using it, just have it set aside for now.

Now turn the heat on to medium or medium high. From here on out its pretty much just waiting. It does take a while, but like I said, don’t wander off. Once you notice the mixture thickening and getting more bubbly, start checking the temp every couple of minutes. It tends to hang out at about 200 for a while but then moves much faster once it gets to about 250. You’re looking for 305-310.

As SOON as it reaches that, quickly add the extra alcohol (it’ll splutter and sound kind of dramatic but that’s why you’re using such a big pot) and then turn off the heat. If it gets even a little too hot your candy will burn and get bitter, and too cool will prevent them for being hard enough and they’ll droop and be sticky.

Carefully and quickly take the pot to your mold and pour the liquid mixture into the cavities. It’s usually pretty easy to overfill them so be careful but work fast enough the sugar doesn’t stay in the hot pan too long or cool off too much. It’s not as difficult as it sounds.

Once your molds are filled, make sure the sticks are encased within the candy and not just touching the tops, otherwise the lollipops will just fall off their sticks. Let the candy cool until they aren’t warm to the touch and seem solid if you tap on them. I usually give mine about a half hour at room temp and then a half hour in the fridge. After that, enjoy and share!

These would be awesome to have out on your bar at a party or to wrap and give as gifts. You know if these were in a little boutique-y box they would seem very classy and be expensive. You can also make them look fancier if you wanted. Try rolling the edges in demerara sugar or put a little piece of candied orange peel into each mold before you pour the sugar in to encase them, like a much less disgusting version of those ones with the scorpions and crickets in them.

If you make these or some other creative variation of them, I wanna see! Tag me on Instagram @nhubble or use the hashtag #followthatfork.