How to Turn Your Favorite Cocktail Into Lollipop
As Halloween approaches, there will be a lot of talk about making your own Snickers or DIY candy corn. I usually leave this alone as the Snickers bar is already refined. If I’m going to make my own candies, I want them to be unique, special and – why not? – funny.
Make no mistake, this is not cat food. This is a fancy lollipop made with three of my best friends: gin, vermouth and campari. You heard me: we’re talking about Negroni candy . Although I have a lot of experience in the Negroni department, I’m not that good at making candy, so I turned to the candy queen and author of the book, Jami Curl, who owns his own company, QUIN Candy, in Portland.
Jami was kind enough to invite me to her small batch factory and walk me through the process of turning my favorite cocktail into a beautiful candy. She even let me fill out a few forms, which was very bold on her part (this is what we in business call “omen”).
Lollipops – alcoholic or otherwise – are surprisingly easy to make, but Curl has several to make it perfect every time:
- Measure everything by weight, not by volume: as we discussed here earlier , this is the surest way to ensure you get delicious, consistent results every time .
- Get a thermometer: While the old water trick will work for softer candies too, lollipops need precise temperature control. (And honestly, no kitchen should be without an Instant Thermometer , whether you’re making candy or not.)
- Get a cookie cutter: Yes, you can make a lollipop by pouring a lollipop on a nonstick mat, but molds will always make a perfectly round lollipop. Take the sticks too.
With your scales, thermometer, molds, and sticks assembled, you’re ready to start making candy. To make the Negroni Sucker, you first need to prepare the Negroni Syrup. To make a sweet cocktail elixir, you will need:
- 1 bottle of gin with a capacity of 750 ml
- 1 bottle of Campari 750 ml
- 1 liter bottle of sweet vermouth.
Transfer all three bottles to a large saucepan and reduce to exactly half. This is your Negroni syrup. To turn it into lollipops, you will need:
- 267 grams of glucose (you can buy this online, but you can also use corn syrup with similar results).
- 400 grams of granulated sugar
- 110 grams of Negroni syrup
- 2 g of tangerine flavoring (take anything intended for frying, for example, this ).
Weigh the glucose, sugar, and Negroni syrup into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and place the saucepan over medium to high heat. Bring the candy syrup to a boil. Stir the saucepan frequently after boiling so the sugar cooks evenly. The syrup will bubble quickly and easily at first. Then it starts to slow down and the bubbles get a little slower and thicker. This means the syrup is almost ready.
Check the syrup for temperature and, as soon as it reaches 315 ℉ degrees, remove it from heat. Add flavoring. Beat the contents of the saucepan very well until the lollipop no longer looks frothy and no longer actively bubbling. Use extreme care to pour the syrup into the candy funnel or spout cup and funnel, or pour the lollipop into a mold. Allow too little syrup in each cavity, not too much. You can always add more syrup, but you cannot remove it. Work quickly because once the lollipop has cooled and hardened, you won’t be able to reheat it to a fluid consistency.
Let the flakes steep until they are completely solid and cool, about half an hour to an hour, depending on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen. Take them out of the molds, wrap them up if you like, and enjoy your apparently grown-up sweet treat.
If you don’t like Negroni lollipops, you should look inside and see why you’re wrong, but you can use this recipe as a template to create your own cocktail-inspired lollipops. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. First, the cocktail syrup must be made with liqueur and liqueurs, as adding juice or other liquids will degrade the consistency of the syrup. Also consider flavors (like our tangerine above) as a side dish. Just like a Negroni would be unfinished without that zest squeezing at the end, so is your lollipop without that extra fruity flavor. Also, if wine is your favorite, be sure to check out Jami’s Candy Is Magic , which is full of amazing chocolates, including pinot noir lollipops. First of all, don’t take this all too seriously. Play, have fun and correct your mistakes.