Just in time for a Fourth of July party. While looking for a hostess gift to make I came across this cute idea. These home-made lollipops with your choice of liquor, opens up a whole new world of pretty, tasty and boozy treats. They are the perfect before or after dinner dessert or an excellent treat to give as a hostess gift. The liquored lollipops took almost no time to make.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp liquor (vodka, gin, rum,scotch,tequila)
2 tbsp cold water
3/4 c sugar
3 tbsp corn syrup
1/8 tsp kosher salt1/4 tsp food color (optional)
Here's how:
In a small saucepan, mix together 1/4c of alcohol (I used Smirnoff Whipped Cream Vodka) with the water, sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stir together using a heatproof spatula and bring to a slow boil over medium heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring mixture to 300F without stirring. It may take 15-20 minutes to reach this temperature which is the hard crack candy stage.
The hard-crack stage is the highest temperature you are likely to see specified in a candy recipe. At these temperatures, there is almost no water left in the syrup. Be careful not to go too much higher. The liquid begins to turn darker in color and if the temperature gets too high, say, 338 degrees, it will turn brown and the sugar will caramelize. Watch out if you hit 350 degrees. The sugar begins to burn and develop a bitter and burnt taste.
*A word of caution. Use a small saucepan. I didn't realized my pot was too big for the amount of ingredients. The candy thermometer barely touched the mixture. I had to tilt the pot to get an more accurate reading. I didn't realize how long it would take for the water to boil off.
Once you reach 300 degrees, remove from heat and work quickly to add any additional alcohol or food coloring. I didn't add any more alcohol - I actually forgot to, both times I made them.
Drop by the tablespoonful onto a silicone pad or mold. Insert a lollipop stick after each one, turning the stick so that it's covered in candy syrup. This recipe makes about 20 lollipops depending on the size of your spoon drop.
 | |
| Don't know what happened here with that odd shape |
Let the lollipops cool completely until they are hard. *Be careful when removing from the silicone pad. Mine stuck (suction) to my granite countertop and I had to first lift up the silicone and then remove the pop which was really easy to do.
Store between sheets of parchment paper in an air tight container. The flavor develops more if left for the next day.
| As for adding the food color, I think the amount stated is too much. I wanted blue lollipops for that red, white and blue effect so I added 1/4tsp of blue food coloring. | ||
| ||
For a more decorative look, you can wrap individually in plastic wrap or cellophane and seal with ribbon or twist ties and store in a cool, dry place.
To my surprise, these lollipops tasted better than a lot of hard candies. They have a subtle and intriguing flavor. One that I enjoyed sucking on. Lick, lick. Crunch, crunch! Yummeeeeee!
The most sophisticated sucker ever!
Enjoy your Fourth! I know I will!
My Linking Parties:
By Stephanielynn for the Sunday Showcase Party , The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday , VMG206 for DIY Sunday Showcase , Sewing Barefoot for The Weekly Creative, Alderberry Hill for Make the Scene Monday , Clairejustineoxox for Creative Mondays , Craft and Repeat for On Display Monday Link Party , The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday , Feeding Big and more for In and Out of the Kitchen Monday , I Should be Mopping the Floor for Mopping It Up Monday , Making the World Cuter for Making the World Cuter Monday , So Much Better with Age for Give Me The Goods Party , Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , Home Coming for DIY'ers , I Gotta Try That for Linky Party Monday, Mod Vintage Life for Mod Mix Monday , Pursuit of Funtional Home for Monday Hop , One More Time for Share It One More Time , Twelve O Eight for Pretty Things Linky Party Monday , Todays Creative Blog for Get Your Craft On , Be Betsy for Brag About It Tuesday , DIY Dreamer for From Dream to Reality , Kathe With A E for You're Gonna Love It Tuesday , The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for Tabletop Inspire Me Tuesday , Cedar Hill Ranch for The Scoop on Tuesdays ,Homework for Inspiration Board Tuesday , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures , Romance on a Dime for Take on Tuesday , Debbiedoos for Tuesdays Top Talent Pinterest Party , Hickory Trail for Assets and Efforts , Hope In Every Season for Make,Bake,Create , VMg206 for Brag About It Tuesday , Love Grows Wild for Time to Sparkle , The Blissful Bee for Work It Wednesday , Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home , Eclectic Red Barn for The Pinterest Power Party , Primp for Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays , Ginger Snap Crafts for Wow Me Wednesdays , I Gotta Create for Wildly Original Link Party , Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays ,The Shady Porch for Rock and Share Wednesdays , The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesdays , View from River Mountain for Show It Off Wednesday , We Like To Learn As We Go for What I Learned Wednesday , DIY by Design for Swing into Spring , All Things With a Purpose for Thursday Link Up , CSI Project for Challenge of the Week Thursday , Dysfunction Junction for Linkin With My Ladies Thursday , The Frugal Girls for Chic and Crafty Party , Glued To My Crafts for Thursdays Obsessions , Lamberts Lately for Create It Thursday , Katherine's Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop , The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays , Marigold's Loft for Tutorial Thursdays , My Fashion Forward Blog for All Things Pretty , No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays , Stone Gable for Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits on Thursdays , Chic on a Shoestring Decorating for Flaunt It Friday , The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday . Happy Go Lucky for Shine on Fridays , Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday , My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday , French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday , Diana's Rambles for Pin Me Linky Friday 504 Main for Tickled Pink Fridays , Happy Go Lucky for Shine on Friday , Rooted in Thyme for Simple & Sweet Fridays , See Vanessa Craft for do something crafty Friday , Shaken Together for What's Shakin' Friday , Whipperberry for Friday Fair Link Party , DIY Showoff for That DIY Party , Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special, Love of Family & Home for Inspire Me Please Weekend , A Bouquet of Talent for Life on Lake Shore Drive on Saturdays , Classy Clutter for Spotlight Saturday , Crafts a la Mode for What To Do Weekends , Debbiedoo's for Get Blitzed on Pinterest , Just Us Four for Pinworthy Projects Party Friday , Mommifried for Ladies Only Blog Share Link Party , Natasha in Oz for #Say Gday Saturday Linky Party , One More Time for Share It One More Time Saturday , Serenity You for Serenity Saturday , Tutus & Tea Parties for a Pinteresting Party Saturday
