‘Tis the season for homemade gifts. My next couple of blog posts are all about edible gifts, like the melting moments from last week. These minty gummy bears are super potent thanks to a generous pour of vodka and would probably make ideal presents for primary school teachers who can covertly snack on them during the last few days of term.
I made a mint simple syrup to flavour the vodka (see below) but you could probably just use an oil too. If you’re not familiar with simple syrup, it’s, well, simple! It’s just water and sugar boiled together and is great for adding sweetness to drinks because there’re no gritty sugar crystals. It can also be flavoured in countless ways.
The gummies are super easy and quick to make. This recipe made around 200 gummy bears so I’d recommend having 4 molds to work with. You’ll also need a candy thermometer if you want to keep the booze factor (see notes). Cheers!
Mint simple syrup
Ingredients
½c water
½c sugar
½c mint
Method
Roughly chop the mint, stems and all, and place it in a small heatproof bowl. Set aside.
Add the water and sugar to a small pot and bring to the boil over high heat, giving it the odd whisk. When the mixture is boiling and the sugar has completely dissolved, pour it over the chopped mint.
Immediately cover tightly with Gladwrap. This stops all of the lovely minty steam from escaping. Cool completely.
Once it is cool, strain, pressing down to extract every last minty drop, and store in covered bowl or jar. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
For the gummy bears
Ingredients
5oz vodka
2oz mint simple syrup
1/2c sugar
42g powdered gelatin
green and red food colouring
candy thermometer
Method
Place your molds on a baking sheet (make sure it can fit in your fridge!)
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and gelatin and set aside.
Add the vodka and syrup to a small saucepan and heat on a medium-low heat.
Add your candy thermometer and keep an eye on it – you don’t want the temperature going above 90°F (see notes).
Once the mixture is hot (which will happen fairly quickly), pour in the sugar & gelatin and mix well. Keep stirring until they are completely dissolved. The mixture will froth up a bit, that’s ok, it will settle again.
Quickly transfer the liquid to a small pouring vessel with a spout and stir in the green colouring. Pour into the molds. Use an offset spatula to wipe off any excess mixture.
Quickly rinse the vessel and pour in the rest of the liquid. Stir in the red colouring. Pour into the molds. Use an offset spatula to wipe off any excess mixture.
Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until firm.
Pop the gummy bears out of the mold and transfer to an airtight zip lock bag. Store in the fridge.
Notes
- Recipe makes about 200 gummy bears.
- If you want to retain the booziness in your gummy bears, the temperature of the mixture must not boil or rise above 90°F.
- If you don’t mind losing some of the alcohol you can let the mixture boil as this will help the sugar and gelatin melt more quickly and evenly.
- I found my molds on trademe.
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