Try This Secret Ingredient to Turn Your Halloween Cocktails Black
Halloween is the time of the year we love to out-do each other with our creepy and disgusting-looking creations. We’re going classy this time with black-as-night martinis, dripping with “blood.” Muahahaaa.
Ingredients:
Makes 2 cocktails
Fake Blood:
– 1 Tablespoon raspberry or strawberry jello crystals/powder
– 2 Tablespoons boiling water
– 1-2 drops red food paste (paste has a more intense color than regular food coloring)
– ½ cup vodka
– ¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon vermouth/dry martini
– juice of 1 lemon
– dash of squid ink
Spider Accessory:
– 2 clean bobby pins
– 2 large blueberries
– 2 small blueberries
– 2 black pitted olives
– 2 small plastic spiders
Directions:
1. Start by making the blood. Mix the jello crystals with the boiling water and red food paste in a wide, shallow bowl. Place in the microwave and heat for 10-15 seconds, then stir until all the jello crystals dissolve.
2. Place an upside-down martini glass in the jello mix and twist to coat the top of the glass. Lift it up and allow any excess to drip off, then turn the glass over. The thick jello should run slightly down the side of the glass. Repeat with the other glass and allow to set (you can double dip the glass if you want a more intense color — just reheat the jello in the microwave to melt it again if required).
3. Now make the spider cocktail stick by straightening out two bobby pins. Cut the legs off two small plastic spiders and push those legs into the two large blueberries. Thread the large blueberry onto a bobby pin (this will be the body), then thread a small blueberry on top (this will be the head). Stick the black olive on the other end (this will help the stick to float slightly). Repeat with the other bobby pin. Put to one side.
4. Pour all but two tablespoons of the vodka into a cocktail shaker that has been filled with ice. Add the vermouth and lemon juice. Place the remaining vodka into a small bowl with the squid ink and mix together. Heat in the microwave for 10 seconds, then stir until the squid ink dissolves. Pour into the cocktail shaker and shake until thoroughly combined.
5. Strain the cocktail into the Martini glasses and place a spider stick in each glass, then serve.
Start by making the blood. Mix the jello crystals with the boiling water and red food paste in a wide, shallow bowl. Place in the microwave and heat for 10-15 seconds, then stir until all the jello crystals dissolve.
Place an upside-down martini glass in the jello mix and twist to coat the top of the glass with the jello. Lift it up and allow any excess to drip off, then turn the glass over. The thick jello should run slightly down the side of the glass. Repeat with the other glass and allow to set.
Now make the spider cocktail stick by straightening out two bobby pins. Cut the legs off two small plastic spiders and push those legs into the two large blueberries. Thread the large blueberry onto a bobby pin (this will be the body), then thread a small blueberry on top (this will be the head). Stick the black olive on the other end. Repeat with the other bobby pin.
Pour all but two tablespoons of the vodka into a cocktail shaker that has been filled with ice. Add the vermouth and lemon juice. Place the remaining vodka in a small bowl with the squid ink and mix together. Heat in the microwave for 10 seconds, then stir until the squid ink dissolves. Pour into the cocktail shaker and shake until thoroughly combined.
Strain the cocktail into the martini glasses and place a spider stick in each glass, then serve.
Cheers (and here’s hoping we don’t all end up with black tongues…)!
What Halloween cocktails have you come up with? Let us know in the comments below!
