Mixology at Home - Candy Corn Martini

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - We are coming up to the holiday season and that means it is time to dust off those festive cocktail recipes.

Now, be cautious. Some of those holiday drinks can be overly elaborate and require some hard-to-find ingredients to fit the theme. Honestly, who has candy corn vodka in their home bar?

Making a batch of candy corn infused vodka is not difficult but the only time I tried it ... let’s say I wasn’t a fan. So why not try it again?

This time - I used six ounces of cake vodka with a quarter cup of candy corn and let it sit overnight in a sealed mason jar. Then you strain the vodka to remove whatever remains of the candy corn. Cheese cloth works best but a very fine kitchen strainer can substitute. You can use whipped, vanilla or straight vodka as well. The cake vodka works great.

On the Thursday morning segment, I used two ounces of the candy corn vodka. I should have used three!

Add some grenadine to give it just a little darker look. Then slowly pour pineapple juice over a spoon, onto the top of the vodka. You should have two distinct layers. Top with whipped cream. You can also use heavy cream and layer it on top, just like you did with the pineapple juice. That might be better because the whipped cream dissolved into the drink, making it look a little messy. Don’t forget a couple of candy corn pieces for garnish.

If you are planning on a Halloween party, having one or two themed cocktails is not a bad idea. But don’t go overboard on special cocktails you probably won’t make for another year; and do a taste test, tweaking the drink before you serve your first one.

Here are some other Halloween cocktails you might want to try:

Black Magic – an okay drink

2 oz black vodka

½ oz grenadine

Lemon-lime soda

Maraschino cherry

Pour vodka and grenadine into ice-filled tall glass; fill with soda and stir; top with cherry.

Death by Chocolate – excellent drink (did this in Mixology at Home)

1 ½ oz chocolate vodka

1 ½ oz dark chocolate liqueur

1 ½ oz dark crème de cacao

Powdered chocolate

1 chocolate kiss

Combine ingredients (except for kiss) in ice-filled shaker; shake to child; then strain into chilled martini glass rimmed with chocolate; drop in the chocolate kiss.

Green Ghoul – can’t remember if I made this

1 ½ oz tequila

½ oz melon liqueur

In a shot glass, pour tequila and fill with melon liqueur

Hypnotist – not bad

2 oz Hypnotiq

2 oz vodka

½ oz lemon juice

Glow stick

Combine ingredients in shaker with ice; shake to cool and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with a glow stick.

Devil’s Margarita – good drink

1 ½ oz tequila

1 oz red wine

¾ oz simple syrup

1 oz lime juice

Combine tequila, simple syrup and lime juice in ice filled shaker; shake to chill and strain into margarita glass. Slowly pour red wine over a small spoon so it is layered on top of the other ingredients.

Ghost Martini – another drink I don’t remember making but by the

ingredients, it should be good

1 ¼ oz vanilla vodka

½ oz white chocolate liqueur

¼ oz half and half cream

¼ oz simple syrup

White chocolate

Combine ingredients in shaker with ice; shake and then pour into chilled martini glass; shave some white chocolate over the top as a garnish. You can add a touch by rimming the glass with white chocolate.

Spider’s Kiss – not sure on this one

1 ½ oz melon liqueur

1 ½ oz vodka

Juice from ½ lemon

Chocolate syrup

Dash of grenadine

Draw a web on a martini glass with syrup and chill. Shake ingredients in a shaker and strain into chilled glass. You can garnish with a chocolate dipped orange slice.

Vampire – OK drink

1 ½ oz vodka

½ oz Chambord

Cranberry juice

Shake ingredients and strain into old-fashioned glass filled with ice.

Vampire Kiss – OK drink

1 part Chambord (raspberry liqueur)

1 park vodka

1 part champagne (or prosecco)

This is a layered drink. In a chilled martini glass (or champagne flute) layer Chambord, vodka and then champagne.

Witches Brew – no idea how this tastes

½ oz cranberry juice

½ oz sour syrup

1 oz vodka

1 oz Chambord

Fill glass with ice, add ingredients and mix.

Wolf Bite – I like it (must be the absinthe)

¼ oz Absinthe

½ oz melon liqueur

1 splash of lemon-lime soda

1 oz pineapple juice

1 dash of grenadine

In an ice-filled shaker, add Absinthe, melon liqueur and pineapple juice; shake and strain into 2 oz shot glass; splash of soda and drizzle of grenadine.

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