Get Creative with Strawberry Shots!

Boozy strawberries are an easy dish to make for summer parties, and fun to experiment with.
By: Michelle Rafferty and Erika Hissong

Boozy strawberries are an easy dish to make for summer parties, and fun to experiment with if you have some time! To make them, you simply hollow out fresh strawberries and fill with an alcoholic gelatin (so each is basically a Jell-O shot inside a strawberry). We decided to adapt Victoria Belanger's champagne version for a fish taco barbecue, creating a margarita shot with tequila and Triple Sec, and a loose interpretation of the pina colada with RumChata (see photo above).

Below we broke down Victoria's recipe, with our adaptations for the margarita and pina colada versions. We definitely recommend this as a fun summer afternoon activity to do with friends. Plus, it's pretty hard to screw up (we promise).

Basic Ingredients: 
1/2 cup cold ginger ale (or flavored sparkling water)

One 1/4-ounce envelope unflavored gelatin (usually found in a pack of 4 at your grocery store)

1/4 cup sugar
Your choice of booze(s)
40 large strawberries
Garnish

Step 1: Add a 1/4-ounce packet of unflavored gelatin to 1/2 cup cold ginger ale in a saucepan. Let the gelatin absorb liquid for 2 minutes, and then bring to a boil. Whisk until gelatin dissolves.

-Margarita version: We added a dash of lime juice to the ginger ale.

-Pina colada version: We used 1/2 cup pineapple-coconut sparkling water instead of ginger ale.

Step 2: Take gelatin off heat and stir in 1/4 cup sugar until dissolved.

Step 3: Pour gelatin in a bowl and add your booze. (This is where you can have some fun!)

-Margarita version: Instead of champagne, we mixed in 1/4 cup tequila, plus a splash of Triple Sec.

-Pina colada version: Instead of champagne, we mixed in 1/4 cup RumChata.

Step 4: Put gelatin-booze mixture in the fridge to partially thicken. Or, as the recipe says, "almost to the consistency of a gel but still runny."

-The pina colada mixture took about 45 minutes to start thickening, but the tequila mixture took over two hours. In other words, different mixtures jellify at different rates, so give yourself some time if you've decided to experiment before the party.

Step 5: Core your strawberries (we used a fancy strawberry huller, but the recipe says a melon scooper works too). Make sure to gently cut off the bottoms of your strawberries so they can stand!

Step 6: Scoop your gelatin mixture into the strawberries, and put in the fridge until they're fully jellified.

-The pina colada versions firmed up much more quickly, but we left both in the fridge for about two hours so we could serve them nice and chilled at the same time. (Full disclosure: We stuck the margarita versions in the freezer a few times to speed things up.)

Step 7: Garnish!

-Margarita version (see photo below): At the last minute we decided to sprinkle the strawberries with a mixture of sugar and salt. We'd like to give a special thanks to our friend Jeff Turok (a real-life chef!), who helped us make them somewhat presentable.

-Pina colada version: We left these ones plain but imagine some coconut shavings would have been a nice touch.

If you too decide to get creative with strawberries and booze this summer, please share your experiences and photos in the comments, because there have to be so many more possibilities!

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