candied grapefruit cocktail

Birds are chirping, trees are budding and droves of people are coming out of their winter habitats for some good ol’ Vitamin D. Welcome Spring! Wait, we live in Ohio and it has snowed twice since the supposed Spring debut. Fabulous. What’s a gal to do? Make a light and refreshing cocktail of course. If we can’t join all of you lucky warm weather dwellers we might as well cheers you!

To enjoy the full experience of this concoction you need to make the candied grapefruit. If you need a drink like now, we’ll forgive you for skipping this part.

Candied Grapefruit (recipe from Rock UR Party)

Ingredients

2 large pink grapefruits
5 cups of sugar (1 cup separated)
water

Cut the grapefruits into 4 wedges. Remove the peel from each wedge (save wedge for juice in the cocktail recipe). Youʼll have 8 grapefruit peels. Cut them into chunks or long strands… whatever you prefer. Place them over a stove top in a boiling pot with about 1 inch of water covering them. When the water starts to boil, remove the pot from the heat, strain the grapefruit peels and then place them back into the pot with fresh water and boil again. Repeat this step 4 times. This is because grapefruit peels are very bitter and you want to get rid of the bitter water as soon as possible. It sounds daunting but we assure you it is not.

After youʼve boiled them for the 4th time strain and set aside. In the pot, add 4 cups water and 4 cups sugar. Stir until sugar and water are combined, then add the grapefruit peels back in. Boil the mixture over high heat for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally until there are large opaque bubbles and the grapefruit peels are completely translucent. Strain the mixture over a heat proof bowl so you can keep the simple syrup for a different cocktail if you want!Place 1 cup sugar in a bowl and add in the hot grapefruit peels. Mix them in the sugar (the peels are hot be sure to use a spoon) so theyʼre completely covered. Wipe off excess sugar then set on a plate to cool. Save leftover sugar for rimming your glasses. These package up nicely as little treats for guests but their true mission in life is to garnish this wonderful cocktail.Candied Grapefruit Cocktail – makes one serving (recipe from Tablespoon, we added an optional little kick)

Ingredients

1 ounce gin
4 ounces freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon agave nectar
2 candied grapefruit peels
dash of cayenne, depending on how spicy you like it (optional*)
grapefruit wedge and sugar for rimming (optional*)

*Mix cayenne and sugar, rim glass with a grapefruit piece then dip in sugar mixture before filling with ice. The touch of cayenne compliments the gin nicely. In a cocktail shaker, add ice, grapefruit juice, agave and gin. Shake several times. Pour over a 4oz glass filled with ice. Slide two candied grapefruit peels onto a wooden skewer (cut in half) and place on the rim of the glass. Now be prepared to taste one of the best drinks you have ever had! Gin has not always been at the top of our drink choice list but this amazingly not too sweet taste of Spring has made us change our ways. You have to try this, you just have to! It will without a doubt chase away the stink eye you’re giving this so called lovely weather (if you live somewhere that is having a legit Spring, we don’t want to hear about it – at least not until we’ve had our cocktail).