Halloween Martini – “Vampire Style”
I featured this “blood rimmed” martini glass on a local news channel here in San Diego a couple weeks ago and have had quite a few people inquire about how to recreate the glass garnish, so here are the directions for those of you who’d like to sip your martini “vampire style” this weekend!
The “blood rim” is made from the same kind of mixture as you’d use to make hard candy. It’s actually pretty easy, but you will need a candy thermometer (which you can find at most grocery stores).
Ingredients:
- 1 c. Sugar
- 1/2 c. Karo Syrup
- 1/2 c. Water
- Red Food Coloring
Directions:
Combine sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to hard crack stage – which is 300 degrees F. Add food coloring.
Turn off heat. While the mixture is still hot, dunk the top of the cocktail glass into the mixture to create the red rim. If you need to do several glasses, keep the mixture hot so it lasts longer (instead of turning heat off, just reduce slightly).You can go anywhere from just along the very tip of the rim to part way down the glass – whichever you prefer. Flip the glass right side up to cool. The thick consistency of the mixture will cause “drips” as it hardens on the glass!
Coordinating cocktail ideas: Vampire Kiss or your other favorite red cocktail.
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is this really difficult to clean off if guests don’t eat it?
Jen – it does take a little time, but it’s doable – you just need to soak the glasses in very hot water for about 5 minutes, and then it will come off pretty easily!
That is so awesome! Im going to try that for other functions too!
What a cool trick! Don’t have anything to try it on, though. Oh well. Saving for another year!
i am totally going to do this on regular drinking glasses for my kids. they will love it!
had to do it straight away!
It turned out great although, not quite as clear and blood looking as the picture above. not sure why but i managed to dip in 4 glasses before it turned all crumply and weird, i think maybe it didnt like the cinnamon? Made sure i had the right temperatures and everything! but hey it still looks great!
thanks!
i LOVE this idea. i’m saving it to do with green apple hard candies for our appletinis on St. Patrick’s day!
Hi Stephanie –
Thanks for the feedback! How much cinnamon did you use? We actually didn’t use any cinnamon in the ones we made here, so I am wondering if that’s the difference. We also only made 2 glasses because it was just for a local news spot so that’s all we needed, but you bring up a good point about the temperature – if you want to do a lot of glasses it’s probably best to keep the mixture hot.
I’m going to modify the text slightly based on your feedback – so thanks again!
jannypie – great idea about the green version for St. Patty’s day!
The cinnamon (or other flavoring) should be LIQUID flavoring, not dry spices. You can get these at Michael’s or WalMart by the cake decorating items. They come in quite a few different flavors!
oh great, glad i could help!nIt must have ben the cinnamon- i’m a total newbie and didn’t know enough yo use liquid flavoring :-)
I was thinking theyd look cool in green too, like slime….
I just did this for TruBlood Season finale. It was great and easy to clean. You can even save the candy for another time!
Made these for a Twilight-themed party. They came out great. WARNING: Wear heat-proof gloves. I sustained a 3rd-degree burn when I flipped the glass over and a bit of sugar dripped on me. OUCH!!!
Oh no! So sorry that happened to you, Mary :0 – but thanks for the passing on the tip for others!
This is awesome, would you mind if i featured this recipe and style of drink in a vampire novel i am writing? (would give you a credit at the end for use)
let me know
That would be fine, Alicia – thanks! :)
would this work with plastic martini cups or would it melt them?
I think there’s a good possibility it might melt disposable plastic glasses – but I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure. If you decide to test it out, please let us know the verdict! :)
OME! I love this idea! I’m having my friend Alice over this weekend and we will totally use this!!!
Thanks!
Bella
Anyone know if it melted the plastic cups?
Instead of putting it on plastic cups i was thinking of doing it around the rim of my punch bowl…any good tips on how to do that?
I am having a twilight party this friday? i will be pressed for time that evening. would i be able to make these thursday evening? if so what what would be the best place to keep them until the party?
Lacey –
I love the punch bowl idea, but I’ve never done that myself so I’m not sure what the best way to go about it would be. You’ll probably have to scoop & pour it over the edges, so just remember to be super careful with such a hot mixture and to put wax paper under the bowl to catch the run-off!
Amanda –
Making the glasses the night before is fine. They won’t melt at room temperature, so leaving them in a dry place that’s at least room temperature is fine.
It’s also a good idea to cover them with a sheet of wax paper to detract sugar-loving bugs or dust from finding their way to the candy rims!
to do the punchbowl, try pouring the mixture into a pizza pan (one that is larger than the punchbowl diameter) and “dip” the punchbowl rim in it. I think that would be safer than trying to spoon the hot mixture over the rim and get it to stay. just remember that the metal pan will transfer the heat, so handle with care :)
I made these for my Twilight DVD release party and they were a huge hit! I made them the night before and they were still fine the next day (even living in humid Texas). I tried a hard plastic martini glass and it did not melt. I saved that one for last after the mixture cooled a little and I didn’t dip it as far down as the others. Even after the warnings I still burned myself (though not 3rd degree!) so take it slow and pay attention. I will make these again as everyone was so impressed by it! Thanks for such a cool idea!
I was going to do this on wine glasses for a Twilight party I am having this weekend. If I do it without a flavoring…..will it taste much and ruin the wine?
Thank u so much !!!
I am having a twilight birthday party and this is such a cool unique idea that I will definitely use
Hi. I was thinking about making these. But can’t the glass burst with the high temperature?
We did make these for my Twilight party…did them on wine glass. (the sweetness didn’t seem to bother the taste of the wine) It was a HUGE hit. Everyone seemed to have a personal relationship with their glass by the end of the night. We all can’t wait for the New Moon premire so we can do it again. One thing we did notice is that if your candy gets too cool the dip may be sharp…we actually cut our hands on one glass. Also….this does burn you pretty easy. Be careful. We didn’t have any probably with breakage of glass either.
That is so cool!!!! I want 2 do that for my birthday because it is a twilight party!!! by the way does any one know where i can get twilight decorations?????!?!?!?!?!
That is really awesome!!!!! I was wonderin if any one knew where i can get twilight decorations for my party???
Sarah go to . it has all kinds of recipes for twilight. they even have a recipe called “rosalies werewolf kibble”
Hi I am from the UK but would like to give this a go for my sons 11th birthday twilight party.What would I use for the Karo ingredient as I don’t think we have that over here?
Kind regards
Clare
Hi Clare –
Karo is actually just the name of a popular brand of corn syrup in the US, so you should be able to use any type of light corn syrup in its place. Hope that helps!
this is a fantastic idea, i want to throw a party just to try this out :), except i might use wine glasses instead
how long do you cook?
Hi Chris –
You cook the mixture until it’s 300º F, so it’s best to use a candy thermometer. I wasn’t timing it, but it wasn’t super quick…I’d say it took us a good 15 mins to get to that temp!
Meems –
My friend did this on wine glasses last year and it turned out great! :)
Be sure to wear rubber gloves to protect yourself from burns. I learned this the hard way! Also, be sure to turn the heat off or way down after adding the color, or the color will start changing. In my case it went from red to brownish orange in a matter of a few minutes.
I tried this both with plastic martini glasses and wine glasses.
The plastic martini glasses ended up melting a bit, though they were still usable.
The wine glasses looked excellent, and were easy to clean off (just soak them in hot water).
I also burned myself! But it was worth it because I really impressed my friends with this and the eyeball-fruit garnish – thanks for sharing this awesome idea!
this sounds great but what are the chances of the glasses cracking from the high temp?
This came out awesome! It was a great touch to our New Moon Premiere party and everyone loved it! I used plastic martini glasses, a few had a slightly melted edge, but still looked great. Even with the warnings of being burned, and being careful, still managed to get a second degree burn on my thumb, so heed the warnings!! It hurts, but it was worth it! A small sacrifice for a great party!
Just tried this. I am horrible in the kitchen and managed beautiful results. I am so excited! Just watch yourself when you add the food coloring, because mine sizzled and sprayed a little. Clean-up was surprisingly easy. Thanks!
Just for anyone who is going to do this and reads the comments: Once the mixture starts boiling, add the food coloring. Do not stir it, the boiling action will mix it in. If you add liquid flavoring, once you remove the mixture from the heat, wait for the boiling to stop, then mix it in. Be very careful as it will steam and flavors such as mint and cinnamon will make your nose and eyes burn.
I love this idea, it will last so much longer than a standard sugar rim. Now only if there were a way to make this out of salt for margaritas ;)
Hey there!! I love all of your ideas and all the hard work you’ve done to make such great themes!! I am actually asking a question about your Twilight quotes and drink labels…. I was wondering if you had the templates without the writing on them? I adore the scroll work, blood drops and such that you have done, but I have quotes that I would prefer to use and would love to have this for my 30th birthday party!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!
I should probably give you my email if sending me the designs is possible: mooshiegirl@hotmail.com
I tried this last night to experiment for my Twilight-Eclipse Premiere Party coming up this weekend. It worked great! I’m a horrible cook so I thought it wouldn’t turn out. I was also worried about clean up because it becomes a STICKY mess! After you are finished, fill your sink with HOT water and soak everything you used, leftover glasses, pots, etc. It will all dissolve to liquid again within an hour or so. Hope this helps! Thanks for the instructions!
Just made these, thought it was going to be quite hard, but actually really easy!! looks amazing!! and i did it without a sugar thermometer!
Tried this last night and served with pomegranate martinis. Was a hit! Clean up was a breeze……Thanks
Love this. Is the first week of September too early to be thinking about Halloween cocktails? Or does the “five o’clock somewhere” rule apply here, too?
I plan to get plastic martini glasses. No washing required and I can just recycle them…..Easy!
I did this a few months ago using your method and it looked brilliant! I did it for a romantic themed date and my bf just loved it.. a great touch!!! TY! Note: I did not use a thermometer… one thing I did wrong was take the glass and while submerging I cupped it to the bottom of the pan and it created a smokey look (in other words.. burnt) when submerging TRY not to touch the pan/pot just dip it in and bring it upright!
would I be able to do this on plastic cups? Or would it be too hot for the plastic? Thanks!
This idea would be perfect for my traditional themed halloween party this year. I was wondering if the mixture would be too hot to dip plastic martini glasses? I have glass ones, but the plastic set has skull and crossbones for halloween. Please let me know if I should try this or stay with the glass. Thanks!
Chelsea & Bella –
I haven’t done them on plastic glasses myself, but here are a few previous comments from other readers that used plastic & shared the results. Hope this helps! :)
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Amy M. SAYS:
I made these for my Twilight DVD release party and they were a huge hit! I made them the night before and they were still fine the next day (even living in humid Texas). I tried a hard plastic martini glass and it did not melt. I saved that one for last after the mixture cooled a little and I didn’t dip it as far down as the others. Even after the warnings I still burned myself (though not 3rd degree!) so take it slow and pay attention. I will make these again as everyone was so impressed by it! Thanks for such a cool idea!
———-
Toralinda SAYS:
I tried this both with plastic martini glasses and wine glasses.
The plastic martini glasses ended up melting a bit, though they were still usable.
The wine glasses looked excellent, and were easy to clean off (just soak them in hot water).
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twilight party planner SAYS:
This came out awesome! It was a great touch to our New Moon Premiere party and everyone loved it! I used plastic martini glasses, a few had a slightly melted edge, but still looked great. Even with the warnings of being burned, and being careful, still managed to get a second degree burn on my thumb, so heed the warnings!! It hurts, but it was worth it! A small sacrifice for a great party!
I will be doing mine this week – just haven’t found a really red adult cocktail to use yet but I will. I was also thinking these would be awesome for the Christmas parties this year – you could do the red and green of course but I was thinking of ice blue with the bigger sugar crystals around the rim on top of the blue color to make it look like frost – the finer sugar would work too – there are so many beautiful blue drinks to use with that theme, mojitos, cosmos, blue vodka, etc., those frosted blue glasses with some well placed snowflakes would be beautiful on the table and the green and red rimmed color would appeal to the fun and playful side – with a candy cane sticking out of your glass. I can’t wait.
Can you make this ahead
Can you use plastic glasses? Or will they melt?