Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
How To Make Boozy Grapes
Boozy grapes are a refreshing treat that is perfect for New Year’s Eve or any party or gathering you may have. A friend of mine makes them every year on Christmas Eve for his friends and neighbor party and after explaining it to me, I knew I had to write up the recipe. All recipes I’ve seen have you using plain white sugar. I wanted mine to sparkle a little more, so I came up with a sugar combination that made them do just this. Read on to learn how to make Boozy Grapes.
These prosecco grapes sparkle with my sugar combination
MUST READ: Tips and Tricks You Need To Know About Boozy Grapes
1-- While this “boozy grapes” recipe is extremely simple, I learned some tips and tricks to pass along to you that could help yours turn out perfect. One thing to note is that if you only leave the grapes soaking in prosecco for 24 hours, they don’t quite absorb much liquid and only will have a light taste of the prosecco. If you can leave them in for 48 to 72 hours, your grapes will have more prosecco flavor. I have seen other recipes where vodka and other liquors are used, and you definitely can do this.
I served mine with roasted chestnuts and cheese
2-- Another thing to note is that the sugar will melt if they are left out in a warm kitchen for too long. I chose to freeze mine for about an hour before serving, and this definitely helped keep the sugar on the grapes for a longer period of time before it dissolved. Freezing also makes the grapes taste a little better. My test group for these grapes all agreed they loved that the grapes were only slightly frozen. They all said they do not like completely frozen grapes as they are extremely firm when trying to eat them, but the minimal freezing was perfect.
This combination makes an easy party food tray
3--The sugar coating will not last beyond one evening if you keep leftovers in the refrigerator. The freezer will maintain the sugar coating for a while, but it’s best to make these fresh, right before your event. Also, the sugar can turn into a mess when it melts (my poor husband got sugar water all over his pants when he moved them at the end of the night), so I kept mine on parchment paper so it could easily be cleaned up.
4—These taste very refreshing. If you follow my recipe exactly as is, you will have lightly boozy grapes that taste refreshing and sweet. If you alter the recipe by using a different alcohol or a different sugar, your taste will be different. Experiment if you’d like and report your results in my comments section at the end of this article!
How to make prosecco grapes
How To Make Boozy Grapes-Be sure to read my tips and tricks above too!
Now for the recipe! To make boozy grapes like mine, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Tools: Large glass bowl, 2 large dinner plates, parchment paper, large strainer
Time: 24-48 hours (soaking), 20 minutes (rolling grapes in sugar)
Servings: 15-20
6-8 cups of seedless grapes (I used about 2.5 lbs. of green grapes)
1 bottle of prosecco (I used 750ml of La Marca)
½ cup sugar cane
Sanding sugar (I used Supernatural Twinkles clear sprinkles)
Optional: You can use plain white granulated sugar instead of sugar cane and sanding sugar, but I wanted mine to sparkle, and a bigger granule of sugar will allow for this
See me making them in the less than a minute video tutorial below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
Directions:
1. Rinse the grapes and allow to dry
I like La Marca Prosecco for this recipe
2. Remove the grapes from the stems and place in a large glass bowl
Pouring prosecco over the grapes
3. Pour the prosecco into the bowl, over the grapes.
Cover the grapes and allow them to soak
4. Allow the grapes to soak in the bowl, covered, for 24-72 hours (as stated above, the time depends on how “boozy” you want the grapes to be. I soaked mine for 24)
5. Pour grapes into a strainer, straining out the prosecco, set aside
6. Pour the cane sugar and a couple of tablespoons of the sanding sugar onto a dinner plate and mix well.
7. Cover the other dinner plate with some parchment and set beside the plate full of sugar
The sugar coated prosecco grape
8. Roll the grapes (I did one at a time) into the sugar mixture and set onto the parchment lined plate. I used parchment so the grapes would not freeze to the plate, you could probably use wax paper too.
The parchment paper helps them to not freeze to the plate
9. Freeze for about an hour, then set out for your guests to enjoy!
10. Alternately, you could put the sugar mixture in a freezer bag and pour the grapes into the bag and shake well to coat, but the sugar coating won’t be quite as even on your grapes AND doing them all at once may dissolve too much of the sugar, so that’s why I rolled one at a time.
You could make these with different colored sugars, different alcohols or leave them alcohol free even! The sugar makes them look like they are covered in snow, so make them around the holidays for a perfect and easy party food treat! They will keep for an evening if set out on a kitchen or bar counter, but the sugar will dissolve when placed into the refrigerator. They still taste good though, even with the sugar dissolved. Thanks to my friend that passed this recipe concept along to me.
Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.