Make It: Kiss of Fire (Aperol and Cayenne Jellies)

Overachiever. Two posts for Mixology Monday and you can start to attribute that to yourself. I’m not officially submitting this, since it’s an alcoholic dessert, but the FIRE theme this month is the reason why this post went up.

I’ve actually had this idea in my back pocket for awhile now. There was this recipe in the Los Angeles times online for Prosecco gelee and I knew I’d have to make them sometime with some liquor. The time had to be right, and the flavors needed to make sparks (otherwise it would just be a fancy jello shot).

In the Eyes of Angelique post, I started to play around with Campari and cayenne in a foam, and when that combination came together, I thought I would try a more straight on approach to the flavors, more concentrated, and Aperol and cayenne seemed like the duo to try. There is a touch of chipotle powder in there to bring an earthiness to the sweet, bitter and hot flavors.

This might seem like a project, but it’s really hands off, and the sugar coating is optional. In fact, here’s a tip with that. If you do go the way of sifting the jellies with sugar, coat them twice. There is an issue with something called ‘weeping’ that happens when the sugar starts to melt a bit (after they’ve sat for awhile). So if you do sugar them, coat twice and then eat immediately! Otherwise the unsugared jellies will stay firm in the fridge up to 4 days, covered.

Recipe adapted from L.A. Times
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 water
12 oz. Aperol
3/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp chipotle powder
9 sheets of gold gelatin

Combine sugar and water in a sauce pan. Bring to just about a boil and remove from heat. Soften gelatin sheets in a bowl of water for 2 minutes, ring water out and mix them into the sugar syrup. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add Aperol, cayenne and chipotle powders to the syrup and stir to combine. Line a 8″x8″ pan with plastic wrap and pour mixture into the pan. You can also pour into individual silicone molds. Refrigerate overnight to set. To serve, cut into squares.

Optional sugar coating:
Pour a 1/2 cup of granulated sugar into a bowl. Add jellies a few at a time to coat. Shake off excess and coat a second time. Serve immediately.

Each little square has the sweet bitter flavor of the Aperol, but with an earthy fire from the powders. That cayenne heats hits the back of your throat for a nice spicy bite. You do not need to sugar coat them, but if you do, you could pass them off as elegant candies.