Last year -- in some sort of wacky, sugar-fueled, lost-our-mind moment -- we made candy conversation hearts from scratch. And they actually worked. (You can see the post and recipe here.)
So now the question: What sort of Valentine confection would we tackle this year? Macarons are way too hard, sugar cookies too easy. Oh wait. We had it.
High (um, maybe literally) from a wildly successful holiday-time try at grapefruitcello and grapefruit-infused tequila, we decided to tackle the challenge of infusing booze with candy conversation hearts. (The kind you buy at the store.)
And it worked. Sort of. We did learn the secret to making something tasty.
The recipes we kept seeing called for vodka and traditional candy conversation hearts (you know, the ones that taste like chalk -- yum) but when we sent a friend to the store, she returned with tequila and SweetTart hearts. So we figured we'd try it all. And we did.
We combined vodka and conversation hearts. We combined vodka and SweetTart hearts. And we combined tequila and (a lot) of SweetTart hearts.
Jackpot. The first combo tasted like rubbing alcohol, the second like cough syrup. But the tequila/SweetTart concoction was delicious -- and super-easy to make.
Here's what we did:
1. Find yourself a clean, glass 1.75 liter bottle (we use the ones from Ikea).
2. Separate the contents of one bag of SweetTart conversation hearts by color.
3. Choose your favorite color (ours is blue).
4. Dump the blue (or your favorite color) hearts into the bottle; they will probably fit one by one.
5. Slowly pour tequila (don't break the bank, but don't use the cheapest tequila you can find, either) over the hearts. Fill the bottle halfway; if you like your drinks sweeter, fill it only a third.
6. Put the stopper on the bottle and let the concoction sit for a while. Shake it occasionally. The hearts will completely disintegrate after a couple days.
7. Pour on ice and serve.
A word of caution: This is basically straight tequila you're drinking. Consider yourself warned.
