In case, a party with cotton candy wasn’t enticing enough, we’re teaching you how to make spiked cotton candy. This recipe is sure to please all tastebuds!
Funny story. As much as we’ve been busting out the cotton candy machine lately, it rarely (if ever) gets eaten because Jared hates it. Weird, right?
And I would be running laps around our building if I ate it all myself. Don’t worry though, I’m great at using “taste testing” as an excuse. So it’s all still tried and true!
In other news, I also want to mention that you can make cotton candy with SUGAR FREE candy, too. That’s a game changer my friend!
P.S. Shout out to my friend Rob for this genius concoction!
Determining the Alcohol Content
The first thing to note about this recipe/technique is that your cotton candy will only have about 50% of the alcohol content of the amount of liquor you use once it’s fully prepped and spun.
I’ve determined this based on this table of how long it takes for alcohol to burn off, so this will obviously vary.
So for instance, if you’re using two shots of vodka in sugar floss to make four batches of cotton candy, there’s really only one shot split between four people.
Tools Needed to Make Homemade Cotton Candy
Cotton candy maker — This particular Nostalgia Cotton Candy Maker link actually uses hard candy as well as floss sugar to make cotton candy, which is ideal for our spike cotton candy method.
Sheet pan – You’ll need one for each color of cotton candy.
Ingredients Needed to Make Alcohol Infused Cotton Candy Recipe
Floss Sugar (or sugar free hard candies by melting the candy and adding in vodka once it starts to cool)
Vodka
How to Make DIY Spiked Cotton Candy
Step 1 — First, fill a flat plate or sheet pan with a bit of floss sugar.
Step 2 — Then, add just enough vodka to it to make it the same texture as wet sand/sugar scrub.
Step 3 — Stir it around so that all of the sugar crystal are covered.
Step 4 — Lay it out evenly on a cake pan to harden overnight back to dried sugar again. Be sure to keep it away from hot/humid areas.
You’ll know it’s ready when it’s hard to the touch.
Step 5 — Since our machine makes hard candy cotton candy as well, we simply used a knife to chop up little pieces small enough to fit into the maker.
But you could also put the crystal into a blender if you need finer pieces.
Step 6 — From here, you spin the cotton candy as usual.
And then you’re ready to serve!
I was a little afraid that the alcohol would make the cotton candy even more sensitive to humidity or heat (especially in Texas).
But it actually held up just as well as any other cotton candy has!
What do you think? Wouldn’t your guests freak out if you had spiked cotton candy as your next party?!
Especially if you’re making the sugar-free version for all of your figure-watching friends that usually turn a blind eye to cotton candy?!
More Fun Boozy Desserts to Try
- DIY Spiked Lollipops
- Boozy Mudslide Icebox Cake
- Boozy Dirt Cup
- Spiked Peeps
- Bailey’s Ice Cream With Whiskey Caramel Sauce
- Spiked Crushed Watermelon Popsicles
- Low Calorie Spiked Watermelon Sorbet
- Boozy Watermelon & Papaya Rum Smoothie
DIY Spiked Cotton Candy Recipe
Equipment
- Cotton candy machine
- Sheet pan
Materials
- Floss Sugar Or sugar free hard candies by melting the candy and adding in vodka once it starts to cool.
- Vodka
Notes
- Your cotton candy will only have about 50% of the alcohol content of the amount of liquor you use once it's fully prepped and spun.
- So if you're using two shots of vodka in sugar floss to make four batches of cotton candy, there's really only one shot split between four people.
Instructions
- Fill a flat plate or sheet pan with a bit of floss sugar.
- Add just enough vodka to it to make it the same texture as wet sand/sugar scrub.
- Stir the sugar and vodka mix around so that all of the sugar crystal are covered.
- Lay the mixture out evenly on a cake pan to harden overnight back to dried sugar again. Be sure to keep it away from hot/humid areas. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s hard to the touch.
- Since our machine makes hard candy cotton candy as well, we simply used a knife to chop up little pieces small enough to fit into the maker. But you could also put the crystal into a blender if you need finer pieces.
- Spin the cotton candy as usual. And then you’re ready to serve!
What is the best sugar free candy to melt?
Hi Ashley
How long do you leave the sugar to dry?
Do you have a video of how to do this?
Can you put the sugar infused vodka in the oven on very low heat?
Hi Cathy! You’ll have to let the mixture dry overnight back to dried sugar texture. We would give it at least 6-8 hours overnight. We wouldn’t really recommend speeding up the process in the oven. You’ll have to really watch it since the mixture is sensitive to heat. We don’t have a video tutorial but we are hoping to update this post with more step by step photos and hopefully a video! Hope this helps!
Would a food dehydrator work to turn the sugar and liquor back to a Sandy concistancy.
Hi Ramona! Great question! We believe that you can but getting the right texture may be tricky. The only article we found was this one: https://www.alcademics.com/2011/08/solid-liquids-dehydrating-liqueurs-in-a-food-dehydrator-.html. Hope this helps!
what kind of cotton candy machine do you use?
Hi Andrea! We linked the cotton candy in the blog post and materials list! We purchased it from Amazon here: https://shopstyle.it/l/bcEdr. XOXO
What an awesome idea!
What machine do you have and are you happy with it?
Hi! We are definitely happy with the machine. It’s in a link in our blog post but here’s the Amazon link again. Good luck!
I’m going to have to try this next weekend.
Awesome! Let us know how it goes! :)
How would you say the flavor is? Can you actually taste the vodka? Thanks!
Hey Andrea! You can’t taste it at all! It also isn’t the full alcohol proof either, because as the cotton candy spins, it heats up the sugar and thus it’s only partial the alcohol content. Hope this helps! xo
THIS IS AMAZING!
Thanks, Leah! If we could spike everything, we would ;)
Hi! Thank you for this article! I was wondering, though, how to you properly store the sugar while it hardens? Also, can this be done with wine?
i THINK YOUR CALCULATION WITH THE ALCOHOL CONCENTRATIONS AREN’T ENTIRELY ACCURATE. yOU’RE NOT TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THAT YOU ARE AERATING THE INGREDIENTS AND HEATING THE SUGAR TO A POINT ROUGHLY TWICE THE BOILING POINT OF THE SUGAR. tHERE WILL PROBABLY BE ONLY TRACE AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL BY THE TIME THE CONCOCTION IS MADE nO LESS CONSUMED. i DO AGREE WITH THE IDEA THAT IT WOULD ALTER THE TEXTURE AND HAVE THE PALATE OF AN ALCOHOLIC DRINK IF EATEN QUICKLY AFTER. bETTER IDEA WOULD BE TO USE POWDERED ALCOHOL IF YOU WANTED TO ENCAPSULATE MORE OF THE ALCOHOL.
If you ever get a chance to go to SaltAir in Houston and get the cotton candy they will bring it out with a sparkler on top. It’s fun to see.
I just died a little bit. Best. Thing. Ever.
Best thing I’ve seen all day! I love cotton candy!
This is such a cute idea for a party! Your pictures are also gorgeous! xx
http://theblondechiffon.com
What?! Spike cotton candy?! I am totally in. This sounds awesome.
brilliant!
Is it Friday yet? Oh, who cares…I would so much love to taste one of these right now in the am hour of Thursday. Is that bad? That’s how good these look, I’m talking amaaaaaazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Qué bonito y qué apetecible.