Spiked Cotton Candy Recipe

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!

How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

How to make spiked cotton candy - Sugar & Cloth

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!

How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

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.

How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

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.

How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

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

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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 1 - How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

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 2 -How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

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!

How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

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?!

How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

More Fun Boozy Desserts to Try

How To Make Spiked Cotton by Top Houston Lifestyle Blogger Ashley Rose #cottoncandy #floss #party #fun #spiked #diy #recipe #infused #sugar

photo of recipe card on how to make DIY Spiked Cotton Candy by by top Houston lifestyle blogger Ashley Rose of Sugar & Cloth

How to make spiked cotton candy - Sugar & Cloth

DIY Spiked Cotton Candy Recipe

Print
5 from 12 votes
In case, a party with cotton candy wasn’t enticing enough, we’re teaching you how to make spiked cotton candy. 
Prep Time30 minutes
Dry Time8 hours
Total Time8 hours 30 minutes
Course Desserts
Category Candy

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!
Cost: 30
KEYWORD: spiked cotton candy

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25 thoughts on “Spiked Cotton Candy Recipe”

  1. 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?5 stars

    Reply
    • 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!

      Reply
    • 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

      Reply
  2. 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?

    Reply
  3. 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.

    Reply
  4. 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.

    Reply
  5. 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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!5 stars

    Reply

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