The food world of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a lot more spare than the food world Tina Fey and Robert Carlock created in 30 Rock, but there are still some choice moments. In the first episode when Kimmy is claiming her independence through all the things she can finally do now that she's out of the bunker, she goes to Dylan's Candy Bar and fills up a bag for dinner. I've obviously partaken in candy for dinner more than once, but I wanted to think of a fun way to make Kimmy's meal both homemade and personal. While I was perusing homemade candy options, I came upon these wine gummy bears and it was like a cartoon lightbulb idea moment. What better way to signify adult candy than making it with alcohol? Obviously I dove in head first and made all three types of wine (also obviously I HAD all three types of wine on hand). The result is definitely different—a reconciliation for your mind between what you expect from a gummy bear and how you normally taste wine—but let's just say I'm more than excited that I also have the option to make bear-shaped ice cubes for the rest of time.
White, Red and Rosé Gummy Bears
inspired by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt season 1, episode 1
makes 125-150 bears
- 1 cup wine (whatever kind you want!)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp powdered gelatin (there's about 1 tbsp to a packet of Knox, which is what I used)
- 1 drop of pink or red food coloring if making rosé bears and want them to look pink
- 2-3 gummy bear molds (I got these)
Combine wine, sugar and gelatin together in a sauce pan or skillet over low heat. Whisk until thick and gelatin has dissolved. Remove from heat and either pour the mixture over the mold and fill the bears by spreading with a spatula or use a dropper to add to mold individually.
Refrigerate for at least 90 minutes to set. Enjoy!
*Keep the cooking temperature below 90ºF to keep the alcohol in the mixture.
**Make sure to use wine you actually like! Seems obvious but these do taste a lot like wine and aren't super sweet despite the sugar, so using a slightly sweeter wine that you like the taste of is important.
***I ran out of gelatin when it came time to make the red wine bears and my local grocery store didn't have any. I bought Agar flakes because the store had them and it was a decent replacement. Dissolve the flakes (1 tbsp to 1/4 cup water) over low heat until mixture is gummy. Add to wine mixture in place of the powder and cook like normal. The flakes don't fully dissolve into a smooth mixture like the powder, so I used a hand blender to fix that so my bears didn't look fuzzy. Then I proceeded as normal, except with the extra liquid it yielded more than with the powder.
recipe from Cooking with Janica.
[made while watching The Great British Baking Show.]
