Everyone acts like wine is a Valentine's specific thing to enjoy but why are we acting like that? We all know we like wine 365 days of the year. Even though you can use these glittery wine gummies to show some love to your Valentine, you can use the molds over and over again to show love to anyone, including yourself, because you love wine too. And champagne. Also rosé! Let's dive on into the magic of gelatin here, because I've spent time making really awful mistakes with gelatin, but this time I did a lot of research and am distilling it here for you in one easy guide to making champagne and wine gummies.
My in laws gave me these delicious vineyard wine gummies for Christmas and these are really what inspired me to look into making my own wine gummies.
What You Need to Make Wine Gummies
Supplies are the first order of business here. For reference, when I say wine gummies, I also mean champagne, red wine, white wine, rosé, or pretty much anything that comes in a wine bottle. These measurements do not apply to liquor or beer because I haven't tested that. Feel free to and report back if you do though! Pick a bottle of wine you'd like to drink, but nothing too expensive. I will even go as far to say that you should use canned or juice box style wine unless you're counting on having some to drink while the gummies set. That's really your call, just don't use the 1 cup of wine for this recipe and let the remainder of a bottle spoil!
Here I used a can of Trader Joe's Simpler Wines red blend. I've also used flat champagne I couldn't finish from New Year's (I didn't want to start a whole new decade with the devil of all hangovers — the champagne hangover!
You'll also need small cavity silicone molds. The large heart shaped mold I had you buy for the heart shaped cornbread will result in too-large, gross gummies. Believe me. So purchase whatever shapes you want on Amazon. I got this set of silicone gummy molds, but the Lego shaped silicone molds looked pretty awesome too. You'll be using these more than you think because this recipe is easier than you can imagine. Get a set that comes with a dropper though, you'll thank me later.
Next up, you'll need gelatin. Get Knox brand gelatin. It's in every grocery store, near the Jello and marshmallows. Get an extra box for next time or if you happen to mess up this one despite following my careful instructions. Don't get gelatin sheets or Jello, anything else. Knox powdered gelatin.
Finally, you can fancy your gummies up with edible glitter if you want! Throw it into the mixture at the end, before you start droppering the mixture into the molds. I like Wilton's three pack of shimmer dust edible glitter. I used the edible glitter in the champagne gummies and it oddly turned them green. I forgot the glitter in this batch though! I bet it would look cool shimmering in the red wine.
How Gelatin Works
Gelatin is a gross weird thing. Yes, it's porcine, aka from pigs. But let's move past that real fast. I learned a lot from the Knox FAQ, and the most important thing is that unflavored gelatin granules must be separated before a hot liquid is added or you are guaranteed to have lumps. Isn't that interesting? I'd have thought hot water would have liquified it much faster, but that is not the case.
Once you add the cool liquid, then you can heat up the mixture, or add hot liquid if the recipe calls for it.
Constant stirring is the next key. Once you have added the wine to the sugar and gelatin granules, don't plan to step away. Keep your whisk whisking for three minutes. Use a timer here. Hey Siri, turn on a timer. Technology is amazing, isn't it?
Wine and Champagne Gummies
Equipment
- gummy molds
Ingredients
- 3 packages Knox gelatin
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup wine or champagne
- 1 pinch edible glitter optional
Instructions
- Place your molds on cookie sheet(s). Clear your fridge so there's enough space for the sheet(s) to sit level without being disturbed.
- In a medium sized saucepan, mix together all three packets of gelatin with the white sugar.
- Slowly drizzle the wine into the pan while constantly whisking.
- Turn the heat to medium low and set a timer for 3 minutes. Whisk constantly for the 3 minutes. If you are using edible glitter, add it here.
- Turn the heat off and leave the pan on the warm stove eye.
- Move the molds on cookie sheets to next to the pan and begin to use the dropper to fill the molds to the brim of each cavity. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the molds.
- Once all of the cavities are filled, carefully place the cookie sheets in the fridge for at least two hours, but several hours are preferable. Larger gummies need more time to set than smaller ones.
- Use your fingers to press the silicone from the back to pop each gummy out.
- Keep the gummies refrigerated when not eating. These will keep in the fridge for several weeks.
Do you feel better about using gelatin now? It's just knowing what to do, without even really having to know the science of why, that helps us be better cooks. Of course, if you like knowing the WHY, there are plenty of culinary science books and authors/show hosts to give us that deep dive into what's happening below the surface. Then of course, you have things that cannot be explained so easily, like why the edible glitter made these champagne gummy bears turn greenish!
