Soak Strawberries In Your Choice Of Liquor For This Easy Fourth Of July Dessert

Whether you are front porch snacking while you watch the fireworks or backyard barbecuing with friends and family, having something light, fruity, and sweet to finish the meal is a must. You get bonus points if the dessert has a boozy hit. Enter liquor-soaked strawberries! They are easy to make, fun to eat, and fit in perfectly with the Fourth of July color scheme.

The most labor-intensive part of making these boozy berries is the trip to the store to buy fresh strawberries, wine, and liquor. For more of a boozy punch, you can soak the berries in just your spirit of choice. A bath with only wine will give less of an alcoholic hit with a taste more like the fruit from a batch of overnight sangria. For both the zing of liquor and flavor of wine, use a mix! Between four and five ounces of liquor to one bottle of wine should be a good ratio.

Simply put the washed berries in a container where they can be easily submerged. Let them soak for at least an hour, or up to overnight. Drain the strawberries, and roll them in granulated sugar for a pretty and crunchy finish. You can even throw some edible glitter in the mix for an extra festive touch. Just be sure to leave the green tops on, so they are convenient for your guests to grab. If you prefer to cut the tops off, serve the sugared boozy berries with toothpicks.

When deciding on the type of liquor you should choose for your boozy strawberries, consider your favorite cocktails. Do you tend to order a refreshing margarita, tart daiquiri, or zippy cosmopolitan? Let that guide you towards tequila, rum, or vodka — all of which will pair well with strawberries.

For the wine component, pick something chillable that you would like to drink on its own. Fruity rosé wines would be a particularly nice pairing, but many white wines would be great too. To keep the flavor profile light and fresh, just make sure they do not have a pronounced oak flavor, like some chardonnays.

A chenin blanc, gewürztraminer, or viognier would all be quite nice. Choose a dry riesling for citrus and stone fruit notes without a lot of sugar — or a sweet riesling for more of a honeyed flavor. You can even go for any white or rosé sparkling wines to introduce a lovely effervescence to the strawberries. For something with more body, Lambrusco — a sparkling red wine from Italy with deep berry flavors — could also be a really fun take.

Not only are drunken strawberries an ideal, low-lift summer dessert, but they also set you up for some delicious, fruity cocktails. The liquid that is left behind is basically strawberry-infused liquor or wine that makes an ideal base for any number of cocktails.

If you opted for straight liquor, use it as a one-to-one substitute to make a strawberry version of your favorite cocktails. If you used rum, muddle some berries along with fresh mint and lime in a mojito cocktail recipe, or pair strawberry vodka with orange juice to make a riff on a screwdriver. Use wine or a liquor and wine combo as a base for sangria-inspired spritzers. Add in more cut-up fruit, and top with some fizzy water.

We doubt you will have leftover boozy strawberries because they are so delicious, but if you do, you can also repurpose those. Just throw them into a freezer bag, and pop the soaking liquid into ice cube trays. You now have the makings of a blended frozen cocktail on deck. In a blender, combine the strawberries, booze cubes, and any frozen fruit you like — mangoes, raspberries, pineapple, or peaches are all very delicious. Add a little bit of citrus juice or sparkling water to help it blend well, and serve this fruity adult treat at your next summer get-together.