Ever had a spiked watermelon? I have heard about them time and again, told by friends with a wistful glint in their eye, but I had never thought to make one myself. I’m not all that fond of the ingredients I’d heard they were spiked with and I didn’t really have any great serving ideas …at least not until I opened the July 2009 issue of “Martha Stewart Living.”
I don’t know about you but I never thought there’d be a recipe for Spiked Watermelon the Martha Stewart way. I always think of Martha Stewart as making things pretty but, you know, complicated. All the same, there it was, so un–Martha-like: simple, accessible, to the point.
Though it is appealingly simple the recipe still kicks it up a notch. It calls for a somewhat unexpected combination of ingredients, using a mixture of tequila and Triplesec to spike the watermelon, then dresses it up ever so slightly with an optional wedge of lime and a sprinkle of sea salt. It’s genius really. Relaxed, pretty, egalitarian, and just a little bit edgy, all at the same time.
It was hard to go wrong here but I did make one mistake. That was in not paying good attention while shopping and bringing home a watermelon with seeds. Because of the stickiness of the syrup this would be much improved by using a seedless watermelon, as Martha suggested.
Tequila Spiked Watermelon Wedges
1 small seedless watermelon, cut into 1-inch wedges
1 cup sugar
¾ cup water
½ cup tequila
¼ cup orange liqueur
2 limes
sea salt
Place the watermelon slices in one or two 9 x 13 glass casserole dishes. Set aside.
Combine the sugar, water, tequila and orange liqueur in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves, approximately 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Pour the syrup over the watermelon wedges. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Remove the watermelon wedges from the syrup and arrange on a serving platter. Squeeze lime juice over melon and sprinkle with the sea salt.
Serve with more lime wedges and enjoy!
This is wonderful! I will have to try this sometime.
h a kitchen – Thanks for stopping by!
southern hostess – This is really easy to make and fun to eat.
grace – Moonshine? You crack me up. Sometimes I wonder if you are from my home town. 🙂
cathy, cindy and noble pig – The watermelon screams summer while the tequila screams party. I think it is worth a taste and even more worthwhile if it draws out a little nostalgia and some good stories.
Have a great holiday weekend!
This sounds really, really fun! I must try it!
yummy! I must try this before summer escapes.
Yup, this does sound delicious. I do like watermelon and this would be a fun addition to our holiday weekend menu.
i've never had spiked watermelon, although i have had strawberries soaked in moonshine. while those are vile, nasty, and nauseating, i daresay the watermelon would be a lovely little treat. 🙂
Yum! Such a good idea and so simple.