Photograph by Johnny Miller Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero Prop Styling by Theo Vamvounakis
DIRTY DANCING (1987)
“Curiously Strong” Watermelon Balls
Desserts from Issue 3 – Spring / Summer 2013 – Rough Cut
A certain breath mint is the secret ingredient in this refresher.
Gather Journal
“Curiously Strong” Watermelon Balls
In the annals of teen films, Dirty Dancing ranks high. After all, it was the summer love story of many a teen dream: You begrudgingly go on vacation with your family and get swept up in an affair with a hunky older guy your parents would find totally inappropriate. Swoon. Since when Baby utters “I carried a watermelon”, anyone who once felt just as desperately uncool—basically, anyone who remembers being a teenager—related, we made the quintessential summer fruit the star of our “curiously strong” (those are Altoids® in the syrup) balls.
serves 4
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 peppermint Altoids®
- 10 juniper berries, crushed
- ¼ cup gin
- about 25 watermelon balls
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1
Bring water, sugar, Altoids®, and juniper berries to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar and mints. Cook until reduced to about ¾ cup then strain. Chill syrup then stir in gin and pour over watermelon balls before serving.
