Ah, May! Time for family, friends, a little heat, a lot of sun, and Bama Bomb preparations. That’s right! We have a little under four months until kick off and these sweet cherry bombs need to sit in the back of your dark fridge for as long as possible prior to sharing them with your fellow Bammers on gameday. I prefer to have mine sit for four months, but you can easily use any of these recipes as long as you have at least a week to prepare them. If you decide to wait till the last minute, I suggest poking a small hole in each of the cherries with a sanitized needle so the juices can mix more quickly.
To educate the young ones, as in those who are just now turning 21, here is a brief explanation. If you are not 21, then please stop reading this article and go check out the Bama Bites section for some great places to eat while you are in town. If you are 21 and over, then please keep on reading! A Bama Bomb is a simple, but powerful alcoholic maraschino cherry that people either eat on their own or add to drinks like Jack and Coke and Yellow Hammers. They are fantastic.
I have two versions of Bama Bombs. First, the more toned down version that a lot of people enjoy if they will be serving the cherries as their own little “shot” for lack of a better term. For this recipe, you need at least one mason jar, vodka, sugar, and maraschino cherries with the stem. The stem gives people something to hold onto as they eat it. Otherwise, you’ll need to take the time to stab each sucker with a toothpick, or people will use a spoon and both of these options end up becoming a sticky mess. Go ahead and wash out your mason jar, then pour the cherries into the jar. The amount of cherries you put in the jar is determined by how many you want to serve. You can use multiple mason jars or a large mason jar if you are striving for a large quantity. This recipe is hard to mess up. Once you have filled the jar with cherries, take a strainer (or your hand) and pour out slightly more than half of the juice that came with the cherries. Now add about 2 tablespoons of sugar. Next, fill the jar to the top with vodka. Remember to put the lid on as tightly as possible (remember you will not be opening these for several months) and shake vigorously. Once you are done shaking…shake again! Finally, place the jar in the back of your fridge. Write a reminder to shake the cherries about once a week to help prevent the sugar from congealing at the bottom of the jar. When you’re ready to serve, just shake one more time and open the jar. The stems will help people grab onto them. Make sure there are a few napkins around as this juice will be filled with a lot of sugar and can make things very sticky.
The second version is for those who are experienced in the area of Bama Bombs or…well…just like to live a little more on the wild side. These will make your mouth feel like fire and give you enough liquid courage to be the most aggravating Alabama fan on the Quad. This is the recipe I personally have used now for longer than I wish to reveal. For this recipe, you will need a mason jar or two, the cherries (remember with stems), vodka, grain alcohol (EverClear), sugar, and a prayer. Pour the cherries into the mason jars as instructed above, drain a little more than half of the juice out. Add about 3 tablespoons of sugar. Fill the mason jar with EverClear until there is about an inch at the top remaining and then splash it with vodka. These aren’t your momma’s Bama Bombs, y’all. Due to the amount of alcohol packed into each of these cherries, it is best to use them as a garnish until you are comfortable with knowing when you need to stop eating these tasty treats. Like I explained above, simply shake them as hard you can and repeat the shaking process each week until you are ready to serve them.
Good luck and hope you’re ready for another great season of Alabama football!
* Please remember you must be 21 to drink alcohol. Also be sure to pay attention to your body and do not attempt to binge drink, especially the liquid that is left over from the Bama Bombs in the mason jars. This is not safe practice and this article was written under the assumption that the readers of The Houndztooth respect themselves enough to know when to call it quits and get a glass of water. Do not drive after ingesting Bama Bombs or any other alcoholic beverage. Keep it fun – keep it safe!