Watermelon Margarita Slices

 

These booze soaked watermelon slices were inspired by this Martha Stewart

recipe. I made a couple of changes, most notably that I doubled the margarita marinade to make sure that there was enough to cover an entire small watermelon.  I also mixed lime zest in the salt for a more intense lime flavor and snuck some peach schnapps in the mix.  For those that aren't fans of the schnapps, you probably won't taste it but you could omit it altogether if you really don't like it.  That said, these turned out so great that I am certain it's what I'll be brining to the next picnic that I am invited to!


INGREDIENTS:

1 small seedless watermelon, quartered and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups water
1 cup tequila
1/2 cup triple sec
1/3 cup peach schnapps
3 limes
zest of 2 limes (leave one unzested for serving)
flaked or course sea salt (I used Hawaiian Red and the color w/ the zest made this all the more special)


DIRECTIONS:

1 - Arrange watermelon in two 9-by-13-inch baking dishes. Original recipe called for single layer but I stacked them and it turned out fine.

2 - Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in tequila, triple sec and peach schnapps. Let cool slightly. Pour syrup over watermelon wedges, and refrigerate for at least two hours.  I let this soak all day and the flavor was uh-mazing.  The longer you soak, the more intense the flavor but, be careful, as soaking for much more than 12 hours will cause the watermelon to break down and this will make it difficult for people to pick up.

3 - Remove watermelon from syrup, and arrange on a platter. Save syrup for making watermelon margaritas later on (we found this easy to do by adding a little water, tequila and lime juice to taste).

4 - Thoroughly was the skin of the limes.  Pat dry.  Cut only one of the limes into wedges and arrange on platter with watermelon.  Using a micro planer or zester with the remaining limes, remove only the green outer layer of the lime zest, making sure to not to include any of the bitter, white pith that lies just below the surface.

5 - Mix zest with approximately 2 teaspoons of sea salt. 

6 - Cut the limes into halves and squeeze over melon, and then season with salt and zest mixture.

Enjoy!