Backstage Kitchen: Blood from Sweeney Todd
by Shanna Tedeschi, Management Associate
While sitting in your seat at Sweeney Todd, did you overhear murmurs and mumbling about BLOOD? It’s one of the biggest questions people have after seeing the show performed on our stage.
Is it pigs blood?
Water dyed with red food coloring?
Cherry pie filling?
None of the above. This inaugural posting of The Backstage Kitchen will reveal our secret recipe for entertaining, easy-to-wash and tasty blood fit for a demon barber (and just in time for Halloween!).
Recipe #1: Blood from Sweeney Todd
There are two ways to make this recipe. The basic instructions are for a very fluid, syrup-y blood, good for blood that needs to run through tubes and/or make puddles.
If the blood needs to be applied to skin, use 4-times the dry ingredients and reduce the mixture on Medium Low heat until it looks like grandma’s-too-thick-to-eat-gravy. Keep in mind, all blood mixtures will be a bit thicker when they cool.
Ingredients
2 liters Corn Syrup
500mL Chocolate Syrup
2 cups Water (1 cup cold, 1 cup hot tap water)
2 tbsp (heaping) Corn Starch
3 tbsp (heaping) Coffee Mate
15 mL Red Food Coloring
3 mL Yellow Food Coloring
Prep
1. On stovetop, mix corn syrup and chocolate syrup together in large pot on high heat.
2. In a separate bowl, dissolve corn starch in cold water. Add to pot.
3. In a separate bowl, dissolve Coffee Mate in hot tap water. Add to pot.
4. Bring entire mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.
5. When mixture has reached your desired consistency, remove from heat and mix in red food coloring to your preferred blood shade.
6. When cooled, it can be stored in containers in the fridge for weeks at a time.
Makes approximately 3 Liters of blood…and is great on ice cream!