Cranberry Liqueur
A Chef Friend of mine, Chef Cheryl in Texas prepares this Liqueur every Holiday season for family and friends.
The recipe itself is from the book, "Classic Liqueurs...." by Cheryl Long and Heather Kibbey.
The whole process to make one batch takes approximately 5 months, so my batch won't be ready till around March. But I'm quite excited to see how it comes out.
It's really a simple recipe. Take Frozen or Fresh Cranberries and grind up in a food processor. Add some sugar and either Everclear + Water or if you do not have Everclear, use Vodka in place of both the Everclear and Water. Also there is a little additional water that will be added regardless if you use the Everclear or Vodka.
I had 2 bags of Frozen Cranberries in the Freezer that I purchased last Thanksgiving when they were on sale. Plus I have a supersized bottle of Vodka from Costco, so why not try this recipe I thought.
First I took the Cranberries, rinsed them off and chopped up in my food processor. I then combined them with the sugar.
Once this was done I placed them in a glass jar and added the Vodka and a little water.
Now for the funny part. I should have only made one batch as my Jar (that used to have kimchee in it. Don't worry..I made sure it was good and washed out of all the kimchee smell.) was only 8 cups total volume.
But NO.............I knew I could fit 2 batches in this jar. Now considering 1 batch has a volume of 8 1/2 Cups, I knew that I could fit all 17 cups in this jar. Afterall, the Vodka and Water which was 2 1/2 cups per batch would fill in the cracks and how much space can 2 cups of Sugar per batch really take?
An Einstein I am not. Fortunately my wife saved me and found a Mason Jar. Only problem, I did not have a lid for it. So I filled both jars. Put the lid on my Kimchee Jar and headed off to the store to find a lid for the Mason Jar.
Vons - Nope, they haven't carried these in 2 years
Ralphs - Great idea, I've seen the lids there before. Nope, they stopped carrying these too.
Bed, Bath & Beyond - Must have this item, I think. Nope, they don't carry them either.
Aye, Aye, Aye...Fortunately the Gentleman at BB&B makes a phone call to Albertsons, and sure enough they have them. I head over to Albertson's, pick up a box of Lids and head back home (1 hour later). My wife wondered whether I had gotten lost, as a 15 minute trip turned into 1 hour. But no worries..I have my lids and I am now all set.
The 2 jars are all sealed and placed in my Pantry. Next Friday I will stir them. Friday after that, Stir again. Then the Jars will sit for 8 weeks to ferment. After 8 weeks, I'll strain and place back into Jars and let sit for 3 more months.
So hopefully after the next 22 weeks, I'll have a nice batch of Cranberry Liqueur. I'll post more about this as the weeks go by.
Until Next Time.....Cook On!!!
The Food Dude
The recipe itself is from the book, "Classic Liqueurs...." by Cheryl Long and Heather Kibbey.
The whole process to make one batch takes approximately 5 months, so my batch won't be ready till around March. But I'm quite excited to see how it comes out.
It's really a simple recipe. Take Frozen or Fresh Cranberries and grind up in a food processor. Add some sugar and either Everclear + Water or if you do not have Everclear, use Vodka in place of both the Everclear and Water. Also there is a little additional water that will be added regardless if you use the Everclear or Vodka.
I had 2 bags of Frozen Cranberries in the Freezer that I purchased last Thanksgiving when they were on sale. Plus I have a supersized bottle of Vodka from Costco, so why not try this recipe I thought.
First I took the Cranberries, rinsed them off and chopped up in my food processor. I then combined them with the sugar.
Once this was done I placed them in a glass jar and added the Vodka and a little water.
Now for the funny part. I should have only made one batch as my Jar (that used to have kimchee in it. Don't worry..I made sure it was good and washed out of all the kimchee smell.) was only 8 cups total volume.
But NO.............I knew I could fit 2 batches in this jar. Now considering 1 batch has a volume of 8 1/2 Cups, I knew that I could fit all 17 cups in this jar. Afterall, the Vodka and Water which was 2 1/2 cups per batch would fill in the cracks and how much space can 2 cups of Sugar per batch really take?
An Einstein I am not. Fortunately my wife saved me and found a Mason Jar. Only problem, I did not have a lid for it. So I filled both jars. Put the lid on my Kimchee Jar and headed off to the store to find a lid for the Mason Jar.
Vons - Nope, they haven't carried these in 2 years
Ralphs - Great idea, I've seen the lids there before. Nope, they stopped carrying these too.
Bed, Bath & Beyond - Must have this item, I think. Nope, they don't carry them either.
Aye, Aye, Aye...Fortunately the Gentleman at BB&B makes a phone call to Albertsons, and sure enough they have them. I head over to Albertson's, pick up a box of Lids and head back home (1 hour later). My wife wondered whether I had gotten lost, as a 15 minute trip turned into 1 hour. But no worries..I have my lids and I am now all set.
The 2 jars are all sealed and placed in my Pantry. Next Friday I will stir them. Friday after that, Stir again. Then the Jars will sit for 8 weeks to ferment. After 8 weeks, I'll strain and place back into Jars and let sit for 3 more months.
So hopefully after the next 22 weeks, I'll have a nice batch of Cranberry Liqueur. I'll post more about this as the weeks go by.
Until Next Time.....Cook On!!!
The Food Dude
posted by The Food Dude at
9:07 PM
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