Homemade Raspberry Liqueur
I make a lot of different liqueurs. Raspberry liqueur is probably one of my favorites. It reminds me of a warm summer afternoon.
I love raspberries. My parents had a row of raspberry bushes at the back of the yard, so I grew up enjoying them fresh. I preserve raspberries to enjoy all year long. I freeze berries, make jams and jellies and dehydrate some.
I also enjoy using some to make homemade raspberry liqueur. You just start with alcohol – I most often use vodka – then you add raspberries. I sweeten it later on, but you can leave it unsweetened, if you prefer.
Its beautiful color and great flavor make it nice for sipping, or used in mixed drinks. Think of it as just another food preservation method. Here is the recipe, in case you want to make it. Makes a great gift, too.
You can use fresh or frozen berries. You can also use black , purple or golden raspberries in this recipe.
Homemade Raspberry Liqueur
1 lb. raspberries*
3 c. vodka, you could use brandy
1 ¼ c. sugar
Combine fruit and vodka and let stand 2 -4 weeks. Stir in sugar and age 3 months. Strain and filter. Makes 3-4 cups.
*You can use frozen berries, too.
Elderflower Liqueur
I make a lot of different liqueurs, most of which are fruit based. This one is quite different. This liqueur is made from the flowers of elderberry bushes. It has a sweet, slightly spicy flavor. Since my elderberry is blooming, it is time to harvest some of the blossoms and get started. They will been steeped in vodka- gin also works- then strained and sweetened. Could not be easier.
It is important to use ONLY THE BLOSSOMS. Elderberry stems and branches are toxic. It takes a few extra minutes, but get those flowers off the stems. Here is the recipe, with a few notes on options for sweetness levels.
Elderflower Liqueur
10 elderflower blossoms
2 c. vodka or gin
1/4 -1/2 c. sugar*
Remove all the flowers from the stems. They are small and it seems tedious, but it is important to get as many stem pieces off as possible. Place in a clean jar and pour over the alcohol. Cover the jar with a tight fitting lid and place in a cool dark place for at least a week or two. Strain out the flowers, using several layers of cheesecloth to get the liquid as clear as possible. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Return to jar, cover and let sit a few days before checking sweetness levels. You might want to add a little more sugar. Place in a pretty bottle and store in a dark place. Enjoy!! Makes 2 cups.
*You can add a lot more sugar, creating more of an elderflower cordial or syrup. It’s all about personal preference and how you want to use the liqueur. Add in 1/4 cup amounts, stirring to dissolve before adding more.
Raspberry Liqueur
Raspberry Liqueur
I enjoy making homemade liqueurs. You just start with alcohol- I most often use vodka – then you add ingredients to flavor the alcohol. I have done all sorts over the years and raspberry is one of my all time favorites. Its beautiful color and great flavor make it nice for sipping as is or used in mixed drinks. I like to think of it as just another food preservation method!!! Here is the recipe in case you also want to make it. Makes a great gift, too.
Raspberry Liqueur
1 lb. raspberries
3 c. vodka
1 ¼ c. sugar
Combine fruit and vodka and let stand 2 -4 weeks. Stir in sugar and age 3 months. Strain and filter. Makes 3-4 cups.
Lavender Liqueur
Lavender Liqueur
I enjoy making homemade liqueurs and cooking with flowers so I decided to combine the two in lavender liqueur. I often bake with lavender and use it in savory cooking, too. I thought I’d try to use the lavender in a different way and see what happened.
I started by combining 2 cups of lavender blossoms with about 4 cups of vodka in a large Mason jar. These were dried blossoms from last year’s harvest. I put the lid on the jar and let it steep together for a few weeks. After a few weeks I strained out the blossoms. Then I poured the mixture through a strainer lined with a coffee filter to get out any fine particles so my end product would be clear. I had expected the mixture to be a lavender color. It ended up a pretty honey brown color instead. It also had a very strong fragrance and flavor of lavender. Quite pleasant.
After tasting the lavender vodka I decided to add sugar to the mixture. I made a cup of sugar syrup by combining one cup of sugar with 1/2 cup of water in a small pot and brought it to a boil. This gave me a cup of sugar syrup. Once the sugar syrup cooled to room temp I added it to the lavender vodka and allowed this to mellow for another week.
The odd thing was that at first the sugar syrup and lavender vodka would not blend. The sugar syrup settled to the bottom of the bottle. No amount of stirring and shaking seemed to matter. I’d all but given up when a friend was over and tipped the bottle a few times. Amazingly it finally combined. On the advice of another friend I decided to add a couple of vanilla beans as well. The flavor is pretty interesting. Not quite sure what I will do with it yet. Perhaps a lavender martini. I am open to suggestions.
