A fragrant apple liqueur for soulful evenings
If you have a rich harvest of apples this year, don’t miss the opportunity to make liqueur from them.
Apple liqueur
This homemade alcoholic drink has a pleasant aroma, fruity flavor, and a beautiful color. Any home cook can make it.
Ingredients
- 2 kg apples
- 1 l vodka
- 1 kg granulated sugar
- 2 l water
Instructions
- Sort the apples. Discard any that are rotten.
- Wash the selected fruits thoroughly. Cut them into slices, removing the core and seeds first.
- Fill a clean jar with apple slices.
- Dilute vodka (1/2 of the amount specified in the recipe) with cool boiled water (1 liter). Pour the resulting solution over the apples in the jar.
- Close the jar tightly with the lid and leave it in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks. During this time, you'll need to shake the contents of the jar occasionally.
- Filter the resulting infusion by pouring it from one jar to another through cheesecloth folded several times.
- Bring 1 liter of water to a boil. Add 1 kg of granulated sugar. Let the sweet liquid simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Then remove the syrup from the heat and cool to room temperature.
- Combine the filtered apple infusion with the syrup and the remaining vodka (1/2 l). Mix thoroughly. Close the jar tightly with the lid. Leave it in a cool, dark place for 3 days.
- All you have to do is pour the finished apple liqueur into clean, dry bottles and seal them.
Note
Cooking tips
To ensure your homemade liqueur delights you with its rich, fruity flavor and beautiful color, take note of the advice of experienced housewives who know their way around this drink:- A delicious liqueur is made from ripe, aromatic apples. Choose tart and sour varieties if you want a more interesting flavor. Sweeter varieties produce a more delicate liqueur.
- Add dried green apple pieces to the fresh apple slices before adding the vodka solution. This addition will add a unique flavor to the drink.
- You can also replace vodka with other strong alcoholic drinks (cognac, moonshine). Alcohol diluted with water will also work for this purpose.
- To enhance the flavor of homemade liqueurs, add spices (cinnamon, vanilla, anise, cloves, ginger), honey, lemon, and orange zest. Mixed liqueurs (apple-pear, apple-rowan) are particularly delicious.
- After bottling, the finished drink must be left to sit in a cool place for 20 days to allow its flavors to fully develop.
Housewives make not only liqueur but also infusion from apples and strong alcohol. However, these are different drinks. Liqueur contains 18–20% alcohol and a lot of sugar (25–40 g per 100 ml). Infusion, on the other hand, has an alcohol content of up to 40%, and the sugar content ranges from 5 to 30 g per 100 ml.
