Thinking of Apples and Christmas Cheer

Two months ago, 11th of September to be exact, I found a recipe for an Apple Liqueur and thought I'd give it a go.  I didn't blog about it at the time as I wanted to get someway towards the finished product before I mentioned it here.

So here's the story so far...I had a small number of very large apples from our Cox's Orange Pippin - they weighed between 6-8 ounces each.  With some brandy left over from last year's Wedding Cake and some vodka from my Dad's visit to Holly Grove also last year, all I needed to add was some sugar.

Giant Cox's Apples

Starting the liqueur was fairly simple.  About 1.25 pounds of apples are washed and then sliced in a food processor, or by hand with a good sharp knife - no need to peel just core and remove any damaged parts.

Pack the sliced apple into ajar and cover with 1 cup of brandy and 1 cup of vodka. I also added a cinnamon stick.  Put the lid on the jar, label with the start date and put in a cool dark place - mine went in the pantry.  Then leave for a month for the fruit to absorb the alcohol.

Ready to store for one month

When a month has gone by drain the liquor through a sieve and squeeze the fruit pulp to extract as much liquid as possible.  Then strain the liquid through very fine muslin or through a coffee filter, as I did.  Combine 3/8 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of water, bring to a boil and then cool.  Add this syrup to the liquor and stir well.  Return this liquid to the clean jar, seal and relabel with the second stage date and place in a cool, dark place for another month. 

Twice filtered juice

When another month has passed, repeat the straining and filtering process and bottle your liqueur. 

Here's one I made earlier

Leave for another month and then enjoy!  I made 500ml of apple liqueur with these quantities and am looking forward to tasting the results at Christmas time - cheers!