Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits: Innovative Flavor Combinations, Plus Homemade Versions of Kahlúa, Cointreau, and Other Popular Liqueurs by Andrew Schloss Read Free Book Online Page A

different rates, so in recipes that call for simmering the two together, the strawberries inevitably overcook while the rhubarb stays stubbornly crunchy. The obvious solution is to eliminate all texture issues and make liqueur.
    Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced, or 1 1 ⁄ 2 pounds frozen strawberries, thawed
3 stalks rhubarb, chopped, or 10 ounces frozen rhubarb, thawed
2 cups Simple Syrup
1 fifth (750 ml/3 1 ⁄ 4 cups) light rum (80 proof)
Instructions
1. Muddle the strawberries, rhubarb, and simple syrup with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir in the rum.
2. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of strawberries and rhubarb, about 7 days.
3. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.
4. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
    Prost! Use to spike lemonade or any fruit punch.

    Cranberry Clarity
    Like Roto-Rooter for your head, this drinkable Dremel boosts the pucker of cranberries with a sinus-swabbing blast of horseradish. Don’t let its pretty garnet-tinted glint fool you. This is a powerful concoction. Serve it with orange or grapefruit juice, or simply with a splash of soda when you need to power-wash the old brainstem.
    Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries, crushed
1 cup Simple Syrup
1 fifth (750 ml/3 1 ⁄ 4 cups) vodka (80–100 proof)
1 (3-inch) piece fresh horseradish root, peeled and coarsely shredded
Instructions
1. Muddle the cranberries and simple syrup with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir in the vodka.
2. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of fruit, about 3 days. Add the horseradish.
3. Seal the jar and set aside until the liquid smells strongly of horseradish, about 1 day.
4. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.
5. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
    Santé! Make a Madras Cocktail ( page 244 ) — good for what ails you!

    Pure Cranberry
    Similar to sour cherries, raw cranberries are packed with flavor that needs sugar to become accessible. To make cranberry sauce or a cherry pie, the fruit is usually macerated with sugar and cooked to make it palatable. Here the process is simpler: Mix the raw berries with sugar syrup, add a fifth of booze, and let time work some magic. The result refracts light like a ruby and bounces about your palate like a Hacky Sack on the heels of an agile teen.
    Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries, crushed
1 cup Simple Syrup
1 fifth (750 ml/3 1 ⁄ 4 cups) vodka (80–100 proof)
Instructions
1. Muddle the cranberries and simple syrup with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir in the vodka.
2. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of fruit, about 7 days.
3. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.
4. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
    Santé! Makes a stellar Cosmo.

    Melba Blush
    Nellie Melba, the once world-renowned prima donna of the Paris and Metropolitan operas, is now better known for lending her name to the popular dessert. The luscious combination of peaches and strawberries was created at the Savoy Hotel in London by Georges Auguste Escoffier, the famous French chef, who served it over ice cream in honor of Mme Melba. The flavor struck a chord with the dining public, and this fragrant liqueur will remind you why. It has a glorious pale-salmon tint and a delicious richness.
    Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
1 pint fresh raspberries, or 12 ounces frozen raspberries
1 cup Simple Syrup
6 dried peach halves, finely chopped, or 3 fresh peaches, pitted and finely chopped, or 20 frozen peach slices, thawed
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