On our first (blind) date, when my gardener took me home, I invited him in and offered him some homemade cranberry liqueur. Over the years, we've made a few different liqueurs - irish cream, creme de menthe, cranberry and, coffee liqueur being the one we make most often.
The simplest homemade liqueurs are pretty much just vodka and sugar along with other whatever flavoring you're looking for.
This recipe was adapted from David Leite's book, The New Portuguese Table. His original recipe calls for a grated bar of good chocolate and I've made that version before, but when I went to make this again, I didnt have a chocolate bar and didn't want to go to the store just to get one, so did without.
It couldn't be easier... you put all the ingredients into a container, shake it up and let it sit for 10 days. It will curdle, separate, and in general will look like something you'd want to toss out. Don't! A little patience (and trust) and you will have a delicious liqueur in the end.
At the end of 10 days, I strained the concoction through a fine mesh sieve, which took care of the lemons and some of the milk solids. Then I lined the sieve with coffee filters and ran the mixture through them three times (each time with a new filter). It takes a long time for the liquid to drip through the coffee filters, so again, a little patience is needed. You're left with all the milk solids in the filter and the result is a clear, pale amber liquid. Pour that into a clean bottle and enjoy!
Leaving out the chocolate bar in this recipe made it much more lemony, though not in a sour way. I can't say if I prefer the liqueur made with or without chocolate... I like them both - they're just a little different.
The next time I make this I'm going to make it with chocolate and oranges, which is a favorite flavor combination of mine!
The only liqueur I've ever made was limoncello. Have no idea why I've not tried more flavors because, as you say, it's easy. I'm bookmarking this one for when I get the gumption. :)
ReplyDeleteLoving these Portuguese recipes Karen! I've never heard of this (or had it), I'll have to ask Joe if it's something he remembers. I think I might need that cookbook........
ReplyDeletenice version. i really dun have any idea how to make a liqueur but since i saw this post
ReplyDeletemaybe i will try it coz i have many free time this week. hope i can make it.
What a neat process! I am with you, I think the chocolate and orange with chocolate would be wonderful- especially at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThat is something new and interesting to me. I am not very fond of chocolate, after many years suffering with migraines that made me avoid it. But I would love to try making this recipe.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week.
Mely
PS. Love the pictures on your banner.
Hello Karen,
ReplyDeleteMaybe I didn't explain myself well. I would love to make it as your recipe says here, without the chocolate.
Mely
Invite me over when you make the chocolate and orange! I haven't tried making my own liquors but I will someday...
ReplyDeleteHello Karen, I am in the process of making this. It looked just like the photo with the white milky look and fruit. However, MY cordial never separated like yours. I have been in the straining process all day... and it is now looking like your TOP photo. I'm wonder what I did wrong that the mixture did not separate! Since I've never tasted this type of cordial.. I have nothing to compare it to. I'm not "personally" a citrus cordial person. I prefer pears, peaches, rose, lavendar and so on. It TASTES good.. I just want to be sure I do it right. It's going to have to be someone really special that gets a small bottle of this, it's very time consuming! Thanks for the recipe. Denise
ReplyDeleteDenise: No, I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. I've made this 2 or 3 times and sometimes it will separate, or not. The one in this picture separated on the first day, but after I shook it up, it never separated again. Let me know how it turns out!
DeleteOn Thursday, I have a batch of this made with strawberries. It SMELLS so wonderful! I can hardly wait to try that... AND the chocolate!!
ReplyDeleteOooh, strawberries! Can't wait to hear how it turns out!
DeleteHey Karen.. Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I've been making cordials for years, but this is a nice new twist! I just finished bottling the orange citrus cordial. It came out pretty clear, but lot's of straining. I found it to be very mild and smooth. I've never had any "real" Portuguese Milk Cordial, even though I'm Portuguese! Does the flavor change over time? Does it have a shelf life? The strawberry one tastes very nice. I've got one more time to strain the the cordial for clarity before I can bottle it, although it is fairly clear now. I find the taste actually changes after it becomes clear and the milk solids are removed. It's less potent somehow. It's a beautiful pink color. I love bottling in clear bottles so I can "look" at the cordials. I know brown bottles are better.. but no fun. :)
DeleteI ate a few of the strawberries that I will be discarding and found they actually taste more like ROSES to me. I've made rose cordial (I like it very much) from fresh highly fragrant rose petals many times, and I think it tastes like that to me. I have found most people prefer the fruity cordials better.
Do you do anything with the milk solids? I tasted the orange citrus one.. it's the consistency of soft butter. I like to cook, but I'm not an inventor.. any ideas?
one more thing. I noticed that container is plastic! I've never used plastic, I have many jugs and bottles but must have read somewhere along the line not to use plastic. I also used never to use metal spoons to stir, do you know anything about that? D
DeleteI can't think of any reason you couldn't use metal or plastic for this. They wouldn't react with anything in the liqueur. I know I've read a lot about not using metal for sourdough starters, but I have and it doesn't make a bit of difference. I think that started when aluminum pans, containers, and spoons were more prevalent. Then I could see a reaction to the aluminum, but certainly not with stainless. I'm glad your liqueur turned out nicely! I'd like to try it with the strawberries - maybe this summer. My liqueurs don't last long enough for me to know if they have a shelf life ;) Ha! We make Kahula all the time and keep it for a long time. Plenty of alcohol in all of them, so I imagine they wouldn't go bad. I've wondered about using the milk solids, too, but haven't real thought long about it. There's certainly nothing wrong with them and theyd be find to eat, but I'm not sure how I'd use them. Thanks for reading, Denise!
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