Recipe - Apricot Or Cherry Liqueur

2 pound Dried apricots or dried
pitted sour cherries
1 Bottle (1.75 liter) vodka
4 cup Sugar

Recipe By: Sunset Magazine Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus at least 2 weeks for
mellowing Makes: About 8 cups of apricot or 7 1/3 cups cherry liqueur

1. Place apricots or cherries, vodka, and sugar in a glass jar (at least
3quart size). Stir until sugar is mostly dissolved. Cover tightly and let
stand at least 2 weeks or up to 2 months; after a few days shake jar until
sugar completely dissolves. Cherry liqueur may form a slightly cloudy,
harmless residue at the top of the jar.

2. Pour lqueur and fruit, a portion at a time, through a fine strainer into
a pitcher, letting fruit drain completely. Save fruit for other uses
(recipe suggestion follows later). Line strainer with four layers of damp
cheesecloth, set over a spouted container, and pour liqueur through it. Or
for maximum clarity, strain liqueur through a coffee filter, changing
filter often (takes several hours).

3. Pour liqueur into small airtight bottles. Serve liqueur, or store
uptight up to 6 months. (If storing in containers with rubber stoppers,
place a couple of layers of plastic wrap between rubber and bottle to keep
alcohol from softening rubber).

Notes: Slab apricots are the sweetest dried apricots; they're picked
extraripe and soft, and are slightly misshapen. Inexpensive vodka works
fine.

Serving Ideas for Fruit Liqueurs:

* Drizzle over ice cream for an instant but elegant dessert * Add a little
to mixed fresh fruit, spoon over pound cake * Splash into sparkling wine
for a festive aperitif * Flavor holiday fruit cakes with liqueur instead of
rum * Sip and smack your lips happily

Posted to recipeludigest Volume 01 Number 184 by Mandy Rose Bell
mbell@gladstone.uoregon.edu on Oct 30, 1997