Orange liqueur

I wanted to make orange liqueur for a long time. But I didn’t have a recipe. Don’t get me wrong, the internet is full of recipes for orange liqueur. But that is the problem: the recipes are so different, so I didn’t know which one to pick. In some recipes you only used the orange peel, and in some the whole orange. Some you have to leave for months to infuse while others only 1 week. So which recipe should I pick? I even asked my food-blogger friend Verena from Sweets and lifestyle if she has a good recipe, as her boyfriend is distiller. But even they had no recipe. So I decided to create my own recipe. And it worked out and I got a very delicious orange liqueur. And since the orange liqueur is suitable as a Christmas gift, I publish the recipe today. So you still have time to make one yourself.

You need*:

3 bio oranges

3-4 kumquats

125 g sugar

125 ml water

4 cloves

1 star anise

500 ml brandy

Required time: 30 min + 21 days to infuse

*For 750 ml orange liqueur

This is how you proceed:

Wash the oranges and kumquat, dry with paper towels. Zest the oranges using a potato peeler. Be careful not to get any of the white pith as it makes the liqueur bitter.

Free 2 oranges from the white skin and cut into quarters. Squeeze the juice of the 3rd orange. Quarter kumquats.

Add the zest, orange, kumquat and orange juice in a wide, clean glass.

Boil sugar and water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cook for 2 minutes bubbly. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour over the oranges.

Add the spices and brandy. Seal the glass firmly and shake it. Let the orange liqueur infuse for 21 days in a warm place. Shake from time to time.

When the 21 days have elapsed, shake the jar one last time. Sieve the liqueur in sterilized bottles.

What do you think about home made gifts?