Getting Ready for Christmas Part 22 - Hairy Bikers Christmas Pudding Vodka

I love messing around with alcohol and flavourings of different descriptions to put something that little bit different on the drinks/liqueur front.  In fact aside from preserving this is another one of my passions.  After all drink and food go hand in hand with each other and make very good stable mates.

I have been looking for dried fruit recipes apart from chutneys to use up some dried fruit I have to use up - I do not like wasting ingredients if I can help it and this one came along when I least expected it.

Friday evening I just sat and chilled.  Its been a long tiring week, and cold I have been very cold this week although I have had the heating on but sometimes the damp just seeps into your very core and that is how it has been for me this week.  Its just how the cookie crumbles but it was an evening not for doing much and I was subsequently watching the Good Food Channel and a repeat of the Hairy Bikers Christmas.  I had had my knitting needles clicking away not really watching the TV but listening when my ears pricked up at the mention of "Christmas Pudding Vodka".  I had not seen this particular programme before so after the programme had finished I went on to the Internet and found the link for making this which is here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmas_pudding_vodka_45343

The only amendments I would make to this is that  I use a good all round vodka - does not have to be the most expensive but certainly not the cheapest and I macerate all my alcohols in very large sterilised Kilner jars rather than a bowl as you can pop the lid down and keep out any nasties whilst at the same time as coaxing out the flavour from the ingredients.  I from past experience shake the jars gently twice a day to get the fruit to give up its flavours.  When the maceration process is complete I then strain through coffee paper filters or very fine muslin.   You might have to do this a couple of times and I leave overnight to collect as much of the alcohol as I can. I then tend to keep the alcohol in a cool cupboard out of the way but you could keep in the freezer permanently and serve direct from the freezer.

So guess what I am going to be doing.

And the fruits left over  - It think they will go nicely into a Christmas pudding Ice cream.

Catch you soon.