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Hello, I want to share my recipe for a homemade drink that is very reminiscent of the famous strawberry liqueur Xuxu (Xu – xu).
A couple of times I flew to rest in Turkey and took it in the Dutifree store. I remember it so much that I decided to repeat it myself.
This is a story from our reader Elena. She makes homemade strawberry liqueur, the recipe of which she will now share.
Why do-it-yourself strawberry liqueur is worth making
Last summer in my region, all gardeners had a rich harvest of strawberries. Having stayed with my grandmother in the village, I took a gift with me: a couple of basins of this fragrant and juicy berry.
I didn’t take into account only one thing – Victoria (namely, that’s what they call strawberries in our area) could not move 200 kilometers in a hot car.
Arriving home, I saw that the ripe berries became soft and gave juice. It makes no sense to freeze this, and I have no desire to cook jam and compote.
For advice on how to process such an amount of strawberries, I turned to a friend, and she shared a recipe that has been used in their family for a long time. And I decided to try myself in a new role as a winemaker.
What you need: ingredients, quantity, utensils
The composition of the recipe is simple: vodka, water, sugar and, of course, strawberries.
A friend’s mom sometimes uses moonshine, but it needs to be at least double distilled, then the berries can kill the smell. Well suited moonshine, expelled from the mash on chocolates. But I haven’t tried it myself. You can also use alcohol and cognac.
For every kilogram of berries, a liter of alcohol and a kilogram of sugar are taken, but half a liter of water.
You will also need:
- Bank twisting. Depending on the amount of ingredients, there may be several jars, and it is better that they are not filled to capacity. I take 2 cans of 2 liters per kilogram of berries and distribute the result between them.
- Gauze for straining;
- Scotch paper and a marker (this is just for personal convenience, why – I’ll tell you later).
The cooking process
Despite the fact that it is better to use soft berries so that they give juice better, all manifestations of decay must be removed. Better yet, don’t use spoiled strawberries at all.
Separate the stalks, cut the berries into 2-4 parts (depending on size), place in jars and pour vodka.
As a result, alcohol should cover the berries with 2 fingers, if it does not cover, feel free to top up. screw cap
Life hack: cut off a small piece of tape, stick it on a jar and write the date of corking strawberry jars. It is very convenient for me when I do not need to remember and look for a record – it is immediately in front of my eyes.
Place the jar on a sunny windowsill and shake vigorously daily to soften the berries and release their juice.
After 15 days, strain well and squeeze the berries. The pulp can be discarded at this stage. Boil the syrup from sugar and water (1 kilogram per half liter), cool and pour into the vodka-strawberry mixture, mix.
Pour into bottles and store in a dark, cool place for at least 3 weeks. In general, the longer it sits, the better it tastes.
Сonclusion
I planned to serve the liquor to the table for the New Year, but I confess: it did not last until the New Year. It turned out from a kilogram of berries I have about a liter of the finished product. The reason for taking the sample happened a month later, and I gave the second bottle.
The drink is a bit thick, about like liqueur wine. The taste is mild and pleasant, moderately sweet, and the color is ruby.
By the way, it is better to take transparent bottles for a drink so that you can see the sediment or cloudiness of the liquid. If this happens, then you should not be afraid, you just need to strain the liquor through cotton wool placed on cheesecloth and bottle it again.
A little trick: I always freeze small strawberries by laying them on a flat surface. It is very good to add them to this drink: they not only cool the alcohol, but also give it a fresh taste and aroma!
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
I think every family has similar recipes passed down from generation to generation. Please share your tricks and give your opinion on this recipe.