Recipes for making vanilla liqueurs at home

Almost everyone likes vanilla (with the possible exception of the editor-in-chief of The Rum Diary), which is why liqueurs based on it are very popular. Today we will learn how to cook the most legendary of them – the Italian Galliano liqueur, and also – we will learn the easiest recipe for making vanilla liqueur at home.

Vanilla is a unique spice, one of the most widespread in the world. It goes well with alcohol, so it would be stupid and criminal not to come up with a vanilla-based liquor! They are, and even a few. Today we will learn how to cook the most legendary of them – the Italian Galliano liqueur, and also – we will learn the easiest recipe for making vanilla liqueur at home.

Galliano is not just aged liqueur, but hardened!

Galliano is one of the most popular liqueurs in the world, an integral part of many cocktails such as Harvey Wallbanger, Tuttosi, Golden Volcano and so on. It is made on the basis of a variety of herbs that grow in northern Italy, along the slopes of the Alps, with the addition of vanilla and fruit extracts.

The real Galliano is the most complicated liquor, its production includes 7 stages of maceration and 6 distillation, only about 30 ingredients are used. The exact recipe for this vanilla liqueur, of course, is kept in the strictest confidence, but you won’t win freebie lovers – they guess, and, moreover, very successfully.

Since the invention of the drink – in 1896 – several world brands have managed to seize the right to produce it, including Remy Cointreau. Now the liqueur is produced by the Bols company. The line includes the classic Galliano, a variation of Ristretto-flavored coffee liqueur, and the very original Galliano Balsamico with balsamic vinegar. Of course, we won’t bother like that – we’ll only talk about the most famous vanilla liqueur, especially since its recipe is not at all simple.

Simple vanilla liqueur at home

Before we take on Galliano, let’s look at a couple of recipes for plain vanilla liqueur. Almost everyone likes vanilla (with the possible exception of the editor-in-chief of The Rum Diary), this drink is ideal for adding to coffee, many cocktails, ice cream and desserts.

For cooking, we need whole vanilla pods – it is better to choose fresh, large enough, easily bending. Of course, you can replace the pods with vanilla or vanilla sugar. But it will already be, as they say, “the wrong coat.” It’s better to try and get a “natural product”, otherwise you can pour a bag of vanillin into vodka and drink it.

A little tip – to keep vanilla pods well and dry less, they should be placed in an airtight jar as small as possible. This way you can use fresh vanilla for several months.

So, for vanilla liqueur we need:

• Vodka – 1 liter. You can take alcohol if you want to make the product stronger, but it has been experimentally proven that the taste and aroma of vanilla is best drawn out by an alcohol solution of 35-40 degrees.
• Vanilla pods – 3 large pieces
• Brown sugar – 400 grams. For this recipe, it is precisely cane sugar that is needed – it will give the drink a soft beige color and a slight hint of rum in the aroma. Experts advise using the Demerara brand, but any other brand will do. In extreme cases, you can make an invert syrup from ordinary sugar – but then the drink will turn out to be too simple.
• Water (for syrup) – 50 ml.

Preparing this drink is relatively easy:

1. The pods are cut obliquely with a knife or scissors, in pieces of 4-5 mm thick.

2. Raw materials are poured with vodka and infused in a dark place for at least 3-4 weeks, or more. Once a day or two, the tincture should be shaken.

3. After infusion, the liquid must be carefully filtered through a dense cotton filter.

4. We prepare syrup from water and sugar, periodically removing the foam. To prevent sugar from crystallizing in the finished vanilla liqueur, the syrup must be inverted. To do this, add 1/5 teaspoon of soda to the syrup being prepared. Why this is done – read in detail in the article on sugar syrups.

5. Vanilla tincture is poured directly into the hot sugar syrup, with constant stirring. If you want to adjust the sweetness, you can do the opposite – gradually pour the syrup into the vodka and constantly taste. This drink must be sweet.

6. After mixing, it is advisable to stand the liquor for 2-3 months in a dark place – then its taste will become more whole and rounded, the tastes will “make friends” with each other. But if unbearable – you can use it without exposure.

That’s all, we have prepared vanilla liqueur at home. It goes well with coffee, can be used to impregnate cakes, cake layers. But you can drink just like that, in small piles, without cooling.

Homemade liqueur Galliano

I will say right away that it will not work to make a real Galliano at home, we can only produce a good copy that resembles the original drink. However, the liquor should be undeniably tasty. It is difficult to prepare, in several stages, and some ingredients are not so easy to get. But where did ours go?

I give 2 recipes, they differ in the method of preparation and the aging time. Both use anise and fruit extracts. If you cannot get the extracts, you can prepare them yourself by filling the pieces of fruit with vodka (and preferably 70% alcohol) and insisting for a month in a dark place. After that, the liquid must be carefully filtered and allowed to stand for another week. In principle, extracts can be replaced with fruit juices, increasing their content by 4-5 times, but juices will steal the degree of the drink – this must be taken into account when diluting alcohol. To prepare anise extract, you need to take 2-3 tablespoons of anise per 0.5-liter jar of vodka, insist as much as analogues on fruit.

Also, extracts can be prepared by combining the aromatic oil of the corresponding fruit with alcohol (a quarter teaspoon of aromatic oil, 2 tablespoons of pure alcohol, stand for a couple of days).

Homemade Galliano Recipe #1

This recipe for Galliano vanilla liqueur uses angelica root (read more about it in the Angelica liqueur article), cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, extracts. The drink is tinted with yellow food coloring – this can be omitted, but then you will not get the bright yellow color of the original liquor.

For a liter jar, we will need:

• Dried chopped angelica root – 1 teaspoon.
• Cinnamon stick – one, 7-8 centimeters long.
• 1 clove.
• A pinch of ground nutmeg.
• Large vanilla pod.
• Sugar – 500 milliliters, 2 cups.
• Lemon juice – a tablespoon.
• Half a teaspoon of anise extract, pineapple and banana.
• Dye yellow – 2-3 drops.
• In the original recipe, food glycerin is used to thicken the drink – 1 teaspoon, but it is quite possible to do without it.
• Vodka – about 0.5 liters.
• Water – half a cup.

Preparation:

1. First we need to make extracts or decide what we will replace them with. In principle, nothing bad will happen if you put all the fruits in equal amounts in a jar of vodka and infuse at the same time as indicated above.
2. Angelica, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla are placed in a saucepan with a thick bottom, filled with water and brought to a boil. All this is in boiling water for no more than 15 seconds (it is important not to overdo it so that the infusion does not become too spicy), after which it is filtered through a tea strainer or colander, and then, when the liquid has cooled slightly, through a cotton or coffee filter. All spices except vanilla can be thrown away.
3. The saucepan needs to be washed and pour the flavored liquid into it. Bring to a boil, add sugar and vanilla, boil for one minute, removing the foam. Cool to room temperature.
4. Lemon juice, extracts and vodka are introduced into the syrup. Everything is fine

   mixed and poured into a jar under the lid. The jar should stand for at least a week in a dark place, during which time the vanilla will give up its flavor to the drink.

5. After infusion, the liquid is filtered through a cotton swab several times until it becomes completely transparent.
6. Add dye and glycerin (if you use them) to the liquor, bottle and cork. Before use, homemade Galliano should stand for at least 2-3 months.

Recipe Galliano №2

This recipe is not much simpler than the previous one, it also uses fruit extracts, as well as cardamom and hyssop.

We will need:

• Angelica root – 2 teaspoons.
• A pinch of musk.
• Cardamom seeds – a quarter of a teaspoon. Only seeds are needed, they must be removed from the box.
• Dried hyssop – a teaspoon.
• Vodka – 400 grams.
• Water – ¾ cup.
• Sugar – 350 grams.
• Banana and pineapple extracts – a teaspoon.
• Mandarin extract – 13 drops (can be replaced with orange extract or do without it at all).
• Anise extract – a tablespoon.
• Vanilla extract – a tablespoon (for how to prepare vanilla extract, see the article on Kalua liqueur).
• Ascorbic acid – 1 tablet + a pinch of citric acid. This ingredient counteracts the oxidation of fruit extracts and preserves the transparent color of the liquor, and also gives the drink a pleasant light sourness. In principle, you can not use it.

Put all the ingredients, except sugar and water, in a jar, pour vodka and leave for 2 weeks in a dark, cool place. Shake periodically. After insisting – carefully filter.

Separately make sugar syrup from all the sugar and water. Cook until the mixture begins to turn yellow, skimming off the foam from time to time. Cool and combine with tincture, after that – let it brew for another month in a dark place.

As we can see, everything is not so difficult. Homemade Galliano is a liqueur much richer and more interesting than regular vanilla liqueur – the effort spent on its preparation will pay off handsomely!