Strawberry liqueur at home: Xu Xu, Italy, yogurt

The strawberry season is not long and at an affordable price you can buy it just about anything. But you can prolong the pleasure of owning priceless belongings. And since we have gathered here for the sake of eau de vie, we will not cook jam. We will make a very fragrant and extraordinarily tasty strawberry liqueur at home, for which we only need berries, something strong from the “living water” assortment and a little sugar.

If you live in a luxurious mansion, and there is a couple of Bentleys in the backyard, then it’s time for you to buy strawberries all year round, fresh. A frozen berry will also suit ordinary mortals, from which, by the way, liquor can be prepared all year round, while it will turn out no worse than the German Xu Xu. What kind of Xu Xu is this? This is a strawberry liqueur of German origin, which appeared on the market not so long ago (in 1997). Despite its short history, Xu Xu has become the most popular in its class. Marketing, apparently, and maybe an accident.

Xu Xu liquor contains only 15% alcohol, no sugar is added to it (according to the manufacturer), and it is very thick, sweet and cloudy. We will prepare its analogue, but with sugar – I personally do not understand how liquor can be prepared without it. There are a lot of recipes for strawberry liqueur, but we will take the simplest and most adapted one. Of course, according to the tradition of our magazine, alternative recipes are assumed. Oh yeah, Xu Xu is a bit sour – it’s lime juice (we’ll use lemon in our drink). Well, let’s cook.

Recipe for strawberry liqueur ala Xu Xu

How to cook:

1. We wash the strawberries, remove the stalks and cut in half (if the berries are large, then it can be quartered).
2. We put strawberries in a liter jar and fill it with vodka or diluted alcohol (as always, we use our calculator for diluting alcohol with water). It is important that all the berries are covered with vodka. You can take more of it and pour it on the very edges of the jar. We also add the juice of half a lemon to our infusion – it will give the drink a pleasant sourness.
3. We send the jar for 7-10 days on the windowsill, preferably with the sun. Then the infusion must be carefully drained through gauze, without squeezing the strawberries, and add sugar to the jar of berries. We cork the infusion and set it aside – we don’t need it yet.
4. A jar of strawberries and sugar should be gently shaken a couple of times and set aside for another 2-3 days until the sugar is completely dissolved. Drain the syrup, add 200 ml of water to the jar, mix and drain the remaining syrup again.
5. Mix strawberry infusion with syrup, pour into a jar and forget about it for another 3-5 days. During this time, the liquor will clear up and can be removed from the sediment, and then filtered.

As a result, you should get a delicious liquor of a beautiful “strawberry” color. Its strength will not exceed 15%, but the taste and aroma are simply divine. It is better to drink liquor chilled. Our homemade Xu Xu tastes great with champagne and other sparkling wines, as well as ice cream. You can also make a delicious sorbet out of it.

Alternative Xu Xu Recipe

The recipe is similar to the previous one, only the strawberries must first be mashed. It is also advisable to use cognac or any other brandy (schnapps is used in the original recipe). You will get a very beautiful drink with strawberry pulp, as close as possible to Xu Xu (so it is better to use clear brandy or good vodka).

How to cook:

Mash strawberries in a jar and pour it with alcohol for 10 days. Then you need to prepare a syrup from 200 g of sugar and 200 ml of water: dissolve the sugar in water, heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cool the syrup and mix with the tincture. Pour the finished strawberry liqueur into clean bottles and cork tightly. Store in the refrigerator for up to a year.

Strawberry liqueur “Liquore di Fragole”

Recipe from The De’Medici Kitchen 1993 cookbook. The perfect Italian strawberry liqueur that can compete even with Limoncello itself. This recipe has only one minus – so that the drink does not disappoint you, it needs six months for maceration. However, I came to the conclusion that one month would be more than enough, and it is better to leave these 5-6 months for aging.

How to cook:

In a jar of suitable volume, mix strawberries, spices, 90 g of sugar, lemon zest without white skin and bay leaf. Add vodka (ideally grappa), close the jar tightly and leave in a dark, cool place for 6 months (1-2 months will be enough). After six months, strain the infusion through a sieve or several layers of gauze, filter through coffee filters or cotton wool, and then pour into a clean jar, where add the remaining 60 g of sugar. Wait another week or two, pour the finished liquor into clean bottles and store in a dark, cool place. An extract is welcome. Do not throw away the remaining strawberries, but use them to make delicious pastries or add them to ice cream.

Liqueur “Strawberry yogurt”

A glass of this more than fresh liqueur transports your taste buds somewhere in the not distant past, reminiscent of that very short strawberry season. Alcohol retains the bright taste of ripe berries in it and allows you to savor it weeks later. We sell this drink at any time of the year, if frozen strawberries are on hand. The creamy syrup used in this recipe is also good with other berries and fruits.

How to cook:

First you need to prepare the syrup. To do this, in a saucepan with a thick bottom, mix the cream and sugar, and then bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove cream syrup from heat and add yogurt. Mix well, pour the syrup into a clean jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To prepare the liqueur, you need to mix vodka, finely chopped strawberries and vanilla in a jar of a suitable volume. Close the jar tightly and leave in a dark, cool place for 5 days. Strain the infusion, mix with creamy yoghurt syrup, wait a couple more days and pour into a clean bottle.

Store liquor in the refrigerator. Guaranteed shelf life 1 month. Shake before tasting (the components of the syrup may peel off, but pre-shaking solves this problem completely). Serve chilled or with ice. I advise you to accompany the liquor with delicious dipping biscuits.

Do not miss! We have a few more articles about strawberries as the main ingredient for alcoholic drinks. First of all, these are articles about strawberry tinctures and liqueurs, as well as material with strawberry wine recipes. For the happy owners of moonshine stills, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the recipes for strawberry moonshine.

Good luck making your perfect strawberry liqueur! Don’t forget to tell your friends and family about it. Comments with questions and feedback are welcome.