Christmas Liqueur

Ingredients

• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 Vanilla bean
• 1 star anise
• 4 cloves
• 0.5 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp Pink peppercorns
• 700 ml brandy
• 100 g honey
• 100 g dried plums
• 100 g Dried Apricots
• 100 g dried figs
• 50 g sultanas

Instructions

1. 1.

   Crush the cardamom pods in a mortar, remove the husks and finely crush the seeds. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise. Roughly crush the star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick in the mortar, but do not grind them finely. Leave the pink peppercorns whole.

2. 2.

   Pour the brandy into a large mason jar and stir with the honey. Add the spices and all the dried fruits, then seal the jar. The liqueur must steep for at least 4 weeks at room temperature.

3. 3.

   Afterward strain the spiced liqueur through a fine sieve, gently squeezing the fruit that has been soaked in brandy to extract more flavor. Use the dried fruits, for example, in baking Christmas fruit bread; discard the spices. It is advisable to filter the Christmas liqueur again to catch any fine spice particles.

4. 4.

   Fill the liqueur into bottles or carafes afterwards. Optionally add a vanilla stick or cinnamon stick as decoration.