Belgian
recipes


Recipe from
Limburg

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Christmas
recipes


Liqueur
recipes

Harvest without
sowing
 

Sloe liqueur
Sloe gin

  

Christmas liqueur
  • 1/2 LITER VODKA
  • 500 GRAM SLOES
  • RIND OF 1 LEMON, in strips
  • 2 CLOVES
  • 150 GRAM SUGAR
    •
 
  • 6 DRIED FIGS
  • 6 DATES
  • 100 GRAM DRIED MIXED FRUITS
  • 1 LEMON, quartered
  • 5 CLOVES
  • 1 VANILLA POD, cut open
  • 3 CARDAMOM PODS, cut open
  • 1 CINNAMON STICK
  • 1/2 LITER ALCOHOL (95°)
  • 250 GRAM BROWN SUGAR
    •

Put the sloes in a glass bottle together with the lemon rind, the cloves and the vodka. Put the bottle in a cool dark place and shake once a day. After 6-8 weeks you move on: sieve the liquid. Dissolve the sugar in half a cup of boiling water. Allow it to cool down and mix it with the sloe liquid. Wait for a few days before drinking.

Sloe or blackthorn (Prunus Spinosa) grows in the wild in many countries. It belongs to the same family as the plum and the name relates to the Eastern European "slivovitsj" (plum brandy). The berries should best be harvested after the first frost; I put them in the freezer for a few days to get the same effect. See also a recipe for sloe jam.

"Voerdrupke" is an alcoholic drink based on sloes from the Voeren region in the Belgian province Limburg. It is distilled, but since I cannot do this at home, I prepared this alternative. Fir the real thing, just visit Voeren.

Voerense platz is a recipe from the same region.

Put the figs, dates, dried fruits, lemon and spices in a bottle with the alcohol. Leave this bottle for 2 weeks in a dark place, shake on a daily base. After two weeks, strain the fluid. Dissolve the sugar in 2 cups of boiling water. Allow this to cool down and mix it with the alcohol. If you do not have access to strong alcohol, you can use vodka. In that case, try to dissolve the sugar in just a little water, otherwise you end up with tangerine lemonade.