Kirsebælikør

The holidays are busy, friends, and today I’m sharing a vintage post from an earlier trip to Europe. Both the trip and the liquor (recipe below) were fantastic. Enjoy.

Cherries are quite popular in Denmark, and my family is happy to enjoy them right out of the market basket.  Variations on Kirsebælikør, or cherry liqueur, are also quite popular.  I must admit that spending the afternoon on a ferry in the Baltic Sea exploring Denmark’s Viking heritage with my own horde of pint size, toy sword-wielding Viking enthusiasts, any combination of cherries and vodka sounds pretty darn good.  Go ahead, judge.  How many times did you get hit with a plastic sword today?

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups good quality vodka

1 cup good quality brandy

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 pounds fresh cherries, washed and stems removed

Directions

Step 1) Combine vodka, brandy, and sugar in a large bowl.  Stir gently until sugar is dissolved.

Step 2) Score cherries with a sharp knife and place in sterilized quart jars (two should be sufficient).

Step 3) Cover cherries with sugar/alcohol mixture.  Cover jars with tight fitting lids and store in a cool place away from sunlight.  Every few days, tip jars upside down back and forth a few times to mix ingredients.

Step 4) Liqueur will taste pretty fabulous after only a day or two, but for maximum flavor, try to let this sit for 2 or 3 months.  If only one of the quarts lasts that long, well, who am I to judge?  

Step 5) Strain liqueur from cherries, and serve liqueur in small cordial glasses.  Use the cherries for something else – a cake, perhaps?  Hmm… I feel another recipe brewing.  Stay tuned!