Russian Vodka Liqueur

Well all this talk about Rum topf reminded me of what my step mother (who is russian) makes every year and her mother etc... it's like a family hobby as is drinking it

You start out with Vodka (Derrrrrr!), my step mother always uses the cheapest stuff she can buy in russia as there will be very little flavour left of the vodka Their favourite fruit or berry is cranberry all mushed up to release the flavour (don't be tempted to use juice instead of fresh berries... it just doesn't work!)

Anyway the original recipe they use is
1litre Vodka
1litre Cranberries (before they are mushed)
1/2 Kg Sugar
2 cups of water

You can if you want add orange peel and cinnamon etc but they don't unless it's for christmas presents etc and they want a bit of christmas cheer

Boil the water and mush the cranberries, then pour the boiling water over the cranberry mush and stir it all round some allow to cool and add the vodka and sugar. MIX WELL! The russians use plastic soft drink bottles but you can use what ever you want I guess... Now the important bit!

Every day you have to turn the mixture and you must keep it in a dark place! I prefer to keep it cool-ish and I also tend to open the bottles each day to make sure I don't get any bottles bursting (I'm paranoid and the stuff really stains!). Keep this up for AT LEAST 3-4 weeks before you unbottle it and sieve the cranberry mush from the vodka liqueur Pour into sterilised bottles and seal or have a heck of a party and drink it

Now I have played with this over the last few years and found that havign a couple of cheap bottles of Vodka in the house is a good lpan as I can make up smaller batches of various vodkas when fruit in the fruit basket starts looking a little tired Strawberry and apple was quite nice if an odd colour... Lemon, orange and Lime turned out very nicely... and so on