This week the weather turned chilly in New York, and I started to rough out our family plans for the Holidays. This led me to happy thoughts of Holiday food and drink, and, more specifically, to how it might be nice to experiment with some homemade liqueurs and infusions to serve to guests and give as gifts.
I recalled a recipe for a traditional French liqueur called, simply, “44” because it calls for an orange, studded with 44 coffee beans, immersed in vodka or eau de vie with 44 sugar cubes for 44 days. I decided to give it a try. It was easy to make, and it’s pretty, making it a good gift candidate. I’ll let you know how it tastes in about month and a half.
Recipe (adapted from Patricia Wells at Home in Provence)
Equipment: a wide mouthed liter jar
Ingredients
1 orange (small enough to fit through the mouth of your jar)
44 coffee beans
6 tablespoons granulated sugar (equivalent to 22 sugar cubes). Patricia Wells advises cutting the sugar in the traditional recipe in half, and she’s never steered my wrong.
about a quart of vodka
Instructions
Pierce the orange with a paring knife at least 44 times. Push each coffee bean into a cut in the orange.
Dissolve the sugar into about half of the vodka. Add the bean-studded orange and vodka until the jar is full to the rim. Seal and wait 44 days. Serve neat, chilled, over ice, or mixed with white wine as an aperitif.
