Black Currant Liqueur Recipe (Dried Fruit)

Nov
9

2008

Black Currant Liqueur (Dried Fruit) – Part I

This is a recipe for black currant liqueur (cassis – or creme de cassis) that you can make with dried fruit. The advantage here is that black currants are only in season for a very short time in December. I made this liqueur starting in July. It is made with dried black currants.

After I made it I wanted to make some more in October. The problem was all the dried black currants were gone and I would have to wait until after the next crop after December. I bought the dried black currants at Trader Joe’s here in Southern California.

When I first made this recipe, I’ll admit I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t sure if it would come out allright because I was using dried fruit. My idea was to simply infuse the black currant flavor into vodka. Once I added the dried fruit to the vodka, I could tell the next day that it was going to work. You could see that the mixture was thickening up and that when the jar was agitated, the inside of the jar was coated with a nice reddish-blue color.

This recipe is similar to the recipe for cherry liqueur here at this website. The general idea is that you macerate the fruit with vodka for 4 weeks, then you add sugar and let it macerate for an additional 4 weeks, then you strain it to separate the fruit. Then you let it age and clarify for a few months, then filter it and bottle it.

Black Currant Liqueur (dried fruit version)

Step One Ingredients:

2 cups dried black currants (2 – 6 oz. bags)
4 cups vodka

Step One Instructions:

Add the dried black currants to a 2 Qt. Mason jar
Add the vodka to the jar and shake vigorously
Macerate for 4 weeks

Step Two Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

Step Two Instructions:

Add the sugar to the jar then shake thoroughly to completely dissolve the sugar.
Continue to macerate for another 4 weeks.

Step Three Directions:

Strain through a stainless steel strainer to separate the fruit from the infused spirit.
Squeeze the remaining infused spirit from the strained fruit using cheese cloth.
Age for 2 to 3 months, periodically racking and filtering to clarify the liqueur.
Wait 3 to 4 weeks, then filter with paper towels.
After 7 to 8 weeks, filter through paper coffee filters.
Bottle after aging when liqueur is clarified.

Step One: Infusion

Shown below is a shot of all the ingredients: sugar, vodka, dried black currants plus a 2 qt. Mason jar.

Add the dried black currants to the Mason jar, then measure out the vodka and add it to the jar. Use a measuring cup.

Shown below is a shot of the batch. Shake the jar to thoroughly mix the ingredients, then set it aside to macerate for 4 weeks. Periodically shake the jar to mix the ingredients. To facilitate clarification, do not shake during the last week just prior to straining.