Dannoff Spiced Pumpkin Liqueur

One of the great advantages of vodka has always been its versatility, but that doesn’t stop at just cocktails. If you fancy creating something a little more unusual for Hallowe’en guests this year, try out our recipe for a homemade Spiced Pumpkin Liqueur made using Dannoff Vodka. It’s got a unique taste and is perfect as a base for trying out some new flavours for Hallowe’en cocktails.

Things you will need before you start:

A large, sealable jar. (1L should be fine)
Cheesecloth.
Coffee filters.
A funnel.
A sealable bottle.

Ingredients

The spices are the key to the flavour, so feel free to experiment with quantities.

250g of mashed pumpkin
350ml Dannoff Vodka
350ml Water
250g White Sugar
A cinnamon stick
a few allspice
a few cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

When I make liqueurs using vodka, I tend to stick to the same basic recipe each time and adjust it based on how I expect the fruit or main ingredient to infuse their flavour. Often, this will differ from other recipes that may be available, but the end result is usually about the same.

 Recipe

1) Thoroughly clean everything you’re going to use and rinse with near-boiling water (safely & carefully). This is the most important part, as the mixture will take flavours from pretty much anything it comes into contact with, which can easily include the smell of the rubber seals on the jar, washing up liquid, or even the lingering scent of whatever was in the jar previously. You need to ensure everything is as clean as possible to keep the flavour of the liqueur from being ruined.

2) Throw the pumpkin, spices and Dannoff into your very clean big jar.

3) Boil the water in a very clean pan. Slowly stir in the sugar until it has all dissolved into the boiling water. Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool.

4) When your sugar syrup has cooled, pour it into the jar and stir all ingredients together.

5) Seal the jar and put in a cool, dark place for a week or so. Once a day, give it a good stir then seal it back up again.

Honestly, it won’t look very appetising at this stage.

After a week, you just need to filter and bottle the liqueur for it to be ready. The filtering can be tricky and time consuming, but running the liquid a couple of times through the cheesecloth followed by a couple of times through the coffee filters in a funnel should be enough to get rid of almost all the pumpkin mash. Once you’ve fully filtered the liqueur, bottle it up & it’s ready to enjoy.