• Yield: Makes about 1 quart


I am a sucker for cinnamon and blueberries; I wish I knew why. Maybe it's because I'm not much of a cinnamon freak, and I find its juxtaposition with the blueberries generates barely a hint of the Red Hots Saturday-matinee-movie sucker punch so ubiquitous in cinnamon-flavored products. This liqueur has a beautifully balanced flavor and is a gorgeous color as well.

 

  • 2 pints blueberries, stemmed, or 1 1/2 pounds frozen blueberries, thawed

  • 1 cup Simple Syrup

  • 1 fifth (750 ml/3 1/4 cups) light rum (80 proof)

  • 4 cinnamon sticks, smashed into shards

1. Muddle the blueberries and simple syrup with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir in the rum and cinnamon.

 

2. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of blueberries, about 7 days.

 

3. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.

 

4. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.


Excerpted from Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits © by Andrew Schloss, used with permission from Storey Publishing.

Andrew Schloss
Andrew Schloss is a restaurateur; the author of 12 cookbooks; a writer whose articles have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, Bon Appetit and Family Circle; and president of product development company Culinary Generations, Inc. He is the former president of The International Association of Culinary Professionals and former director of the culinary curriculum for The Restaurant School in Philadelphia. His website is AndrewSchloss.com. His latest book is Cooking Slow: Recipes for Slowing Down and Cooking More.