Milk Liqueur

It’s December again, my favorite month of the year…… I love this Christmas season, cold winter days, smell of baked goodies, wines, Christmas decorations……the season I eagerly wait for every year….mostly to bake Fruit cakes :)…… hope you all have started your Christmas preparations by now… Here I have already made my wines and baked my first batch of Fruit cakes :)……

Milk Liqueur

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups grappa or unflavored vodka
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 70%), grated
• 1/2 lemon, seeded and chopped, with rind

Method:

Pour the grappa and milk into an impeccably clean half-gallon glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Scoop in the sugar, chocolate, and lemon. Cover the jar tightly and shake well to help the sugar begin to dissolve. It will look curdled; that's as it should be, and perfectly safe. Set aside in a cool, dark place and shake or stir with a clean spoon every day for 10 days. Set a cheesecloth-lined colander over a bowl and pour in the mixture. When the mixture has finished draining, squeeze the cloth to release as much of the liquid as possible, and discard the solids.

Line a sieve with a paper coffee filter. Pour in the liqueur and let the mixture drip through the clean bowl—this can take up to 24 hours. Change the filter when it becomes clogged with the residue from the liqueur. I repeat this step once or twice more after all of the liqueur has passed through to clarify it as much as possible.

Pour the liqueur into a decanter with a tight-fitting top. It will keep at room temperature for up to six months.

Sending this to Ria for the Monthly Mingle- Chocolate Extravaganza, originally started by Meeta