1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
2 dried apricot halves
1 tbsp almond extract
1/2 cup pure grain alcohol and
1/2 cup water
1 cup brandy
3 drop yellow food coloring
6 drop red food coloring
2 drop blue food coloring
1/2 tsp glycerin
Directions
Combine sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil,
stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until all sugar is
dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.
In an aging container, combine apricot halves, almond extract, grain
alcohol with 1/2 cup water, and brandy. Stir in cooled sugar syrup
mixture. Cap and let age for 2 days. Remove apricot halves. (Save
apricot halves, as they may be used for cooking). Add food coloring
and glycerin. Stir, recap and continue aging for 1 to 2 months.
Re-bottle as desired. Liqueur is ready to serve but will continue to
improve with additional aging.
Variation: For a more prominent 'bitter almond' flavor, add 4 apricot
nuts,** split in half, to basic mixture. Leave in for 2 days to 2
weeks depending upon depth of flavor desired. Remove and discard
apricot nuts. Continue as directed.
**Note: Apricot 'nuts' come from within the apricot pit. You may
split pits yourself or obtain them dried at a health food store.
Servings: 1 recipe
Amaretto Liqueur Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Alcohol; Beverages
The History of Recipes
Written cooking instructions as an idea can be traced way back into the distant past, in fact as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and potentially, even further back. Interesting though that is, these, old recipes were just primitive hieroglyphic recipes for food preparation.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to historians is a series of clay tablets in Sumerian which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel `wonderful`. As we move into The time of the roman empire around 25BC a man called Apicius assembled a collection of scripts showing how to cook the recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. In his works, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and desserts, something we still use today. This early Roman chef tells us how the Roman cooks were skilled in the use of many spices and herbs, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens such as bay, fennel and asafoetida. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, there are a couple of books which appeared in the fourteenth century - one book called `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, these books are unconnected to the indian curry that is familiar to us all today, but rather accounts of the types of meals on the menus of the nobility of the time. In the 15th century, the Crusaders brought back many new foods and herbs from Arab countries, including spices like coriander, parsley, and basil. The introduction of these new culinary ideas caused an eruption in books on cookery, many of which are now in private libraries. Over the next few hundred years, the powerful families of the West strove to serve the most exotic meals, and as a consequence, the best chefs and their recipes were much in demand. However, it wasn`t until the 19th century that fine cooking and recipe collections rose to prominence. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to collecting, testing, and recording recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. When we get to the 1900s, recipe books are starting to become popular mostly as a result of more people being able to read, people having increased leisure time and having more money. The arrival of TV brought us celebrity TV chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting everybody to search through massive numbers of recipes just like those on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Amaretto Liqueur recipe.
