Malteser Vodka

After I made my toffee and cherry vodka's I had a little vodka left in the bottle and carried out a little experiment. I added 2 treatsize bags of Maltesers to it, shook it up a little, warmed it up a little and savoured the result, which was amazing. I had created something that was not unlike Baileys, which was thick and creamy.

The following week I popped another bottle of vodka in with the weekly shop along with a couple of boxes of Maltesers and made a larger batch.

It's going to be perfect for Christmas, over ice or ice cream or in coffee.

Malteser Vodka

Half a bottle of vodka (approx 350ml)
2 x 120g boxes of Maltesers (for those that don't know what Maltesers are - maltesers.com)

• Put the Maltesers into an empty bottle that has been sterilised
• Pour in the vodka
• Place the lid on and shake vigorously 
• Shake regularly over a couple of days until the Maltesers have dissolved - this procedure can be sped up by placing the bottle in a bowl of warm water

Coffee Vodka & Boozy Mocha Mousse

Last week I made my Russian Toffee Coffee using a shot of Toffee Vodka to perk up the coffee. This week I've made a coffee flavoured vodka that makes a great after dinner drink over ice, or can be added to coffee for an extra kick. It can also be used in recipes such as Tiramisu, coffee cake or added to a mousse.

It can be made in whatever quantity you choose, making the coffee syrup first and then adding the vodka to taste.

Coffee Vodka

75g dark soft brown sugar
150ml espresso coffee
100ml vodka

• Add the sugar and coffee to a saucepan and bring to the boil
• Simmer for 10 minutes
• Pour the coffee syrup into a sterilised bottle and add the vodka

It is really that simple, and the end result is not unlike the taste of Tia Maria - delicious if you are a coffee lover.

Now that you've made the coffee vodka you can use it to pour over ice cream, in baking and also whip up this very delicious mousse. This recipe serves one but you can just increase the quantities for additional servings.

Boozy Mocha Mousse - serves 1

50ml Double cream
50g Nutella chocolate spread
1 tbsp Coffee Vodka

• Whisk the ingredients together until they form soft peaks
• Pour into a glass or small dish & refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Toffee Vodka

This is the second of my home-made alcoholic drinks for Christmas, my first being Cherry Vodka. Whereas that one is best left for a few months, this is good to drink within a couple of days. I have my sister in law to thank for putting this idea into my head and just had to try it for myself.

Toffee Vodka

500ml bottle with secure stopper
vodka
135g Werthers Original butter candies

• If the neck on the bottle is wide enough you can put the Werthers straight into the bottle, otherwise you may have to cut them in half.
• Once all of the sweets are in the bottle then just top up with vodka and pop a lid on.
• Over the next couple of days shake the bottle to dissolve the sweets
• Once they are fully dissolved it's ready to drink

Coming soon ..... Malteser Vodka!

I was sent the above bottle as part of a package from Pattesons Glass. This is a corked 500ml Stephanie bottle.

Cherry Vodka

In preparation for Christmas I've been making a few of my own flavoured vodkas. Two years ago I made up a large batch of Cranberry vodka which we drank the last of last Christmas. My brother still had his bottle up until this year and said it was amazing when they eventually got around to drinking it, therefore this Cherry Vodka is not really something that you should be making for this Christmas, but maybe next or the one after!

I made 2 small bottles at the weekend and although they are good enough to drink now they will definitely improve with age over the next few months or so, and turn syrupy like a liquor. If you're feeling really generous you could tie some ribbon around the neck, pop a label on and give as a gift.

For each 250ml bottle I used approximately the following quantities :

Cherry Vodka

100g Cherries (I used frozen cherries)
100g caster sugar
150ml vodka

• Pop the cherries into the bottle
• Pour the sugar in carefully
• Top up with vodka
• Place the lid on and gently agitate to dissolve as much of the sugar as possible 
• Gently agitate each day until the sugar has dissolved completely
• Leave to mature