Ginjinha | Portuguese Cherry Liqueur
Delicately flavoured cherry liqueur with notes of cinnamon, cloves & nutmegs is a speciality of Portugal. When served in chocolate cups makes for a delicious after dinner treat.
Equipment
- Glass Jar
- Glass bottles
Ingredients
- 1 kg cherries (with stone)
- 1/2 kg granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 4 cloves
- 1 cup grappa or aguardente or vodka
- 1/2 cup red wine
Instructions
- Wash the cherries well, remove the stems. Pat them dry to remove any traces of water and then transfer them into a clean, dry, sterile glass or ceramic jar.
- Add the sugar and spices and give everything a good mix. Fasten the lid and shake the jar so that the sugar coats the cherries properly. Unfasten the lid but keep the jar covered.
- Place the jar in the sun for 10 days. You can bring the jar indoors after sunset and place it outside again the next day.
- After the 10th day add the vodka and red wine to it, fasten the lid and store in a cool, dry place of your kitchen for another 14-21 days.
- Filter this mixture by passing it through a clean sieve or a muslin cloth placed over a clean, dry pan. Reserve some of the cherries to be placed back in the bottles of ginjinha. The rest of them can be mashed up & stewed to extract thick & saucy syrup to flavour your desserts.
- Pour the filtered ginjinha into sterile bottles. Drop in 3-4 cherries into the bottles if you wish - this is just to enhance the aesthetics.
- Serve Ginjinha in little small portions as an aperitif or a digestif. It tastes best when served in little chocolate cups if you can find them.