44 (Orange Liqueur)

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Thoroughly scrub and dry the orange. With the end of a sharp knife,
pierce the orange all over. Insert the coffee beans into the skin,
embedding each bean in the orange. Place the orange in a 1 1/2-quart
canning jar. Add sugar and the eau-de-vie. Cover securely. Turn the
jar upside down and shake to help dissolve the sugar. Place in a
cool, dry, dark spot. Shake the jar daily until the sugar is
completely dissolved. Set aside for 44 days. During this time, the
liquid will turn from clear to a pale orange and will take on a
lovely coffee-orange fragrance. The 44 can be stored indefinitely as
is, or the liquid can be filtered and transferred to an attractive
liqueur bottle. The orange and coffee beans are not consumed, and
should be discarded once they lose their vigor. Serve 44 chilled or
at room temperature, added to white wine or served in tiny liqueur
glasses as an accompaniment to fruit desserts or as an after-dinner
drink. Yield: 1 quart.
Comments: Orange liqueur, or "44," is one of the most traditional
European homemade aperitifs. You'll find versions in Spain, Italy and
France. The original recipe given to cookbook author Patricia Wells
called for a single orange studded with 44 coffee beans, mixed with
44 sugar cubes and a bottle of clear eau-de-vie. The mixture is then
set aside for 44 days. The result is a fragrant, fruity drink, which
can be mixed with a bit of white wine as an aperitif or served "as
is" with dessert or as an after-meal liqueur. Wells found the
original version too sweet, so she cut the amount of sugar in half.
Recipe Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch - 11-09-1998 From "Patricia
Wells at Home in Provence" by Patricia Wells By Cheri Swoboda
Formatted for MasterCook by Susan Wolfe - vwmv81a@prodigy.com
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