Figgy pudding vodka recipe

Here’s that other recipe I promised you – the very Christmassy figgy pudding vodka infusion. There are quite a few ‘christmas pudding’ vodka recipes out there, but I wanted to try one made with figs as the main ingredient as I think they have a more interesting flavour.

Here’s a quick picture of the infusion, which has had three days’ soaking time so far.

Figgy pudding vodka ingredients

• 700ml half-decent vodka (Sainsbury’s basics is excellent for this)
• 250g dried figs, chopped
• 100g dried mixed fruit (I used a supermarket economy version that includes citrus peel)
• 75g dark brown demerara sugar
• 5ml almond extract (optional)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole cloves
• 1/4 of a grated nutmeg
• 1 petal from a star anise ‘flower’ (optional)
• 3 allspice berries (optional)
• zest from 1 clementine
• zest from 1/2 lemon

Wash the clementine and lemon thoroughly to remove any wax, and zest them carefully, avoiding grating into the bitter white pith underneath. If you don’t have a clementine, just use the zest from half an orange.

Then mix together all the ingredients in a big jar, and place in a cool dry place for up to 1 week, stirring or shaking the mixture daily. If you don’t have a spare jar, you can use a glass mixing bowl like I did with cling-film over the top and keep it in the fridge instead.

After 1 week, remove cinnamon, cloves, allspice berries and star anise from the mixture. Strain the mixture through a cloth, squeezing as much liquid out of the fruit as possible. If you’ve used almond extract, it’s also a good idea to filter the liquid for a second time through a sheet of strong kitchen paper to remove any oils from the surface of the drink. The oils are harmless, it’s just to make it look nicer.

Then return your homemade figgy pudding vodka to the original sterilised bottle, or some prettier sterilised bottles if it’s for gift-giving. Leave for as long as you can to mature, ideally a few weeks. If you make some this week it should be pretty nicely done in time for Christmas.

One optional extra to really finish off the flavour – add 50ml of brandy to the drink after you’ve strained it. This rounds off the taste very nicely.

As an added bonus, you can use the strained fruit to cook with, and it can also be frozen for use nearer to the festive period. This year we’ll be mixing it half and half with mincemeat and using it to fill some boozy mince pies.