Homemade Dried Apricot Liqueur

Dried apricot liqueur is wonderfully golden in colour plus rich and deliciously warming and fruity with the added flavour of almonds and heady vanilla. The perfect tipple to make you think of summer sunshine all year round!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• The taste – my dried apricot liqueur tastes delicious
• Like all my liqueurs, this homemade dried apricot liqueur is super easy to make
• The price, a good French apricot liqueur is kind of pricy but this homemade apricot hooch is as economical as a liqueur can get.

I love making homemade hooch, in fact I have an entire section dedicated to Homemade Liqueurs And Infusions here on Larder Love.

Homemade liqueurs are so easy to make and are the perfect foodie gift, and with Christmas on the horizon now is the time to get cracking in the kitchen and make some to give to friends and family on the big day.

Ingredients for dried apricot liqueur

Dried apricots – obviously these guys are the stars of the show here. Use standard orange coloured dried apricots to make your apricot liqueur not the sulphide free versions as they are a dark brown colour and this will in turn affect the gorgeously golden colour of the finished drink.

Almonds – you want to use almonds in this liqueur as they enhance the flavour of the apricots. Almonds have the same flavour profile as the pits of stone fruit like apricots, plums, peaches etc.

Vanilla – for that extra warmth and a touch of spice. I use a vanilla pod here but you could use good vanilla extract if that is what you have to hand in the larder.

Sugar – this is a liqueur which means that it is sweet (an infusion on the other hand contains no sugar at all and is merely the fruit/herbs or whatever soaked in alcohol) so you’ll need sugar. I use standard white sugar in my dried apricot liqueur. If you use a brown sugar you will get a more caramel-like flavour which although nice can overwhelm the apricot flavour which is what we are after here.

Vodka – Step away from the Stolly and Grey Goose and head for the supermarket brand vodka here. Afterall, you are adding a load of flavour here so there is no need to start with an expensive well flavoured vodka in the first place.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make dried apricot liqueur

This is such a super easy liqueur to make, more kitchen crafting really and something fun to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Firstly roughly chop up the dried apricots and also the almonds. You want to do this to release as much flavour as possible as quickly as possible into the alcohol.

You could use flaked almonds instead of whole nuts which would save you chopping them. But as flaked almonds tend to be a tad more pricy and as it is so damn easy to chop the nuts save money and go for the whole nuts.

Now get a large clean jar and drop in the chopped dried apricots and almonds.

Add the sugar plus the vanilla pod (remember to slice it down centre to release all that warming spicy goodness) to the jar.

Pour in the vodka and give it all a good stir. Pop on the lid and shake well. Then set aside in a cool cupboard for a week for the flavours to blend into the booze.

It is time to strain your dried apricot liqueur and separate the solids from the booze.

To do this simply line a sieve with two layers of kitchen paper or two layers of muslin and place this over a jug.

You want to use two layers to ensure that all the tiny fibres from the fruits are held back and don’t get into your finished liqueur. This would make no difference at all to the taste of the dried apricot liqueur but it looks so much prettier to have a gorgeous golden clear liqueur.

If there are any tiny bits getting through you can just sieve the liqueur again to make sure it is crystal clear.

Decant the resulting liqueur into a sterilised bottle, or several small bottles if you are adding them to gift baskets and label clearly.

How to serve dried apricot liqueur

You can serve this apricot liqueur just as you would any liqueur, in a small glass at room temperature. It is also good served over ice.

Sometimes I put a bottle of apricot liqueur in the freezer with some tiny shot glasses and serve it as an icy shot.

You can also use dried apricot liqueur as part of a cocktail, like a martini for example – an apritini!

How long does apricot liqueur keep?

Your dried apricot liqueur will keep for up to a year or more in a cool cupboard.

Why use dried apricots?

like dried herbs, dried apricots have a stronger flavour than fresh apricots. The drying process intensifies the flavour.

Also, dried apricots are available all year round and are pretty inexpensive, so a good choice for making a liqueur.

Can you use other alcohol instead of vodka?

Rum is a good choice for an apricot liqueur and of course brandy works well too. Gin is a little too bitter in taste to marry well with apricots. If using rum I would go for a light white rum as a dark rum would overwhelm the flavour of the apricots.

What to do with the leftover fruit

You can use the leftover booze-soaked dried apricots and the almonds to add to homemade jam like my dried apricot jam to get a really marvelous boozy treat for your toast!

Looking for more homemade hooch to make? Then check out these recipes before you go;

Homemade toffee vodka

Totally tropical liqueur

Christmas cranberry gin

Scotch Mist liqueur (homemade Drambuie)

Need more boozy inspiration? Then head over to my Homemade Liqueurs section for lots more quick and easy recipes.

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.