How to make homemade cocktails – Turkish Delight Vodka

How to Make Delicious Cocktails at Home

I love a good cocktail. And I especially love them when sitting in a swanky hotel bar and when someone makes them for me. But given that I don’t get out to places like that quite as much as I used to, I decided I needed to up my cocktail game at home. Problem was, I couldn’t find the right book to help me. I wanted simple, classic recipes but with a modern twist, not a stuffy guide to the art of cocktail making with a list of ingredients that were impossible to find.

So I spent a year mixing, infusing, shaking and stirring (and drinking at least one cocktail a night, if not two) and the result is my new book, Homemade Cocktails. Written to help reboot at-home cocktail repertoires, there are recipes for homemade infusions, syrups and shrubs along with a selection of the best classic cocktails and plenty of new ones too. And for dry days and non-drinkers there are booze-free options.

Here’s one of my favourite recipes from the book, one to make Turkish Delight vodka at home.

Turkish Delight Vodka

Use whatever Turkish delight you prefer (my favourite’s a mix of rose and lemon, but if you love the taste of rose, go full rose).

Ingredients

• 200g Turkish delight
• 500ml vodka

Method

• Rinse the Turkish delight under the tap to wash the sugar off (otherwise the liquid goes very cloudy) and pop it into a clean jar.
• Pour over the vodka, put the lid on and give it a gentle shake.
• Leave it for at least a week (this one does need a bit of time to get that delightful flavour infused).
• When it’s got the right amount of Turkish delight taste for you, strain the liquid into a jug before pouring back into the jar or into a clean bottle. Seal and store in the fridge.

Serving suggestions

Given the fairly delicate flavour of this one, keep it simple. Add it to a glass with crushed ice and top up with soda water and a twist of lemon peel. Or make a killer Martini garnished with a sprinkling of dried rose petals and a twist of lime peel.

Follow Helen on Instagram @knackeredmother or visit her website for weekly tips (www.knackeredmotherswineclub.com)