Making your own gin infused with the delicious taste of Christmas cake and, um, spirit of the festive season, really couldn’t be easier! Yes, this easy recipe for homemade Christmas Cake Gin captures all of the deliciously fragrant, warming spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves - and the rich, fruity flavours of our favourite festive dessert.
What’s more, you can tailor it to your own tastes, and use it in all sorts of delicious Christmas cocktails, to add a festive feel to your favourite gin and tonic, Espresso Martini - or even poured over Christmas pudding with ice cream!
The joy of this simple recipe is that it’s not only easy to make at home, but it’s totally flexible; the number of spices we’ve suggested in our easy recipe below are merely our own preference, so feel free to experiment with the flavours you like; so if you are not so keen on cloves, for instance, just leave them out!
You can also experiment with the fruits that you’d like to include - we’ve kept it fairly simple below, with just the addition of bright and citrusy orange zest, but popping some clementines, sloes or even plums into the mixture while it’s steeping would result in a wonderfully deep, flavoured result.
You can also add more or less sugar based on how sweet and syrupy you want your gin liqueur to come out - the more sugar you add, the more treacly your liqueur will become (all the better for drinking neat or over ice!).
The fresh spices we’ve used here are quite strong, so the gin potentially doesn’t need as much time to infuse as some other homemade gin liqueurs - taste it after a week or two and see if it is strong enough for your personal taste, then leave it a little longer if you think it needs more of a kick!
So what are you waiting for? Find the perfect Christmas gin recipe below, it's like having your very own bespoke limited edition!
Homemade Christmas Cake Gin
One 70cl bottle London Dry Gin
Peel of one orange
200g caster sugar
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 centimetre square of fresh ginger (skin on)
1 nutmeg (cracked)
Add all your ingredients to a clean, dry jar or bottle. Seal tightly, give the contents a little shake and leave in a cool, dark place to infuse for a week or two.
Try to give the jar a little shake every few days to help the flavour infuse. You can try the contents at any point to see when you think it’s ready - the longer you leave it, the deeper the flavour and golden colour will be.
Why not try adding dried orange and cranberries like we have done here?
Once ready, strain your gin liqueur into a pretty bottle, wrap with ribbon and labels. The gin liqueur should be kept at room temperature or the fridge, out of direct heat and sunlight. It will easily last for six months, so you can make it now and give it as a gift at Christmas without worrying about it going off! Although of course, we think it’s best used in cocktails like the one below!
Christmas Spiced Martini
50ml Christmas Spiced Gin
10ml amaretto
10ml simple syrup (or gingerbread syrup if you have some)
Dash of orange bitters (optional)
Orange peel, to garnish
Stir all the ingredients together with ice until very cold, then strain into a chilled martini or coupe cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of orange peel and serve immediately! You can also add 15ml of vermouth for a more authentic martini flavour - you might want to reduce the amount of gin if you do this, as it packs quite the punch! Chin chin!
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