This is the right time to prepare the mandarin liqueur because late mandarins have a thin skin and almost no white part and therefore are perfect for this recipe. Can you imagine the satisfaction of serving your homemade liqueur to your guests?
The recipe for mandarin liqueur
First, wash 20 mandarins very well and peel them.
The peel should be infused with a litre of edible alcohol inside a well closed glass jar. It must macerate for 10 days.
Obviously store everything in a dry place away from heat and light.
After 10 days filter and set aside the alcohol.
Separately, dissolve 3 cups of sugar in a litre of boiling water to prepare a syrup. Keep the heat low during cooking and as soon as the sugar is completely melted turn off the stove and let it cool well.
Then add the alcohol and the syrup and pour the liqueur into the bottles. If you want a very clear liqueur, filter it once.
If you prefer thick, don't strain it at all.
Seal it tightly and let it rest for at least a month before consuming.
Don't throw out the peels
We said that to prepare the mandarin liqueur you only need the peels, but with the pulp of the fruits left over you can prepare many things.
Centrifuge and juice are the simplest ideas, but you can also make a mandarin jam after eliminating the white filaments and seeds.
With the slices you can also decorate a cream and fruit tart or you can cover them with melted dark chocolate and serve them as a delicious snack.
A fragrant peel and lots of ideas
With the peel of mandarins, in addition to the liqueur, you can prepare a fragrant powder to be added in the mixture of sweets or creams. Simply dry the mandarins either in a desiccator, or in an oven, or in the sun. Baking in the oven is at 50° for about two hours. Once dry, the peel is finely chopped until it becomes a real powder and can also be mixed with other spices such as cinnamon.