Garden gifts: Have yourself a fruity, boozy Christmas, for free

Idon’t know if you have the kind of friends that you could safely give gifts of home-made things in jars to, as Christmas presents. There are always a few pals that might appreciate a homemade body scrub in a chunky jar, or a little hamper made up of a jam, or chutney and maybe even a ferment or two.

If you want to give homemade, hipster presents then one way of getting away with it is to give gifts that are boozy.

As a nation obsessed with boozing, especially over the Christmas period, it’s impressive to get a present that was not only made by you, but also looks cool and funky and may just get you a little bit tipsy,too.

If you plan on giving alcoholic gifts, many take time to develop, months even, but of course you can write care instructions on a label, and a best-after date, making it even more personal.

Giving homemade gifts is all about presentation, so be sure to splash out on some gorgeous jars and bottles, or recycle your nicest ones. Buy one bottle of vodka to make one litre of rhubarb schnapps and two bottles of lemon vodka, and be welcome everywhere.

Be sure to sterilise all your jars by boiling them, or placing them in an oven, 160C for ten minutes, or running them through the dishwasher without a tablet.

Apple Brandy

Christmas is the ideal time for this. It’s so easy to make, looks great, and also makes the best of the Irish apples that are still good and crunchy now.

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients

1 bottle cheap brandy

2-3 apples, cored and chopped into chunks, leave the skin on

1 cinnamon stick

200g sugar

Simply pile everything into the jar and close it, making sure the seal is on well.

Turn it upside down a few times and for the next few days give it a shake to help the sugar to dissolve.

Now put it in a dark cupboard for a few week’s until you are ready to crack it open and enjoy a festive digestif. Be warned that the apples and extra sugar will ferment so that, over time, the drink will become potent, rocket fuel.

Chocolate Vodka

Yes for real. This will make an amazing chocolate espresso martini, combining many people’s favourite things in life: Dark chocolate, coffee, and booze. It’s a fun thing to do for the hell of it and especially if you like a bit of mindless messing in the kitchen — but with delicious results, of course.

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients

1 bottle vodka

200g good quality dark chocolate

1 shot of espresso

Slowly melt the dark chocolate in a glass bowl, over a pot of simmering water. Slowly whisk in the espresso and pour this into the jar which is ideally hot, from having just been sterilised.

Now pour in the vodka and give everything a really good shake to combine it. Work away on your favourite cocktail recipes and store this in the freezer in the meantime.

Rhubarb Schnapps

Many years ago I saw this recipe for rhubarb schnapps in Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. When I decided to finally make this drink, rhubarb was no longer in season, but I was thrilled to find that I can buy it frozen in Aldi, and maybe other shops. So save yourself some bother and buy it frozen and chopped up too.

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients

500g rhubarb, washed and chopped, or frozen

200g sugar

350ml vodka

Simply pile the rhubarb into the jar and pour on the sugar. Close the lid and give it a good shake.

Pour in the vodka until it almost reaches the top, close the lid, and turn the jar upside down and let it all mingle around. Keep turning the jar over for a good shake until the sugar is all dissolved. Leave the jar in a cool, dark place and give it the odd shake until it is ready to drink. This should take six month’s to one year. So why not give it this year, but as next year’s present?

Lemon Vodka

When I lived there, I used to frequent a bar in Brussels called Le Sud which looked like a bombed-out ruin, full of old cinema seats and half a small plane sticking out of the wall. Le Sud had the genius and easy drinks’ menu of one thing only: Lemon vodka. You paid your tenner and were handed a bottle from a Transylvanian-style freezer with dry ice spilling over it, and as many shot glasses as you wanted, also from the freezer. Slowly sip on this — it’s pretty strong.

The recipe for lemon cordial was in this column recently, but if you don’t have it, here it is again.

To make the vodka simple fill a nice bottle half full with vodka and top it up with lemon cordial, give it a few turns to mix it up. Pop it in the freezer and hey presto! Instant cool and delicious drink.

Lemonade Cordial

Makes 2 x 500ml bottles Sterilise your bottles to begin.

Ingredients

7-10 unwaxed lemons

500g sugar

Water

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Zest the lemons using the large grater side of a box grater or a microplane.

Add the zest to the water and, when it’s boiling, add the lemons and boil them for 1 minute.

Boiling the lemons will release almost twice the amount of juice, so juice away. Strain the water and keep 500ml of it and return it to the pan with 500ml of the lemon juice and 700g sugar.

Bring this to a boil and cook it for a minute to ensure the sugar is dissolved.

Pour the cordial into hot, sterilised bottles and cork immediately.

When it’s cooled enjoy this over ice and get ready to make it again and again.