Blood Orangecello

**You can do this any time of year and why not take some regular oranges or whatever fruits you might be seeing now like white peaches…. the possibilities are endless and if you make this week, it’ll be ready for the 4th of July!

We ordered a huge bag of our favorite blood oranges from Riverford, organic farm we get weekly deliveries from. January is the season for Italian blood oranges imported into the U.K. and elsewhere in the world. They are our favorite! We had this huge bag of blood oranges that would go bad before we could eat or drink them all. Last year I made blood orange shrub, which was a hit last summer. This year I decided to make a small jar of blood orangecello to save for a little apertif on a hot summer day in the coming months. This recipe is really simple. The main thing you need is a large glass jar you can store in a dark place for 1 month.

3 blood oranges

1 cup (250ml) vodka

1 cup sugar

1 cup blood orange juice

Method:

Peel the blood oranges (avoiding as much of the pith as possible). Then cut them in half for juicing.Juice the blood oranges and set aside. Strain the pulp if you like.

In a 1 litre glass jar place the blood orange peels and vodka and allow to macerate for 1 month in a cool and dark place.

In a medium sauce pan, make a simple syrup with the sugar and blood orange juice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer until all of the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool and refrigerate this simple syrup, which you will add to the vodka in 1 month. After 1 month has past, remove the blood orange peels from the vodka. Pour in the blood orange simple syrup and refrigerate until ready to use.