Apple Pie (but not the eatin' kind...)

A few weeks ago, I was offered a taste of Apple Pie at a BBQ get-together a ways out in the country. Now, if you watch Justified on USA, you'll understand why such an offer might give me pause. But, the pause only lasted a brief second since these folks aren't the poisoning sort, and it looked tasty. It was, and they happily shared the "recipe." Our batch turned out delightful as well.

Apple Pie Liqueur

1/3 bottle of Everclear or vodka
1 can frozen Apple juice concentrate (100% pure apple juice only)
1/2 cup sugar
1 hefty pinch cinnamon
1 small pinch nutmeg
(and I added)...
1 pinch ground cardamom
1-2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

You could heat the sugar and a bit of the apple juice concentrate up to melt the sugar down. My method was far less civilized, as I poured the sugar into the Everclear bottle 1/4 cup at a time (using a funnel), and shook the ever-loving heck out of it. Then, I added the can of defrosted apple juice, the spices and the extract and shook some more. The pretty bottle of Apple Pie is now sitting on the shelf in our cool pantry... melding. The cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom settle to the bottom of the bottle, so you really don't need to even worry about straining.

It is especially fabulous mixed about 1/2 and 1/2 with some excellent, pure apple cider as a tasty cocktail, and we tried ours after just 24-hrs. Enjoy!!