Baked apple liqueur

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 4 small apples, sour, approx. 450 g
• 3 stalk(s) cinnamon
• 1 star anise
• 1 vanilla pod(s)
• 1 lemon(s), untreated
• 200 g rock sugar, white or brown
• 700 ml schnapps (grain 38% =

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Rest period approx. 30 days; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 30 days 25 minutes

You will need a 2.5-liter preserving jar and bottles for filling. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Celsius fan-assisted). Core the apples with an apple corer. Place the apples on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and cook on the middle rack for 5 minutes. Then add the cinnamon and anise to the baking sheet. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the apples are soft but not bursting. Let cool. Halve the vanilla pod lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds. Thinly peel the lemon zest with a vegetable peeler. Place the apples, spices, vanilla seeds and pod, lemon zest, and rock candy in the hot, rinsed preserving jar. Fill with schnapps. Close tightly and let infuse for about 4 weeks. Strain the liqueur through a coarse sieve, then filter through cheesecloth. Pour into bottles and seal tightly. While the liqueur has infused, it looks very decorative on the kitchen counter in the preserving jar. This amount yields approximately 700 ml of liqueur. Brown rock candy darkens the final result.