Raspberry Liqueur

Rinse and check raspberries, discarding any overripe or moldy berries. Place raspberries into a large bowl and crush them slightly with the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside. Warm 2 cups of water with sugar in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. Stir continuously until well dissolved and liquid is just warm. Pour sugar-water over raspberries and stir. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for one week, stirring occasionally. After refrigerator aging, strain mixture through a fine wire mesh strainer into your aging container (large ceramic crocks or glass jugs work well for this purpose). Add alcohol mixture, stir. Cap and let age for one month. Strain through cloth (muslin, a few layers of cheesecloth, old clean pillowcases...) until clear. Re-bottle as desired. Liqueur is ready for use in cooking at this point, but 2 or more months of additional aging is recommended before drinking (My experience is that most non-cream liqueurs hit their peak of flavor after close to a year of aging time). Four cups of 80-proof vodka may be substituted for the 2 cups pure grain alcohol mixed with 2 cups water. The proof of the liqueur will be slightly less. Be sure to use distilled water unless your tap water is very pure. Try not to use any plastic utensils or containers when making liqueurs; you can wind up with off flavors. I also inserted a few other helpful notes in parentheses.