Homemade Creme de Cacao for Grown Up Beverages

Homemade Creme de Cacao is easy to make and is a delightful gift for chocolate loving friends and family as well as an essential ingredient for Chocolate Martinis and Brandy Alexanders.

This is my favorite week of the year.

Yes, better than Christmas and Back to School.

It is Choctoberfest, a celebration of all things chocolate. I am kicking things off with a delightful drink you can make for family and friends: Creme de Cacao.

But before we get to mixing up our drinks, there's a little giveaway I have to tell you about.

Choctoberfest

#Choctoberfest is an annual recipe-sharing event. I'm joining other food bloggers from around the world to create delicious chocolate recipes. This year, over 70 bloggers are joining together for a week full of chocolate cakes, pies, cookies, puddings, tarts, candies, and more. You can follow along by searching for the hashtag #Choctoberfest on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Or, simply follow any of the participating bloggers listed below.

We also have some awesome sponsors who make #Choctoberfest possible every year. Our sponsors have banded together to put together a delicious prize pack worth over $400! Here's what you get if you win! (Scroll down to enter.)

• Candy Gift Pack from blog host Triple Chocolate Kitchen, which includes 180-pack of Lindt LINDOR Chocolate Truffles (dark, milk, and white). Triple Chocolate Kitchen organizes #Choctoberfest, as well as posting chocolate recipes throughout the year.
• Chocolate and Cocoa Gift Pack from Divine Chocolate, which includes a variety of high-quality fair trade chocolate bars, cocoa powder, and Divine Chocolate swag. Divine Chocolate's baking line consists of three premium quality flavors ranging from 55% to 100% cocoa for a wide variety of delicious desserts. Their chocolate products are made with 100% cocoa butter and are non-GMO and Vegan Society Certified.
• $100 Nordic Ware Gift Card and 40 Pounds of Granulated Sugar from Imperial Sugar. They are currently hosting their annual Scary Scramble, featuring delicious fall-inspired recipes using Imperial Sugar's high-quality sweeteners. Imperial Sugar has been a kitchen staple for over 175 years!
• Collagen Fuel™ Drink Mix Gift Pack from Primal Kitchen. The ingredients in these drink mixes help support hair, skin, and nails. Their chocolate version has organic, fair-trade cocoa and coconut milk powders, with no wheat, soy, or dairy ingredients.
• Cracker Gift Pack from Mary's Gone Crackers. The lucky winner will get to try a variety of crackers, many of which pair well with chocolate (check their recipe page for ideas!). Mary's products are vegan, cruelty-free, and organic.
• Fig Spread Gift Pack from Dalmatia Spreads. With flavors like sour cherry, plum, blackberry, and orange, you'll find that several of Dalmatia's fig-based spreads work well in chocolate recipes. Use as a filling for crépes, serve warm over ice cream, or spread onto toast. They even have a fig cocoa spread that uses fair trade cocoa.
• Alkaline Water Pack from Perfect Hydration. Wash down all those delicious chocolate desserts with Perfect Hydration water. This 9.5+ pH alkaline water helps to effectively restore and rebalance the body to optimum pH levels. This water goes through a 9-stage filtration process, has no added sodium, chlorine, or fluoride, and is packaged in recyclable BPA-free bottles.
• Kitchen Conversions Chart and Etsy Gift Card from Moonflower Mountain. Winner chooses the colors for this flower-adorned conversion chart, which makes it easy to double any recipe or convert from cups to tablespoons.

This is a prize pack worth over $400! Open worldwide, except where prohibited. Must be 18+ to enter (21+ in some locations). One lucky winner will be drawn randomly on October 20, 2019 and contacted via email. See terms and conditions for more details. Enter the giveaway now:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Entries from spam or inactive accounts are invalid. #Choctoberfest bloggers, sponsors, and their immediate families/households are not eligible to win. This giveaway is not affiliated with or sponsored by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Make sure you check out the participating bloggers to see #Choctoberfest recipes throughout the week:

Triple Chocolate Kitchen • 2 Cookin Mamas • A Day in the Life on the Farm • A Labour of Life • A Little Fish in the Kitchen • A Southern Fairytale • Amy's Cooking Adventures • An Affair from the Heart • Bottom Left of the Mitten • Broken Teepee • Bunsen Burner Bakery • Champagne and Coconuts • Cindy's Recipes and Writings • Cook with Renu • Cook's Hideout • Cookaholic Wife • Crafty Cooking Mama • Daily Dish Recipes • Dixie Chik Cooks • Everyday Eileen • Fairyburger • First Timer Cook • Fix Me a Little Lunch • Frugal & Fit • Fun Happy Home • Get the Good Stuff! • Glenda Embree • Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks • How Was Your Day? • I Can Cook That • Join Us, Pull up a Chair • Karen's Kitchen Stories • Kate's Recipe Box • Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats • Life & Medicine Blog • Life on Food • Long Distance Baking • Lynchburg Mama • Makes, Bakes and Decor • Making Miracles • Mama Needs Cake • Memories In The Kitchen • Our Good Life • Our Sutton Place • Palatable Pastime • Queenslee Appétit • Reviewz & Newz • Sarah Cooks the Books • Sarah's Bake Studio • Seduction In The Kitchen • Shockingly Delicious • Simple Family Crazy Life • Simply Inspired Meals • Sneha's Recipe • Style Island • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Sweet Coralice • Sweet Dash of Sass • Take Two Tapas • That Recipe • The Awesome Muse • The Beard and The Baker • The Delicious Spoon • The Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine • The Freshman Cook • The Redhead Baker • The Schizo Chef • The Spiffy Cookie • The Urben Life • Trampling Rose • Turnips 2 Tangerines • Who Needs A Cape? • Wildflour's Cottage Kitchen • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Creme de Cacao

Homemade liqueurs are so amazingly simple to make at home:

1. add the flavoring to the alcohol
2. let it sit for a few weeks
3. add some simple syrup and let it sit a little more
4. put in a pretty bottle and gift... or keep for yourself

My Mom used to make several varieties and give them as gifts at Christmas time. If you want other flavors, check out Apricot Liqueur, Amaretto (almond), Kahlua (coffee) and Limoncello.

The only semi-hard to find ingredient in this is the cacao nibs, unprocessed chocolate. You may be able to find it in natural food stores, but I ordered mine from Amazon because I didn't want to go driving all over town trying to find it.

Recipe

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Ingredients

 

• ¾ liter vodka
• 8 ounces cacao nibs
• 1 vanilla beans, split
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar

Instructions

 

• Add cacao nibs and vanilla bean to a clean 1 quart mason jar (or other glass container with a lid).
• Fill container with vodka. Put on lid and let sit in a cool dark place for at least 2 weeks, shaking the ingredients every few days.
• In a small saucepan, or in the microwave, heat the water and sugar to create a simple syrup.
• Strain the cacao nibs and vanilla bean from the infused vodka and reserve for separate use or discard.
• Add the infused vodka and simple syrup back into the mason jar. Cover and let sit at least 1 week, longer is better.
• Pour Creme de Cacao into an attractive bottle with a cap or cork for long term storage and gift giving.