Chocolate Liqueur - Dairy Free

When people come to visit me in Modica, I often offer them a glass of my chocolate liqueur.  This is always a success, especially because it doesn't contain any milk, so at the end, they take the recipe with them.

Typically, this type of dense, creamy liqueurs contain milk, but this recipe doesn't and is very easy to make, provided that you can buy grain alcohol where you live. I have had good feedback from people who substituted grain alcohol with straight vodka when using my recipes for limoncello or orancello, so you could try this method for the chocolate one too and let me know.

Ingredients:

100gr bitter cocoa powder

100gr grain alcohol

600gr water

350gr brown sugar

Combine the sugar and the cocoa powder in a pot, place it on a medium heat then add water a little at a time, stirring as you go and making sure not to get any lumps. Continue stirring constantly, when it starts boiling lower the flame and let it cook for 8-10 minutes maximum, then set aside to cool down. When it reaches room temperature, add the alcohol and stir well. 

Take a clean glass bottle and place it next to the pot, then place a very fine strainer or a filter in a funnel and put it in the bottle; ladle in enough liqueur to fill it almost to the top making sure the mixture goes through the strainer to get filtered. 

It is nice to have on its own, you can add it to your coffee or a gelato, and if you place it in a small glass in the freezer it gets a mousse-like consistency.