During our last trip to Poland, I spent a couple of nights in Warsaw. The main purpose of my stop in Poland’s capital was to take a cooking class. I added the optional vodka tasting. During the four hours we spent cooking, our instructor served samples of various tinctures. It was the first time I’d tried a Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych).
I knew it wouldn’t be long before I tried making my own because I have a fascination with the Polish art of tincture making. So far I’ve made, cherry, raspberry, plum, honey/spice, mandarin orange, lemon, pineapple, orange/spice, and now hazelnut.
The hazelnut tincture reminded me of Frangelico but like most things Polish, less sweet, less syrupy. The Warsaw class was also my first sample of a quince liqueur, so I’m keeping my eye open for quince now.
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Hazelnuts have been around forever. There is evidence of them being cultivated 8,000 years ago. They’re right up there with almonds when it comes to my favorite flavors.
I’m not alone in this. Worldwide production comes to 743,500 tons, with Ferrero SpA using 1/4 of that amount, think Nutella and Ferrero Roche. A much smaller percentage goes into this hazelnut liqueur, but that may be changing soon. 😉
I read recipes on various Polish blogs before deciding to try this, one of three versions on Moje Nalewki. I’ll include notes in the recipe about the many variations you might like to try.
If you need more encouragement, my research also turned up this: “tincture of hazelnut tastes great and supports brain work.” It’s on the Internet, so it must be true, and who doesn’t need a little help with brain work?
It takes 6 – 8 weeks for the hazelnut flavor to seep out of the chopped hazelnuts and into the vodka, so if you put this mixture together right after Christmas, you’ll have a delicious Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych) in time for Valentine’s Day.
Na zdrowie,
Lois
Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych)
- Prep Time: 6 weeks
- Total Time: 6 weeks
- Yield: approx. .75 liter
- Category: Beverage
- Method: steeping
- Cuisine: Polish
Description
A Polish hazelnut liqueur, similar to Frangelico but not as sweet
Ingredients
- 25 hazelnuts, shelled and chopped
- .75 liter bottle of vodka
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want your liqueur)
- 1 vanilla bean, split, scrape seeds from the pod
- 2 whole allspice berries
Instructions
- Add chopped hazelnuts to a large container (that can be sealed) with the vodka, sugar, vanilla bean pod and seeds (I had 1/2 a vanilla bean pod that had already been scraped in a jar of sugar, I used this pod and vanilla sugar in this recipe, it may be why my tincture is lighter than some others) and allspice
- Seal and shake or swirl the container every day until the sugar dissolves
- After 6 – 8 weeks, strain out the chopped hazelnuts and vanilla pod, the mixture may be a little cloudy, let it sit for 4 – 5 days, very fine bits will settle to the bottom leaving you with a beautifully clear liqueur, carefully decant to a new container or siphon out with a turkey baster
Notes
Additional options you may want to include one or two of these:
- zest of a lemon
- 4 cloves
- 2 cardomom pods
- cinnamon stick
- zest of an orange
Keywords: Polish Hazelnut Liqueur (Nalewkę z Orzechów Laskowych)
David
This is definitely happening soon! Love hazelnut and love making homemade liqueurs – and the fact that it isn’t too sweet is very appealing!
CA Sasinowski
What kind of Vodka is recommended for the Hazelnut Liqueur ?
polishhousewife
I always just use whatever I have on hand.
TIm
Chopin, of course! Just kidding, any double or triple distilled vodka will do. Luksusowa, a potato vodka (no grain, no pain) is widely available in the US for even less than it costs in Poland, and it’s a very good and rather cheap vodka.
Nalewka hint: after straining the end product, if you cover the hazelnuts in simple syrup they will release any alcohol they have absorbed into the syrup and you can use some of that syrup to sweeten your liqueur to taste. The same goes for macerated fruit. When Magda and I make Pigwowka the resulting syrup is VERY flavorful and the leftover fruit goes into our Christmas steamed pudding.
Joanna
What kind of hazelnuts should be used? Roasted or raw?
polishhousewife
I used raw.
Michele
Hi, I just decanted this and it is very tasty! Can’t wait to use in some creative martini recipes. Question: I am baking oatmeal cookies today and was very tempted to chop up the hazelnuts that had soaked in the vodka for the past 2 months in lieu of walnuts. Has anyone every used the hazelnuts after steeping? Thank you
polishhousewife
Taste the hazelnuts and if you like the flavor, go for it. I have occasionally used fruit after steeping in vodka. It all depends on what it tastes like. If it still has some fruit flavor, it’s worked out well in baking.