Liqueur (Vanderhum)

Instructions

1. Mix the brandy well together with 50 cloves, 10 dessertspoonfuls of cinnamon just bruised, finely-cut naartje-peel, and half a nutmeg.
2. Allow the ingredients to remain on the brandy for one month, till all the virtue is extracted from it.
3. Then take five pounds of clear light brown crystallised sugar and boil it to a thick, rich syrup.
4. When quite cold, mix one cup of syrup to two of the spiced brandy, and stir well till quite mixed.
5. Add one wineglass of best rum to every bottle of Vanderhum; the rum mellows the mixture.
6. Put all back into a cask, and clarify with the whites of two eggs well whisked and lightly put on the top of the cask.
7. In three weeks it will be beautifully clear and ready for bottling.
8. If made in small quantities, the brandy and spices can be put in jars well corked, with the spices in little bags.