Have you still got a cake tin full of Christmas cake or an uncooked Christmas pudding in your cupboard? I always end up eating leftovers well into January and can be pretty fed up with eating them by now! If you too have odds and ends of Christmas cake, mince pies or xmas pud lying around don’t just chuck them out because I’ve got something you can use them for: create a spirit infusion!
Our local pub runs an infusion competition just before Christmas every year, where customers can submit their own alcohol infusions for tasting and judging at a fun event. The rules are simple; use an unadulterated shop-bought spirit as a base and infuse it with any flavours you like. A lot of fruit is used, some adventurous people add chocolate or nuts and this year my husband and I entered a Christmas cake infusion. Here’s how we did it:
Cut your leftover Christmas cake into slices. Squeeze into a kilner jar. Pour over golden rum (or whisky, brandy, whatever you prefer!) until all the cake is covered and seal it up. Keep it in the cupboard for a few weeks and give it shake occasionally to mix the flavours into the alcohol. When you’re happy with the taste, strain the liquid off through a muslin cloth. Remove even more of the sediment with a second (or even third) filtering through good old-fashioned coffee filter paper – yes, they do still sell them and I found low-cost coffee papers at Amazon. Now all that’s left to do is bottle up your infusion and enjoy a shot in your hot toddies next Christmas! 
Do you have any suggestions for what to do with Christmas leftovers that linger until January? Leave me a comment with your ideas and recipes below or tweet me @Cassiefairy
