Fruit & Flower Infused Alcohol ~ Now is the Time to Start!

In my last post I mentioned an alcohol tasting session that spontaneously broke out at my sister’s house when someone brought along a bottle of blackberry gin which, of course we all politely tasted.

Naturally this prompted the opening of some delicious Damson Vodka my nieces had made a year or two back, followed by 12 year old Sloe Gin made by my late father, which was beautiful.

Next came some Limoncello and then, in keeping with the fruity scheme, Calvados. As this was less sweet than the others we all felt the Calvados should have been first so probably need to have another go soon and do the thing properly.  It’s OK, by the way, we used tiny little glasses!

Anyhoo this pleasant evening got me thinking that I really should give fruit (and flower) infused beverages a mention as it’s time to get started on some of these.

Firstly then, as the time really is Now to start on this …

Elderflower Cordial or Champagne

Elderflowers are flowering even as I type so on a lovely sunny day (you want the flowers to be dry and fragrant) go and pick some and make cordial or champagne. 

For the cordial …

20-25 large dry elderflower heads
(some open flowers, some still in bud, not much stalk, shaken to remove insects)
1 ltr water
900g white sugar – granulated or caster
4 lemons (or 3 lemons and a lime or 2 lemons and an orange)

~   Bring the water to the boil.
~   Put the sugar into a large bowl and pour over the boiling water, stir to dissolve.
~   Grate the zest (brightly coloured outer skin only) from the citrus fruits and add to the syrup.
~   Slice the fruits and add those too.
~   Leave to cool.
~   Add the thoroughly examined and picked over elderflower heads.
~   Cover and set aside for 48 hours.
~   Strain carefully and gently through a nylon sieve lined with clean muslin down through a funnel  into clean, sterilised bottles.
~   Keep in a cool dark place for 6 weeks or freeze in ice cubes for several months.

Elderflower Champagne is a little more complicated so I think I will direct you to an expert in this field  where you will also read about a usual technique known as “forking off”! Alternatively just dilute your homemade cordial with sparkling wine.

Moving on, the next item that needs your consideration as soon as possible is …

Rumpot/Rumtopf 

I have written about this gorgeous rum concoction before – here. 

This is made from a variety of summer fruits as they come into season which some are doing right now.

Cherry Bounce 

This is a delicious variation on Rumpot using cherries – did you guess?

In September you can get on with all sorts of delicious drinks based on the following simple recipe …

Blackberry/Damson/Sloe Gin/Vodka

500g fruit (sloes, blackberries or damsons)

250g sugar
1 ltr gin or vodka – but 2 empty bottles!

~   Sloes and damsons will benefit from either being pricked with a darning needle (if such things still exist!) or frozen and thawed so that they split – either way helps release their juices into the booze.

~   Divide the fruits and sugar between the two bottles and top up with the gin or vodka.
~   Seal tightly.
~   Put the bottles in a cool, dark place and give it a good shake every day or so until you are sure that the sugar has completely dissolved.
~   After about 3 months carefully strain the liquid from the fruit (through a scaled muslin) and decant into clean and sterile bottles.
~   Leave it alone for as long as you can – a few months at least but, as our experience with Daddy’s 12 year old sloe gin proves, several years is a good idea.

  

Limoncello 

Make Limoncello any time you like – the recipe is here.

Calvados 

This probably better bought in but here’s recipe for Blackberry and Apple Vodka.

An Easy Way to Sterilise Bottles

An hour or so before making or decanting your drink wash and rinse the bottles and put them on their sides in the oven.  Turn the oven on to 160ºC/325°F/140ºC fan/gas 3 for 10 minutes then turn it off and leave the bottles in there till cool. Metal lids can be boiled.

In Other News …

We went for a glorious walk along the coastal path from Caerhays the other day – it’s a part of the coast I’ve never explored and was very, very lovely.

How to make Rumtopf aka Rumpot – a brilliant use of summer fruits.

~  Menu ~

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Lightly Pickled Cucumber

Balsamic Glaze

Toasted Ciabatta

Sparkling Water but …

… followed by a glass of Rumtopf

You may remember in my last post, when reviewing The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit I was reminded by her recipe for Coffee Orange Liqueur* that I had Rumptopf and Cherry Bounce somewhere in the cellar of our caravan.

Well I have found the Rumtopf and it is Delicious!  It’s been hidden away for almost a year and I thought it might have gone mouldy or evaporated but it’s great.

So, it being The Time of Summer Fruits again, here’s how to make it!

Rumtopf aka Rumpot

Pin this so you can find it in the summer!

The first stage of this recipe must be started at least two months before you want to drink it but the good news is you can do something else whilst you are waiting. Often this was used, by patient German people, as a way of storing summer fruits for Christmas.

I have seen recipes using all sorts of fruits but I think lovely soft summer fruits are best; strawberries, cherries, peaches, raspberries, plums, apricots, loganberries, redcurrants etc.

(For the benefit of friends in the Caribbean I do think mango might work well in this, particularly if using rum).  

~   Select a glass or ceramic jar with a really good seal – I used a Kilner jar – and make sure it is clean and dry.

~   As fruits come into season, so starting with strawberries, de-stem them and wash and dry thoroughly.

~   Weigh the fruits and put into you jar then add half their weight in sugar.

~   Cover with dark rum or brandy (in which case I believe you will have a Brandytopf) to a depth of half an inch. It is essential that all of the fruit is always submerged so place a small saucer or similar directly on top of it to stop any random pieces floating to the surface.

~   Cover tightly and store in a cook dark place till the next fruit comes along.

~   With the second and all subsequent additions repeat the procedure topping up with the spirit and reseal.

A few points …

­ ~    Always use perfect fruit – no bruises, no overripe or under ripe fruit, just perfect.

­ ~    Don’t stir when adding additional fruits, just layer up.

­  ~   At the end of the summer, after the last fruity addition, forget about it for really nice surprise later on.

The resulting liqueur makes a truly delicious sipping liquor, the fruit is powerful but a little over vanilla ice cream is good. 

Cherry Bounce 

This is exactly the same sort of thing but using just cherries and brandy. I can’t find mine – must have drunk it!

Might as well pin this too!

Both Rumpot and Cherry Bounce  make superb ice cream using the genius no-churn recipe in my book Luscious Ice Creams without a Machine which gives over 100 delicious no-churn ice cream recipes plus every bit of useful ice-cream making information I can think of!

So far as lunch is concerned I have fallen back, so to speak, on Hummus. I usually have the makings available just in case I don’t have a good idea – the hummus recipe plus lots of ideas and variations here.  I ate it with my lightly pickled cucumber, balsamic glaze (which I always have in the cupboard) and lovely toasted ciabatta.  

A week or so ago we bought a cucumber for 10p and, as is my way with cucumbers, I pickled it.

Lightly Picked Cucumber

1 cucumber

salt

150ml white vinegar – I use cider vinegar

3 tsp light brown sugar or to taste

a sprinkling of chilli flakes – optional

~   Top and tail the cucumber and then cut in half lengthways.

~   Remove the seeds – the easy way to do this is to score a line with a sharp knife either side of the strip of seeds then using a sharp teaspoon (!) scrape the seeds out.

~   Slice the cucumber as thinly as you can and put into a nylon sieve suspended over a bowl

~   Salt generously tossing the slices to make sure they all get some and leave for an hour or more.

~   Drain away the juice then turn the slices into the empty bowl and rinse well with cold water.

~   Re-drain.

~   Stir together the vinegar and the sugar to dissolve the sugar.  Add the chilli flakes if using.

~   Stir in the cucumbers, put in an airtight jar or container, cover and chill till needed.

This keeps a good long while in the fridge.  

After eating up all my hummus like a good girl I drank the glass of rumtopf left after taking the above photo.  It’s a hard life.

Cheers!

Tweetables …

~   How to make Rumtopf aka Rumpot – a brilliant use of summer fruits.

~   Rumpot – start 2 months before you need it but happily you can do something else whilst waiting for it to be ready! 

~   How to make Rumpot –  a truly delicious sipping liquor!

~   How to make Rumpot/Rumtopf  and the closely related Cherry Bounce.