InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "make a wish"

kdorian (kdorian) wrote,
@ 2009-04-22 21:24:00

Current mood:	cheerful
Entry tags:	food

Discovery!

I was looking around in the back of hard-to-reach places, looking for quart Mason jars. I'd bought half a dozen of them a couple of years back, to make cordials (take vodka, add fruit and sugar, seal, wait 3 months, remove fruit to put on ice cream, filter remaining liquid, and use small quantities for an aperitif or dessert or cooking).

Now I want to make brandied peaches - yes, I do have a thing about fruit and alcohol, I've got a dish of gin raisins on the counter right now - and finally located them in the back behind the alcohol on the very bottom. Behind a bunch of stuff that had been there forever.

So I start hauling out stuff, and get to the mason jars, and grab it to pull it out... and it's heavy.

Seem that someone (probably my sister) got tired of them being where-ever they were, and put them out of the way. Only problem is, I'm an out-of-sight, out-of-mind kind of person. I have my 'memory' systems set up so that something will sound, flash, or at least be in my line of sight before I have a chance to remember it more than a week at best. A day is closer to the mark; sometimes I can't make it past 3 minutes.

So now I have two quart jars full of some dark cordial (purple? reddish? Possibly raspberry?), one full of a light colored cordial (maybe the first of the peaches?), and 3 jars full of cordial with peaches, which I must now remove the peaches from, so that I can make my brandied apricots.

Goodness.

ETA: On tasting, I think this must have been one of my early batches, before I learned that frozen fruit just doesn't work. I may have to wait for peach season and retry. I'll see how it tastes once it settles again.

(Post a new comment)

	dragovianknight 2009-04-22 10:23 pm UTC (link)
	Now I want to try this. (Reply to this) (Thread)

kdorian
2009-04-23 07:41 am UTC (link)

Fresh, ripe fruit is the secret. The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the fruit and your tastes.

If you do try it, I'd suggest starting with a quart jar, half to 3/4 full of loose (not packed) fruit, cut into roughly 1/2 to 1 inch chunks for larger fruit, or bruised if you're using berries. Add about a cup of sugar, fill with vodka, and seal. Shake it up for the first couple days to be sure all the sugar has disolved, and it's well mixed. Then leave it alone (except for occasional shaking up) for 3 months or so. Once you sample your first batch, you'll know how to adjust your sugar for your own tastes on future batches - this does come out quite sweet.

I've been told the receipe doesn't work with pineapple, banana, or citrus fruits. I've never tried those myself, so I wouldn't know.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dragovianknight 2009-04-23 10:41 am UTC (link)
	Do I need to worry about temperature ranges? My house gets quite warm in summer, but I could stash them at a friend's. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kdorian 2009-04-23 11:57 am UTC (link)
	I never did. I imagine there's some chance that the fruit could ferment (my peaches did at some point), but... it's in vodka. Unless the possibility of some flavor change bothers you, I wouldn't worry about it - it's not going to make it appreciably more alcoholic, after all. :D (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dragovianknight 2009-04-23 04:50 pm UTC (link)
	Hee, I can't WAIT to try this. ::plans trip to grocery:: (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kdorian 2009-04-23 08:58 pm UTC (link)
	Luck! (Reply to this) (Parent)