A wet, wild and windy week,so in the kitchen where all is calm...and warm, I've been busy.One of the loveliest moments was decanting some raspberry gin I've had hidden away doing it's own thing for about five months.
Summer in a glass.....the most beautifully flavoured raspberry gin.
Made lovingly in the summer with raspberries from the allotment...and tasting ...if I say so myself....bloody gorgeous!
It's a recipe that I was given years ago by Vivienne ,and it's not a just a case of throwing raspberries in a jar and adding sugar and gin. Oh no, there's an extra vital step.....so here's how I did it....
Gorse lane Raspberry Gin
Ingredients
2 pounds of ripe raspberries
1 pint gin
2 pints water
1 pound of sugar.
Method
Place the cleaned fruit and gin in a large ,screw top jar and leave to stand in a warm spot for 4 to 5 days.Shake the jar occasionally.
After 5 days, bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan, add sugar and boil gently for 10 to 15 minutes.
Allow to cool then add to the fruit.Screw the jar lid on tightly and store in a dark cupboard for at least 3 months occasionally turning the jar upside down.(Do be careful darlings - you did screw that lid really tightly didn't you???)
When you're ready , strain carefully through a fine jelly bag and decant into small bottles.
As you will have noticed, I've not actually managed to get out and buy some pretty bottles yet...but even so....the gin looks jolly good to me....
The gin sodden raspberries which were left behind didn't look quite so pretty.
However "waste not want not"being my new recession proof mantra, I decided to use them.It's too cold for a trifle this week, so decided to make a rather alcofrolic raspberry crumble.
I simply made my usual crumble topping, flung it over the fruit..baked and added double cream and hey presto! Wow - What a humdinger of a pudding and just the sort of thing for a cold, wintery night.
The raspberry gin took five months to mature - I wonder how long will it take to drink though? You know, I wish I'd made some sloe gin too....
The sloes are still in the freezer actually so I could make some for when the weather gets nippy next Autumn , but until then here's a track called the Sloe Gin set from the bright and breezy Bellowhead at the Royal Albert Hall three years ago.
I saw them in August at the summer sundae festival on a nice warm weekend afternoon.They performed a rollicking set, were great fun,and got everyone clapping, tapping their toes and joining in. I dare you to sit stoney faced and not moving to the music....
Summer in a glass.....the most beautifully flavoured raspberry gin.
Made lovingly in the summer with raspberries from the allotment...and tasting ...if I say so myself....bloody gorgeous!
It's a recipe that I was given years ago by Vivienne ,and it's not a just a case of throwing raspberries in a jar and adding sugar and gin. Oh no, there's an extra vital step.....so here's how I did it....
Gorse lane Raspberry Gin
Ingredients
2 pounds of ripe raspberries
1 pint gin
2 pints water
1 pound of sugar.
Method
Place the cleaned fruit and gin in a large ,screw top jar and leave to stand in a warm spot for 4 to 5 days.Shake the jar occasionally.
After 5 days, bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan, add sugar and boil gently for 10 to 15 minutes.
Allow to cool then add to the fruit.Screw the jar lid on tightly and store in a dark cupboard for at least 3 months occasionally turning the jar upside down.(Do be careful darlings - you did screw that lid really tightly didn't you???)
As you will have noticed, I've not actually managed to get out and buy some pretty bottles yet...but even so....the gin looks jolly good to me....
The gin sodden raspberries which were left behind didn't look quite so pretty.
However "waste not want not"being my new recession proof mantra, I decided to use them.It's too cold for a trifle this week, so decided to make a rather alcofrolic raspberry crumble.
I simply made my usual crumble topping, flung it over the fruit..baked and added double cream and hey presto! Wow - What a humdinger of a pudding and just the sort of thing for a cold, wintery night.
The raspberry gin took five months to mature - I wonder how long will it take to drink though? You know, I wish I'd made some sloe gin too....
The sloes are still in the freezer actually so I could make some for when the weather gets nippy next Autumn , but until then here's a track called the Sloe Gin set from the bright and breezy Bellowhead at the Royal Albert Hall three years ago.
I saw them in August at the summer sundae festival on a nice warm weekend afternoon.They performed a rollicking set, were great fun,and got everyone clapping, tapping their toes and joining in. I dare you to sit stoney faced and not moving to the music....
The gin looks amazing! Pretty enough as it is
ReplyDeleteWhat a thing to do! Making gin! It reminds me of Moonshine! And those raspberries must have been 100% proof. I do hope you didn't drive after eating that crumble.
ReplyDelete