It's fruit season (or nearly so) and so it's time to start thinking about what we're going to do for making holiday gifts. One staple in our house is a simple fruit liqueur of some sort, which turns sugar + fruit + vodka + time into something yummy.
We are not generally a cocktails household, so part of the corresponding challenge is giving people some sense of what do to with the jar to help them enjoy it.
Some minimal collection of things to help for this year, one fruit at a time; not exhaustive, but maybe it will help jump start next year. Ordered in rough order of appearance of the fruit here.
- Strawberry liqueur. Irene's Strawberry liqueur from The Cottage Smallholder; noting that "There’s nothing like the distraction of homemade grog when times are getting tough."
- Juneberry liqueur. Saskatoons go with gin, says contributor "prairiemaid" from Manitoba.
- Gooseberry liqueur. In the 1930s, Meltis of Bedford introduced a gooseberry liqueur sweet to the UK market which was a big success, so they say. Read Anton Chekov's Gooseberries. I don't have a recipe.
- Currants. Make cassis; here's a cassis recipe, from " The Cook and the Gardener" by Amanda Hesser, A Year of Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside.
- Blueberries. Freeze the berries first, then make blueberry liqueur.. Ex-Michigander Culinaria Eugenius has a photo of the red-purple liquid that results.
Enough for now.
