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Autumn is here and the berries have been ripening all summer and the freezer is full of them. No idea what you want to do with them now?
Why not make a Romtopf for the Christmas table?
What is romtopf? It's vodka and/or rum that you've infused with summer ripened berries. There is a multitude of recipes for how to make Romtopf, both on the internet and in my family (this is the first Romtopf instructable on Instructables although there are other 'ibles that cover the same thing (see the bottom)). Within the family we have at least two:
**Be beware that the berries contain alcohol so don't serve to under-aged kids or drive directly after. ** I did this with last years batch and served to my friends as we were having an end-of-term pre-party. Tasted great together with a small snifter of the newly-made liqueur.
Similar recipes:
Cranberry infused vodka by mikeasaurus
Strawberry infused vodka by shuttlebean - love the pictures!
Why not make a Romtopf for the Christmas table?
What is romtopf? It's vodka and/or rum that you've infused with summer ripened berries. There is a multitude of recipes for how to make Romtopf, both on the internet and in my family (this is the first Romtopf instructable on Instructables although there are other 'ibles that cover the same thing (see the bottom)). Within the family we have at least two:
- 1,5-2 dl of vodka/rum and 1,5-2 dl of sugar for every litre of berries
- Equal amounts of berries and sugar that you cover with the necessary amount of vodka/rum
- Add a layer of berries, cover it with sugar and then with the vodka/rum
- Repeat the process with the berries you want in it until the jar is filled to the brim.
- Keep the jar somewhere dark and cool for at least a month
- Filter the containts from the berries and to keep a clear beautifully coloured liqueur. The longer the berries sit in the vodka/rum the better the taste is going to be. (Pictures of this is coming up in about a month)
**Be beware that the berries contain alcohol so don't serve to under-aged kids or drive directly after. ** I did this with last years batch and served to my friends as we were having an end-of-term pre-party. Tasted great together with a small snifter of the newly-made liqueur.
Similar recipes:
Cranberry infused vodka by mikeasaurus
Strawberry infused vodka by shuttlebean - love the pictures!
- I just combine berries and liquor, and let that sit. Raspberries have such a strong flavor that even a week is delicious. Then, I sweeten to taste after I strain the berries off. It is amazing how little berry stuff is left! I found if I added the sugar first, I make cough syrup - too sweet ( though I'm going to try that on snow cones next week).
- from winemaking, I learned to not strain the berries too hard, because the last bit is more bitter than that first obtained.
- straining: i googled around before my 2nd batch, one suggestion I adopted was first straining through a cloth, then restraining through coffee filters.
The cloth I use has a really fine weave and is fuzzy, looks like a microfiber, maybe it is. The raspberries leave a pleasant purple color in the cloth. I rinse most of the dead berries out with cold water, then let the cloth dry, to retain the color. Once it dries, it keeps the color pretty good, and that is a good time to shake out the rest of the berry remains.
I use a laser-cut gold plated metal coffee filter, they are available in the grocery store for about $5. As I am straining, the filter will clog up (that's what you want, actually, it means your getting stuff out.), so when it does, I pour the unfiltered back into the source container, clean the filter, then resume. There is no reason not to use paper filters.
I will have to try using the berry remains in something else, though I would strain out the seeds. A metal kitchen strainer works nicely
- I would like to try cooking the berries first, to make a syrup, then add the vodka after it has cooled and the syrup is strained. Maybe that will be my Instructable :)
And laser-cut gold plated coffee filters? That sounds like advanced stuff! We have plastic framed cloth filters here in Sweden for like $1.5 give or take a few cents depenind on brand.
When it comes to the sugar, I added like 1/4-1/2 dl to every 250g of berries which will in no way result in cough syrup. Although I did have that problem with my Elderflower Liqueur at first.
And in that recipe I start with preparing the flowers and then adding the vodka. Maybe something to read too?
This year I didn't use my berres for anything, it was just a mush, couldn't even see what was the strawberries(!). But last year I made with strawberries only and I used the colourless remains as ice cream sauce:
Heat up the berries and cut the strawberries into halfs with a knife, maybe add a dash of food colouring to give back the red colour and serve with vanilla ice cream. I served it together with my newly made liqueur and did we get funny :P We didn't' remember that there was alcohol in the sauce aswell. (No underage kids had any)
I'm looking forward to your "Syrup liqueur"-instructable =D