Last winter I made a couple of dishes that called for 200g of cranberries and I could only buy them in 300g bags. Each time I put the left-over 100g into the freezer, thinking they'd come in handy. All these months later and I still have the two partially filled bags of cranberries waiting to be turned into something.
When making sloe gin the big chore is to prick each and every sloe with a pin in order to allow the gin to get into the fruit and enhance the flavour of the finished product. A simple alternative is to freeze the fruit before steeping it in the gin. The science behind this is that water expands on freezing so the water in each and every cell of the fruit expands as it freezes and bursts the cell wall. This is why defrosted fruit and vegetables are always a bit limp compared to their fresh versions as they have lost all their structure. Anyway, with all the cell walls split you have essentially done the equivalent of sticking a pin in each and every one quite a few times over.
With my cranberries already frozen they seemed ripe for dropping into a jar of alcohol and I felt vodka would be a good option. Sloe gin seems to call for up to the same volume of sugar as fruit but I find this a bit sweet. So, on this occasion I erred on the side of caution and added just 100g caster sugar to my still frozen 200g cranberries and threw these into a clip-top jar with 1 litre of vodka.
To make up for the slightly lower level of sugar I added a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste before unearthing an already open packet of mulled wine spice sachets, which I thought would add a nicely warming element. Not sure how many to put in, I threw caution to the wind and added three. This could be a huge mistake but we will have to wait and see.
I should say that I sterilised the jar first by placing it, without the rubber seal that sits around the lid, into a warm oven for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I popped the rubber seal in a heatproof bowl and poured over some boiling water. I let the jar cool a bit before adding the vodka and other ingredients so as not to crack the glass with the shock of the cold vodka or risk scorching the fruit and spices.
With all the ingredients in and the lid reassembled and sealed, I gave the whole lot a gentle shake.
I will give the jar a daily gentle shake until all the sugar has dissolved - you'll be able to see it settle on the bottom if it's still in granular form. I'll then switch to giving it a gentle shake on a weekly basis.
Sloe gin is generally left for up to three months but other flavoured tipples I've made have been left for just two weeks. I have no idea how long I'll leave this little concoction for but I'll let you know what I end up doing and what the results are like.
Fingers crossed it will work out well and keep the family happy and quiet over the festive season!
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