How to Make Homemade Red Berry Rum

It's sad to think we're moving into Autumn and towards Winter but, to cheer you up when the nights start closing in and the kids have walked puddles of muddy slush all through your kitchen, here's a delightfully warming recipe I picked up from Good Housekeeping magazine back in 2011. The good news is that this only needs a month at most to mature and doesn't need any specialist equipment, so you can easily start it in the next month or so and it'll be ready for Christmas. Then all you have to do is pop on your slippers, curl up with Strictly and enjoy a tiny tot of this gloriously rosy liquid sipped from your favourite glass.

Despite having pasted this recipe into my recipe scrapbook six years ago (how is it that long ago?) this is actually only the second time I've made it. Though not due to any fault of it's own, that's for sure.

As the recipe makes just over a litre, last time I made it I gifted small bottles to a small number of friends and family, along with a jar each of my homemade fig, date and onion chutney. It felt so nice to be able to gift something I made myself, but if you decide to keep the lot to yourself I certainly won't blame you!

What you'll need:

750ml white or dark rum

425g caster sugar

425g mixed frozen fruit

1tsp vanilla extract

When I originally made this liqueur back in 2011, the primary purpose was to use up a glut of raspberries from the garden, however this time I picked up a bag of frozen smoothie mix from Sainsbury's and removed the bits of banana.

How To Make It

1. Put all the ingredients into a large clean bowl, stir well then cover with cling film. Leave it in a cool, dark place to infuse for at least two weeks or up to a month.

I found I had to peel back the cling film and stir again once or twice over this period to encourage the sugar to dissolve.

2. After this time, all of the sugar should have dissolved and the liquid will have deepened to a beautiful dark red, almost the colour of red wine.

Strain through a sieve lined with kitchen paper into a large jug or a lipped bowl. I used a bowl as I was less likely to accidentally tip it over! I also learned my lesson from making my red gooseberry wine and used a plastic sieve rather than a metal one. 

Then use a funnel to decant into a large sterilised bottle (or a few smaller ones if you want to make gifts of it). I used a classic 1 litre Kilner bottle as I love the look and wanted to be able to showcase it proudly should it make an appearance with company present. 

The liqueur will keep for up to six months (but I bet you'll have drunk it by then!)

Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post, just a documenting of my attempt to follow the recipe.