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Sunday 10 September 2017

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When I originally made this liqueur back in 2011, the primary purpose was to use up a glut of raspberries from the garden, however this time I picked up a bag of frozen smoothie mix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

Brilliant blog posts on HonestMum.com

27 comments:

  1. Ooh yummy! Sounds delicious, might have to give it a try! (If I remember...ha!)

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  2. Looks yummy! Can't believe Christmas is getting closer already! Xx

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    1. Popping back from #TriumphantTales. Thanks for joining us, I hope to see you back next week!

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  4. What a brilliant idea for Christmas! X

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  5. Oh yum! This would make a great grist massive gift and it looks pretty straight forward to make too xx #blogstravaganza

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  6. That looks lovely. I think I'll use this for Christmas gifts this year! THANKS #blogstravaganza

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  7. Oo what a delicious homemade gift for someone lucky!

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  8. Popping back from #Blogstravaganza! Thanks so much for co-hosting this week, it's great to have you! Xx

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  9. What a fab idea. This looks like a drink that I might be able to make too, thanks for sharing :) #Blogstravaganza

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  10. What a fantastic idea. Thanks for sharing your recipe X #Blogstravaganza

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  11. This sounds delicious and perfect for christmas x

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  12. Forgot to add #blogstravaganza x

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  13. Looks yummy!I like the idea of doing it for little gifts #Blogstravaganza

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  14. Looks delicious! I'm not sure I could give it away! #blogstravaganza

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  15. That looks so lovely! I think I may have to make some of this for Christmas #blogstravaganza x

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  16. Oh my word, this looks and sounds delicious! What a great idea to make your own gifts #blogstravaganza

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  17. You are so talented - this looks absolutely lovely. The way you can just get raspberries from your garden etc just sounds like my idea of heaven! And I adore homemade gifts - the world is ridiculously commercialised these days and I love it when you can give or receive something totally unique, made for you especially. Had a chuckle at the "To Me From Me" on the bottle's gift tag - my kind of present haha!! xx #Blogstravaganza

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  18. What a wonderful idea for a present for someone. #Blogstravaganza

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  19. It sounds delicious and looks a lovely colour too. It would look great in fancy bottles as I gift I bet. #FabFridayPost

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  20. Sounds delicious and so easy to make! I bet they are well received gifts #blogstravaganza

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