Rumtopf, literally "rum pot", is a traditional German fruit preserve. As each type of fruit comes into season, it is macerated with sugar, placed in the pot, then covered with rum. Traditional rumtopfs are earthenware pots with heavy lids, but any wide-mouthed, non-reactive vessel can be used.Earlier in the summer I added the precocious BC fruits, mostly cherries and apricots. This week I can add u-pick raspberries and strawberries.
I use about one part sugar to two parts fruit, by weight, for each addition.
The finished mixture steeps for a few months, and is usually eaten around Christmas. The fruit can be spooned over, say, ice cream, cake, or waffles, and the liquor can be drank on its own.
Every time I take off the lid to add more fruit I'm clubbed in the face with the delicate perfume of spiced rum and apricots. It's the height of folly to say this in the midst of our fleeting summer months, but I can't wait for Christmas.
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That's a seriously cool idea. No heat required.
ReplyDeleteDid you just make a pun in a blog comment?
ReplyDeleteoooo - it's like making vanilla extract almost . .
ReplyDeleteI have made this before - with apricots only - and not only is the fruit deadly - but the liqueur is also really really yummy. I do a "Pomette" this time of year, too - that I learned about in Normandy, France. It is something most of the locals make with their tart red apples. I use an old crock butter churn my grandmother gave to me. The crab apples have to be really red and very tart, but not sour. I like the smaller ones, but not the tiny ones. I have to taste them to make sure they will work, but I learned through trial and error. I just fill the pot to the top with the apples (no bruised ones - all hard and ripe) and then take a huge bottle of vodka (enough to cover them all) and add a cup of sugar to it... so not too much sugar. I am taking the 1.75ml bottle of vodka. I shake the sugar to dissolve it in the vodka, then poor it over the apples. I cover the lid with plastic and an elastic, really well. The old wooden cover is long gone. Every two or three days, when I walk buy, I turn it over, then back, just to move around the liquid. This is a huge crock, so I do need a little help flipping it for a minute or two... and sometimes it does leak a bit due to the pressure. It is ready to be put through a sieve in about 3 months and is a gorgeous colour. I drink it ice cold with a twist of orange zest knotted in it in a martini glass. Divine. I guess it is a type of apple brandy - but, in Normandy, it is Pomette (Pommette?), and it is well worth making! Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDelete:)
Valerie
The pommette sounds great. I like the way the Normans think. Do you eat the apples, too?
ReplyDeleteI know where you can get the crab apples.
ReplyDeleteThe apples are actually too strong for me to eat - but some like them with pork...
ReplyDeleteSo, what is your recipe ratio here?
:)
Valerie
(SO cool to see the site growing full circle - and you quoting yourself!!!)