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Setting the Fruit

16 August 2007 1,054 views 4 Comments

Setting the Fruit

My fruit jar for this year’s December black cakes is slowly but steadily rising. Whenever I buy dried fruits I set aside half of what is leftover into the jar and top it up with rum or cherry brandy (depending on what I have on hand). The fruits are so macerated that they almost melt on my tongue upon contact. This is the first time that I am soaking my fruits this far in advance and I’m already finding it a rewarding (and economical) experience :D More update pics as the bottle fills :D

On an unrelated note, anyone know where I can get tamarind locally? I’m having no luck getting my hands on some. I have stuff I wanna make! Let me know your suggestions :)

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4 Comments »

  • Chris De La Rosa said:

    YUM! About 5 years ago I got tired looking for rum and raisin ice cream, just couldn’t find it anywhere in Ontario. That year my mom was visiting from the Caribbean and she brought back a bottle of rum for me. I got a BIG bag of plum , juicy raisins and introduced it to the cane-nectar from the islands. It’s been soaking ever since then. Now when I get my ice cream urge.. I get normal vanilla ice cream and add few of the soaked raisins with a bit of the rum on the top. Not the same, but pretty close.

  • MACO Caribbean said:

    Looks good. On a rum-related note, you can encourage your friends to enter our “share your Caribbean experience” competition to win six VIP tickets to the St Lucia Food and Rum Festival.

    Click this link for more info: http://www.macocaribbean.com/2007/08/win-tickets-to-st-lucia-food-and-rum.html

  • Cynthia said:

    A ture Caribbean-ite you are :D I’ve had mine soaking since last year.

    Each year as I use I jar of fruits to bake, I buy and soak another set immediately for the following year :)

  • christiebakes said:

    Wonderful “set fruit” looks like the source of German “rumptopf.” To create: at the beginning of summer, choose in one-lb. increments fresh ripe colorful “stone fruits” (e.g., cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots; fuits that have one central pit or “stone”) in a large jar with a tight-fitting lid. Add equal amount of sugar (e.g., for one pound of fruit, add one pound of sugar). Cover with rum. Store jar in a cool, dark place (I put mine in the basement). Keep adding fruit throughout the summer, adding equivalent amount of sugar and keeping fruit covered with rum (fruit may float to top of rum; that’s OK). At Christmas, I pack this in sterilized jars (I use half-pint jars and their lids run through the dishwasher rinse cycle). Decorate jars with ribbon and a pretty label directing giftee to use rumtopf as a sauce over ice cream, pound cake, etc. This should be refrigerated. I’m not sure how long it should last because mine is always gone within a week!

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