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Rumtopf

Started by: priscus (inactive)

Have not the time to make jam, and not enough fruit for winemaking to be worthwhile.

Been a bad year for strawberries, only about 20% of usual crop weight. Blossom was scarce, then drought in May, just when fruit need to swell, followed by wet June promoting lot of fruit rot.

So thought I would have a go at doing a Rumtopf.

Will have blackcurrants and plums, otherwise will need to buy maybe peaches or similar.

Have some opened part full bottles of spirits which have sat on kitchen shelf for years, hopefully OK to use these.

Anyone done this?

Started: 17th Jun 2017 at 01:09

Posted by: maggie (511) 

This is a German Christmas treat. We have made it for years.
1.As soft fruit ripens, take a tall Kilner jar. Put a layer of fruit in, cover with sugar, then cover with rum. Do this until the jar is full. Leave until a short time before Christmas, then drain the jar. Bottle the liquid and put the fruit in a lidded dish. You can make a lovely trifle from the fruit, & the drink is delicious. Be careful, we herd of a man losing his licence because he thought he would be alright to drive if he had only had some of the fruit. I love it.

Replied: 20th Jun 2017 at 11:16

Posted by: priscus (inactive)

Cheers, maggie.

Been looking on eBay and Amazon for a proper Rumtopf vessel, but they are a tad costly.

Replied: 20th Jun 2017 at 12:09

Posted by: wigantaff (47)

Priscus, we now have a rumtopf but before that used a plastic sweet jar from local shop does a proper job.
wegot damson tree so use these every year the ilquid is potent and yummy and then we have the fruit in a bowl with vanilla ice cream good luck.

Replied: 20th Jun 2017 at 15:59

Posted by: wigantaff (47)

Priscus, we now have a rumtopf but before that used a plastic sweet jar from local shop does a proper job.
wegot damson tree so use these every year the ilquid is potent and yummy and then we have the fruit in a bowl with vanilla ice cream good luck.

Replied: 20th Jun 2017 at 15:59

Posted by: mindar (1334)

Wigstaff that's what I used until I found a rumtopf jar in the local charity shop.

Replied: 5th Jul 2017 at 09:36

Posted by: priscus (inactive)

Thank you for the comments.

At peak, in Mid June, I was getting a handful of KG's of fruit above and beyond what myself and the neighbours could consume.

As said, not really enough for Strawberry wine-making to be worthwhile.

Would have liked to do a rumtopf, but fruit would have gone off before I could get requisite gear together. Maybe next year.

In spite of my stated reluctance, appalled at the wastage of a few KG of berries, Did boil up a conserve.

I used far less sugar than recipes normally call for, figuring that should the stuff begin to go off, it would show first in jar that had been opened, allowing me to cover surface in remaining jars with a layer of vodka.

Had to boil down for hours, given higher water to sugar content. Although I used a proper Sugar/Jam thermometer to get mixture with BP of 105 Deg C. And also used 'Wrinkle' test, the stuff has set rock hard in the jars.

So breakfast is a slice of strawberry toffee on mih toast!

I know I could reheat jars in microwave and stir in some boiling water to soften, but feel I have already put just too much work into these.

Replied: 5th Jul 2017 at 13:50

Posted by: madamehmurray (6273) 

Strawberrys are good over here. We had alot of rain so far this summer my garden seems to be going good

Replied: 5th Jul 2017 at 22:18

Posted by: priscus (inactive)

Harvested but a handful from garden just. That will be the last of my own-grown for this year, so its back to buying from t shop. Must look into extending the season with some later-fruiting varieties.

Replied: 9th Jul 2017 at 12:04

 

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