Sloe gin
Cooking is great, but sometimes making it yourself rather than buying is too much hard work for too little reward (filo pastry or chocolates for example). But not so with sloe gin. None of the bought versions I've tried ever quite capture the plummy tartness of the real thing, and if you're ever in the countryside in October it is well worth making.
Sloes are the fruit of blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, the same hedgerow plant who's black branches are covered in white blossom long before the hawthorn leaves are out, the first celebration of spring. It grows everywhere, and by mid-autumn most hedgerows are full of the smoky blue-black fruit. Sloes, like beech leaves are (in my experience) fairly obvious and don't look particularly like anything poisonous, but as with gathering anything wild, take care and only pick the leaves, fruit (and especially fungi) you are absolutely sure about. Also beware - the manifold thorns are painful.
Sloe berries on the branch
The other plant that you sometimes find in hedgerows is the cherry plum, Prunus cerasifera. This (again I draw from Richard Mabey) is the gone-wild descendant of the cultivated variety. The fruit looks like large sloes, and we found a whole south facing hedge full last autumn, so mixed these in with the sloes and it worked well.
Cherry plum in early spring
This is our recipe:
Sloe Gin
A large freezer bag full of sloe berries and/or wild plums
A standard size bottle of Gin, we use Gordons, but anything mid-range will do
Sugar to taste (a small cup full or so)
Sliced almonds (optional)
On a nice sunny afternoon in October gather a small basket full of sloes (remember to leave some on the bushes for the rest of the inhabitants of the hedgerow). Books often advises pricking the sloes with a fork and then leaving to soak in the gin for several months. This is time consuming and boring and we long since abandoned it in favour of the following method which works faster and gives a lovely bright crimson gin.
Wash, dry and place the berries in a double freezer bag. Freeze overnight. The next day take the berries out of the freezer and allow to defrost for an hour or so. Then place on a chopping board and whack with a rolling pin until the fruit just begins to break up (but not so much that it turns to a mush).
Put the fruit in a large bowl, add the sugar (start with a small cupful, add more later if it needs it) and the almonds if you fancy them then completely cover with the gin.
Cover the bowl with a muslin cloth and leave in a cool dark place for a couple of weeks. The gin should turn a deep red.
When it is ready, strain carefully through the muslin cloth (don't squeeze the fruit or mash it down with a spoon, it will make the gin cloudy).
Taste again and add more sugar if needed. Decant into bottle(s) and seal. It will keep for several years.
There is another great picture on Waterloo Farm: a country living blog (which also has a slightly different but recipe and more details on making the drink).
We use it as an aperitif in winter, and when I'm trying to finish it up, it also works as an ingredient in jams, cranberry tarts or mulled wine - anything really where you would otherwise use port or cassis.
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