Sloe Gin
Sloe gin made at home from just sloe berries, sugar and gin is a beautiful dark red, almost purple liqueur and can also make stunning cocktails, an aperitif and I have used it in my cooking and baking. Do not be tempted to think that the cheapest gin will turn itself into the finest sloe gin. The first time I made it I did just that. The next time I used a quality gin and the difference was quite remarkable.
Ingredients
200g Ripe Sloe berries
(The berries need to feel soft between the fingers not hard and bullet like. If they are hard they are not ripe). Wash them if you prefer. I then like to prick each berry with a needle to pierce the skins then drop it into the bottle containing the gin. Alternatively, the berries can be frozen and then the berries will split themselves.
120g Caster sugar
500ml Gin
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Preparation
If you want your sloe gin for Christmas start making it at the beginning of October though the longer it keeps the better. It is easy to do you just need to remember to turn it regularly as follows :-
I use a 1 litre gin bottle – half full of gin.
Pop in the berries and then the sugar
Put the top on, give everything a good shake then leave in a cool place, laid on its side and away from sunlight but somewhere handy because you need to shake it every day until all the sugar has dissolved. The sugar should dissolve after about a week. After that you need to shake it every week up to Christmas !
Strain the berries from your gin using a muslin cloth and transfer it maybe to a decanter or clean bottle. Taste for sweetness.
If you want more sweetness to your sloe gin you can always add a sugar syrup made simply by dissolving equal parts of sugar and water together then pour this into your bottle.
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