Here's one from our personal archives: strawberry liqueur. Last summer, I worked right in the middle of Stockholm, only a stone's throw away from Hötorget (Hay Square), and its bustling fruit and vegetable market. This market is a lovely piece of unswedishness in the middle of Sweden: most, if not all, vendors are immigrants or children thereof, and as you walk between the stalls, they shout offers at you: "strawberries, 2 boxes for 20!", "fine plums, half price!", "beans, bananas, new potatoes!". I used to frequent a particular stall, often passing by on my way home from work, picking up fruits, nuts, and whatever vegetables we needed for dinner. By the end of summer, I bought a few kilos of lingonberries, and made jam.
One day, I arrived only fifteen minutes before closing time, and as I was browsing the produce, the vendor asked me if I was interested in some strawberries. The prime strawberry season was over by then, but he offered me 8 boxes (about 4 kg) for about €10, how can you resist an offer like that?
One of the things we tried with my accidental harvest was a homemade strawberry liqueur, which turned out to be a very nice base for summery drinks, going very well with some lemon or lime juice, vodka and soda water, or with juices for a sweeter touch. It also had a beautiful colour, and smelled heavenly. For all the aspiring hobby bartenders, this is a great recipe, a lot better than any store bought version.
Strawberry liquer
Makes about a liter.
Ingredients
1 kg of fresh strawberries (about 2 liters)
500 g sugar
1 liter of vodka
Trim the green parts off the strawberries. Place the berries, sugar, and vodka in a suitably large glass jar with a tight lid. Let sit in room temperature for three weeks. Every other day, turn the jar over a few times, so the sugar dissolves well. After the three weeks, pass it through a sieve and bottle. Keeps indefinitely, and will actually mature over the next three months or so.The boozy left over strawberries can be served with some vanilla ice cream.
7 comments:
I´ll try this one! We got a lot of strawberries right now on Farsta torg.
You actually tried this last year. Not making it, mind you, but you tasted it, and noted that it was a great cocktail ingredient. Of course, you might not remember that evening ;)
i love, love it , need to try it tonight!!
Making your own strawberry liqueur sounds like fun.
It was indeed great fun to drink a homemade liqueur, and it tastes like distilled summer, an entirely amazing ingredient in a long drink with vodka, lime juice and some soda.
This looks delicious! Beautiful photo of the red bottle against the window.
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
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