Allotments 4 All
Produce => Drink .... => Topic started by: Doris_Pinks on September 29, 2003, 18:50:55
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Sloes are best picked after the first frost!
2lbs sloes
2 pints gin
(being a non measure person I just fill any bottle 3/4 of the way up with sloes, then top up with gin, this way you can use any container you want!)
Pour the gin over the sloes in a sealed container. (I use a 1 litre soda bottle) Give it a good shake and an occasional one after that when you think of it, letting them steep for 3 months.
Make a sugar syrup by mixing sugar and a little water and gently dissolve this over a gentle heat.
Strain gin, add syrup little by little to taste!
If you are still standing :P add a few drops of almond essence. Bottle and serve shaken over ice....delicious!! ::)
Dotty P.
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Oh my.....that sounds divine!! Sloes....just so I know what I am picking....small purple plum look-a-likes, blackthorn tree....? There is a hedgerow on route to my daughters school which has lots and lots and lots......so I think I might take a bag with me next time we walk and start stocking up! YUMYUM ;D
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Yes they sound right! rmember they say in these parts to wait till after the first frost! :)
And yes it is divine!! ::)
Dotty P.
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they say the same with Brussels - yet you can harvest brussels in the autumn. If you wait for a frost, all the sloes will be gone? No, get them before all the others do - nothing to touch sloe gin! - Tim
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Okay, did it, after spending an excellent morning on the lottie planting onion sets, as the rain came down I wandered off to the hedgerow where I know there are lots of sloes. The only container I had in the car was one of the kids beack buckets, which I filled with sloes - passer-bys looked at me like I was some mad woman, mind you, I must have looked a site, muddy from the lottie, dripping wet scrambling in the hedges! Just call me the wild woman of Borneo! hehehehe They have a lovely white 'bloom', I am assuming I just give them a good rinse and then use as per the recipe. I am looking forward to it, ready for the new year! Who should I sent the bill to for the 'drying out' clinic! ;D
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The drying out of the clothing, or the drying out after you have drunk the gin?!! :o
They sound great, just rinse em.
Hope you enjoy it, I kinda agree with Tim and get them before the others do....have been known to freeze them till we are going to France for cheap gin! Hmmm other half going next week must get a bottle or two! 8)
Let me know what you think in the new year! We can toast each other with our hedgerow scavaging :)
Dotty P.
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I have a different recipe ,perhaps its a regional thing.We prick the sloes before putting them in a container and covering with about 2 or 3 inches of sugar.Shake everyday intil sugar disolved.leave for three months or more then strain and add gin.Using brown sugar gives a more syrupy drink.
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I will have to try that one and compare.mind you have not found any sloes yet this year......... :( BB what quantities do you use? Would love to give it a try! DP
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Hi all
just a side note if you prick the sloes first you will get a more intense flavour and colour
Steve C
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Hi Doris!you had better be quick.Iam one of trhe people who dont wait for frost in case the others get there first.Sorry I don't have quantities .At a guess i would say 1/3rd of a demi-john of Sloes to 2 and 1/2 inches of sugar and about a bottle and 1/2 of Gin. Sorry I am not a measurer go more by looking and taste.
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On another site to do with food.... is a recipe using the REDUNDANT SLOES after they have worked their magic in the Gin.
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Just out of interest, what wild creatures eat sloes? Our hedgerows are stuffed with sloes this year but they just seem to stay there until they rot. Blackberries and elder and goose disappear.
Read somewhere that putting the sloes in the freezer has the same effect as pricking them. Dont quote me though, I don't consume alcohol.
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I have tried the pricked and the whole! And I couldn't actually tell the difference, My 80+ farmer friend reckons that teh hassel of pricking them all is not worth the effort, so I go by his doctrine!
Eric can you send me you sloes................!!! ;D DP
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I would imagine they would make a rather messy parcel. You could always come and visit and pick your own.
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hehehehe, will have to scour the hedgerows in these parts I guess.Don't think teh postman would appreciate a soggy bundle! Thanks anyway ;D
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Can anyone please explain to me what a sloe looks like so I can go on a hedgerow hunt ?
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BB, go to Google, on images put in sloes, they have quite a few piccies! Dp
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....s...okay.....right.......did it.....opened jar, tasted gin........mmmmmm......nice...........gin decanted into jug....had another little taste..........mmmm still nice........ sweetened a bit, tasted.......MMMMMMM nicer.........sweetened more..........MMMMMMMMM NICEST......sokay now......need dark room.......need a lie down.......snice this sloe gin stuff huh.......hmmmmmmmm :P
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Things have just GOT to be tested haven't they EJ ??????? sounds like it passed muster.Reminds me that i have a Gallon of Rosehip to bottle up.What a happy little afternoon this could prove to be.
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Was late with my sloes, so a few more months to go yet!
You reminded me BB, have a gallon of red grape to rack! (And the elderberry is looking hopefully near to the end of it's fermentation!) YUM! Dottie P.
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Just happened to pass by here - DON'T make sloe gin - the children and grandchildren seem to think it's a FRUIT DRINK - after all that work!! = Tim
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Tis nectar Tim! And very highly revered in our house! DP
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You can substitute damsons for the sloes and make a wonderful damson gin, same method. You can also use the damsons for a crumble when you have strained the gin off.
Janet H
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Yummy Janet! Good first post, alcohol and pudding related! Fab!! Just need to find me a Damson tree now!
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Okay, sloe gin is heading down to the west country this weekend to be opened with my grandparents - who are a pair of lushes - so we will all be pickled by Saturday night - hoorah!
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WoW! Sloe gin,my fav!
I've been making this for many a year.We even planted a hedge of blackthorn so I have my own fruit to pick.The seedlings grow like wildfire and spread like mad.
I used to prick the sloes till I read that freezing them for a short time does the business of breaking the skin and letting out the juices.Much easier.Also means I can pick when convenient and make gin at a later date.
This stuff is soooo good that when one of my sons and his mates stopped by to first foot us at New Year,I opened the bottle and suffice it to say they did not go on to the planned celebrations but finished all me Sloe gin and a great and hilarious time was had by all despite the age gap!
There was also single malt on offer but,only taken up when the SG done!
;D ;)Toots
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Sugar? So I put sloes in bottle(1L whiskey bottle) add about 2 inches sugar then add gin to cover?
picked some this morning. Becky`s last words as I left the car were, see you later pikey!
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Doris - don't I know it - & the children too!!
I think I mentioned that I let my damsons rot, so it's Victoria plum gin this time.
Emma - the stuff's supposed to MATURE for 3 months!! = Tim
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Last autumns gin did mature for 3 months. It was bottles on New Years Day and guzzled mid April. This time I don't think it will have a chance! Bottling will begin Christmas Eve as I want to give my grandparents a bottle Christmas Day, and mum some, and the inlaws a drop, and maybe my sister will like a tipple.....hell! I had better go picking again, I fear there won't be any left for Ava and me!!! :o
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MMMmmmmmmm! ;D
Maturing nicely,can`t wait, never tried it before!
(http://publish.hometown.aol.co.uk/andya2b/myhomepage/sloe%20gin.jpg?mtbrand=AOL_UK)
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DON'T make the mistake that I did.
No sloes, damsons went off, so - plum gin?
But ripe plums do not need the same sugar as sloes - do they!!! = Tim
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I don't add my sugar until the end Tim, when everything has been marinading (?) for ages! in the form of sugar syrup! Taste, add more syrup, taste again, hic, add more syrup, and again, hic hic, syrup, who needs the stuff! ;D
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SO sensible, DP.
But I'm SO ashamed of myself. No sloes?? Well, get out & get some! But my knees etc are not that good with syles & the like. And I would have to walk miles to find the things?
Well, not really. Friend said look in X's field at the bottom of the hill. So, early this am, with some difficulty, managed a very tall style & ...... that's what I call sloes!! Tim
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WOW!!! Salivating at the thought of the end result! ;D
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I thought the suger, in part, to draw the juice out of the sloes -as well as adding sweetnes? I.e. sloes in suger first and then booze? Still it obviously works for you Doris.
We've sloes at the back of our hedge I think, but it's a ten minute walk to get there as we've no back gate. Really must get mine going soon, maybe I'll make some for this year and some for next as there's damsons in the freezer.
Jeremy
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It's a bit late now, but next year try blackberry vodka, just bung them in the bottle with 2" of sugar and wait until xmas, cherrys, strawberrys, raspberrys etc they all work as well.
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We have made Sloe Gin for the first time this year and it is fantastic !!
Has anyone got ideas for what to do with the Sloes after steeping in the Gin ??
Thanks in Advance.
Slick
:P :P :P :P :P :P :P
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Am I a bit old fashioned - or are people a bit over-eager these days? I was always taught three months?
Or do your sloes ripen before ours?= Tim
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I was taught 3 months too Tim!
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Yup, 3 months means I will be bottling mine Christmas Eve ready to give as gifts Christmas day. How on earth am I going to stop grandad drinking the lot that day is beyond me!
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With all good intent...........but the thought of feeding 16 over Christmas & double figures, on & off, well into the New Year, brings pictures of sticky fingers & floors during decanting.
So - it's done. Never looks as much without the fruit in, does it!!
The paler one is the plum. = Tim
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YUM Tim! Wish we could still get the big glass sweet jars...so handy for making sloe gin!
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Sloe gin decanted and bottled today - wow it is good! Sloes then boiled with an apple for good measure and a slug of water, mushed up, and are now straining through a jam bag to see how Sloe Gin Jelly tastes on my morning toast! :P
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Tasted one of mine - yuck! - dryly bitter - so binned them.
Just thought - we used the cheapest gin we could find. I reckon that if we had afforded Beefeaters, or similar, it would have been much nicer?? = Tim
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The sloes are bitter, but with the added sugar...well...nothing to loose really by having a go.
I used average priced gin, Sainsburys had sold out of their cheapest. Last year I used bargain bucket gin, and my gramps was convinced it was 'Gordens', so I think it is down to personal taste. The taste of sloes in this years brew is much more powerful than last year....must have gotten more sloes in this time round. Going to bottle the damson gin this afternoon! ;D
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I always use the cheapest gin I can find, and is someone is visiting the continent, then thats where it comes from! I honestly can't tell teh difference, especially after a couple of glasses! ;) DP
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Much prefer damson, but the tree failed this year. = Tim
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The damson is heavenly, much more cherry like in flavour. Had to have a wee glass whilst bottling.
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Oh shut up you lot! Read through your comments and thought I had better see what you were on about and go try the sloe gin :D
It is soooooooo nice! I was determined to WAIT till new year but you lot have just made me drink some :P
Real tang that hits the back of the throat and then follows the real warm feeling somewhere down lower :o
Should I just pour out of bottle carefully or use tea strainer? or mash up the sloes in bottle and then strain?
It doesn`t taste like alchohol!!! Fruit drink!!!
Thats gonna be interesting the next day!
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Last year I strained mine through a seive, but ended up with a layer of sludge at the bottom of the bottom, and not wanting to waste a precious drop, had to be very gentle when I poured the last, slightly gritty tasting glass. This time the sloes were passed through a double thickness of muslin for a wonderful clear potion. The damsons I was more vigourous with as I wanted max flavour, so some of those were squeeze and squeezed, not all, just a handful or 2. Then the liquid was passed twice through the muslin, amazing how much gunk I was left with even after the 2nd pass, but again, a perfectly clear and aboslutely amazingly delicious drink!
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Our best Sloe Gin was made from sloes collected from the canal bank (non towpath side) very near Bosworth Field (as in battle of), maybe that's why it had so much body! All the best for 2005 everyone. Cheers, Tony. :)
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WHY??
Because the 2 elder granddaughters arrive tomorrow, & they have a reputation!! = Tim
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Just finished off making my sloe gin today and sitting down to a glass now. It is lovely, has a cherry flavour. I made one bottle as a trial and husband decided to make a half bottle with the leftover gin, but be obviously didn't wash the sloes properly because I spotted a tiny but rather pickled looking worm floating around inside. Eeeuuuww! I won't be drinking any from the second bottle, now should I tell him or just keep smugly quiet. :D
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Keep it quiet and drink yours,you will have more while he drinks his!!! Tis only a bug/worm afterall.
Enjoy.............. :P
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In Tequilla they put a worm in deliberately for you to eat when the bottle is finished! :o Mind you after a bottle of Tequilla I would probably eat it too! :-\
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Not that I'm really disorganised -but I've just put the sloes (from freezer) and suger into the gin. Still it should be good by Xmas ;D
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yum.......hic............yum...............hic..........
Thought it was about time I tried a dash tonight. Me oh my, tis a great thing plundering the hedgerows to make such a nectar. Tis sublime and I am sitting here feeling very warm inside. Roll on the snow and siberian winds, we are not afraid!
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;D ;D ;D ;D
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Hi guys....I like to prick mine....and add a few cloves or some ginger....mmmmmmmmmmmm....time to taste mine and see if it is developing well!!!
I am so happy to have found this forum....I have just taken on an allotment that hasn't been worked for 5 years!!!!.....looking forward to the exercise :P
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Buy radox Bel!!
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Hey....thanks Doris....will do ;)
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You're all making me jealous! We usually do some, but didn't find time to go picking so none done this year.
Supplies are now all gone :(
Haven't tried damson, but sounds goood.. ;D
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Reckon if damsons were free, no one would use sloes?
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Our damsons were free, well, ish, just cost me a bottle of the finished brew and I still have 2 carrier bags full in the freezer! Damson gin has a more......cherry brandy scent to it I think, but they are both wonderous!
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Ooooh! The folk that can afford Cherry Brandy!!
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Daft question - but how long do the Sloes survive in the freezer for? I forgot I had put some in last year after I realised someone had drunk all the gin.
Miss Read (Country School etc) recommended freeziing them as they burst when they defrost so you dont have to pop them.
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They'll be fine!
Like I've just used last year's Sevilles for marmalade.
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I love scavenging in hedges etc for fruits and nuts and stuff. There's a lovely blackthorn hedge near me so when I get back to taking my doggy a walk I'm going to get some. Not been rummaging in hedge bottoms lately and feel in need of a fix
Going to chiropracter again this morning. Had a bad day back wise yesterday but ok this morning. I'll probably have a relapse as soon as I get the Hoover out ;D
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A great summer drink is sloe gin and tonic :P
Wait for a hot day, take a tall glass, put in plenty of ice, a good slug of sloe gin and top up with tonic. Delish ;D
It travels well in a thermos flask too so you can look forward to a well earned break from all that weeding.
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Second that alotalot.
Wardy -hoovers (or dysons as perhaps we should now call them) are the curse of satan if you've a bad back. I'm sure that Mr Hoover was a chiropracter short of business.
Jeremy
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oooooo, never thought of mixing it! And you have reminded me I have a sack full of damsons lurking in the bottom of the freezer...note to self, add a couple of bottles of gordens onto Thursdays shopping list! ;D
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I make some cracking sloe gin using this easy recipe.
9 oz sloes
4 1/2 oz sugar
1 pint of gin.
Put sloes in a demi-john and nick them with a knife or finger-nail as you put them in.
Add the sugar.
Add the gin.
Give it a good shake/swirl and repeat every day until 10 days before Christmas.
Bottle it Christmas week. Just siphon off the gin and melt the gin infused berries into chocolate and let it set.
I make 3 or so bottles worth in a demi-john. I like mine not too sweet, so I use slightly less sugar and a few more sloes.
This is a dead easy way to make sloe gin.
ATB
John :P
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I tried putting the sloes in choccy but none of us liked them! Ended up making sloe gin jelly to have on our toast, which was delish! ;D
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Johnnylarge - that sound absolutely delicious!!
:P
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How long will Sloe gin keep? Seem to have accumulated several bottles. ;D
Consumption at the moment is not keeping up with annual gift from the family!!
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Years Flowerlady! ;D
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Oh goodie! Was most concerned ;) I thought I was on a mission!
Sadly OH can't drink much at the moment, is on long term pain killling patches.
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but that leaves you to take on his share too! ;D ;D ;D
(Flowerlady last seen under the kitchen table! ;) )
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DP what do you do with the remaining fruit?
Do you think they might make an fruit pie? Are they suitable to be made into jelly, what happenes to the pectin while stewing in gin?
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DP what do you do with the remaining fruit?
Do you think they might make an fruit pie? Are they suitable to be made into jelly, what happenes to the pectin while stewing in gin?
They make a decent jam, jelly or cheese. As long as you don't heat the sloes, and they are pretty ripe, there isn't really a problem with cloudiness due to pectin in sloe gin.
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Fraid I have always binned ours, but next time will take Jennym's advice! ;D
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Just to say I tried making Sloe Gin for the first time this year and it was wonderful. My mother supplied the sloes, I made it and I gave some to my sisters in law as part of Christmas presents. I am now very popular. Kills colds wonderfully!! :D :D
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Damson gin is my fave, a richer smoother taste, but they are both devine!
Last year I used the sloes and made sloe gin jelly. Very good it was to, but didn't make a lot.....the way I did it was.....
Place the steeped sloes in a preserving pan and just about cover them with water. Bring slowely to the boil and little simmer and bubble for about 30-40 minutes to try and extract ever last bit of flavour. I then went in with a potato masher and squished and mashed and squelched them up. I then strained the mix through a double thick jelly bag for a good 24 hours.
I measured the liquid, and for every pint, I used a pound of sugar. Bring the liquid up to a rolling boil and boil for about 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until it has dissolved. Put back on the heat, bring back to a rolling boil and cook until setting point is reached. Bottle in the usual way! ;D
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What do you think the alcohol content is of the jelly :o, would hate to get breathalyzed on the way to work!! ;D
EJ, if I cut the sloes with apples to stretch the jelly quantity, would a 50/50 mix be too much do you think?
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Don't waste the sloes.
After the draining, melt some cooking chocolate, coat the berries.
Cool & enjoy!!
Too late now perhaps??