How to make Rumtopf aka Rumpot – a brilliant use of summer fruits.

~  Menu ~

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Lightly Pickled Cucumber

Balsamic Glaze

Toasted Ciabatta

Sparkling Water but …

… followed by a glass of Rumtopf

You may remember in my last post, when reviewing The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit I was reminded by her recipe for Coffee Orange Liqueur* that I had Rumptopf and Cherry Bounce somewhere in the cellar of our caravan.

Well I have found the Rumtopf and it is Delicious!  It’s been hidden away for almost a year and I thought it might have gone mouldy or evaporated but it’s great.

So, it being The Time of Summer Fruits again, here’s how to make it!

Rumtopf aka Rumpot

Pin this so you can find it in the summer!

The first stage of this recipe must be started at least two months before you want to drink it but the good news is you can do something else whilst you are waiting. Often this was used, by patient German people, as a way of storing summer fruits for Christmas.

I have seen recipes using all sorts of fruits but I think lovely soft summer fruits are best; strawberries, cherries, peaches, raspberries, plums, apricots, loganberries, redcurrants etc.

(For the benefit of friends in the Caribbean I do think mango might work well in this, particularly if using rum).  

~   Select a glass or ceramic jar with a really good seal – I used a Kilner jar – and make sure it is clean and dry.

~   As fruits come into season, so starting with strawberries, de-stem them and wash and dry thoroughly.

~   Weigh the fruits and put into you jar then add half their weight in sugar.

~   Cover with dark rum or brandy (in which case I believe you will have a Brandytopf) to a depth of half an inch. It is essential that all of the fruit is always submerged so place a small saucer or similar directly on top of it to stop any random pieces floating to the surface.

~   Cover tightly and store in a cook dark place till the next fruit comes along.

~   With the second and all subsequent additions repeat the procedure topping up with the spirit and reseal.

A few points …

­ ~    Always use perfect fruit – no bruises, no overripe or under ripe fruit, just perfect.

­ ~    Don’t stir when adding additional fruits, just layer up.

­  ~   At the end of the summer, after the last fruity addition, forget about it for really nice surprise later on.

The resulting liqueur makes a truly delicious sipping liquor, the fruit is powerful but a little over vanilla ice cream is good. 

Cherry Bounce 

This is exactly the same sort of thing but using just cherries and brandy. I can't find mine - must have drunk it!

Might as well pin this too!

Both Rumpot and Cherry Bounce  make superb ice cream using the genius no-churn recipe in my book Luscious Ice Creams without a Machine which gives over 100 delicious no-churn ice cream recipes plus every bit of useful ice-cream making information I can think of!

So far as lunch is concerned I have fallen back, so to speak, on Hummus. I usually have the makings available just in case I don’t have a good idea – the hummus recipe plus lots of ideas and variations here.  I ate it with my lightly pickled cucumber, balsamic glaze (which I always have in the cupboard) and lovely toasted ciabatta.  

A week or so ago we bought a cucumber for 10p and, as is my way with cucumbers, I pickled it.

Lightly Picked Cucumber

1 cucumber

salt

150ml white vinegar – I use cider vinegar

3 tsp light brown sugar or to taste

a sprinkling of chilli flakes - optional

~   Top and tail the cucumber and then cut in half lengthways.

~   Remove the seeds – the easy way to do this is to score a line with a sharp knife either side of the strip of seeds then using a sharp teaspoon (!) scrape the seeds out.

~   Slice the cucumber as thinly as you can and put into a nylon sieve suspended over a bowl

~   Salt generously tossing the slices to make sure they all get some and leave for an hour or more.

~   Drain away the juice then turn the slices into the empty bowl and rinse well with cold water.

~   Re-drain.

~   Stir together the vinegar and the sugar to dissolve the sugar.  Add the chilli flakes if using.

~   Stir in the cucumbers, put in an airtight jar or container, cover and chill till needed.

This keeps a good long while in the fridge.  

After eating up all my hummus like a good girl I drank the glass of rumtopf left after taking the above photo.  It's a hard life.

Cheers!

Tweetables ...

~   How to make Rumtopf aka Rumpot – a brilliant use of summer fruits.

~   Rumpot - start 2 months before you need it but happily you can do something else whilst waiting for it to be ready! 

~   How to make Rumpot -  a truly delicious sipping liquor!

~   How to make Rumpot/Rumtopf  and the closely related Cherry Bounce.