These 2 recipes for sloes are good standbys:
- sloe jelly
- sloe gin
fat juicy sloes
When the sloes are big and juicy, they are ripe for picking. Choose a dry day and fill a basket!
sloe basket
The sloe jelly is a wonderful dark purple colour and a great jelly to serve with game, particularly hare. We won first prize in the local produce show with a jar of this sloe jelly!
Ingredients
- at least 1kg sloes
- granulated sugar – 75grams per 100ml of juice
- water to just cover the sloes
Method
- pick out the good sloes & wash them
- place in a pan (affiliate link) & just cover with water
- bring to the boil, then simmer, for at least 30 mins, till soft
- pour mixture from pan through a jelly bag or equivalent sieve & leave over night to drip. Do not push anything through – just rely on the drip.
- measure the collected liquid & add 75grams of sugar per 100ml juice
- stir in a gently warming pan until sugar dissolved
- then bring pan to the boil and keep boiling until setting point is reached. Takes about 30 mins. Test by putting a drop of juice onto cold saucer – if goes jelly like it is ready
- skim the scum off then pour into sterilised, heated jars and seal
Mick Cowan’s Sloe Gin
- break the skin on the sloes – either by pricking with a pin, or putting in the freezer over night
- 3/4 fill a bottle with sloes
- cover the sloes with gin (cheap is OK)
- add sugar (white or brown) 0.5 pounds sugar per pound of sloes. More sugar can be added, to taste, later if needed
- top the bottle up with gin
- seal the bottle
- shake the bottle every day for a week, then every Monday until Christmas
- put the bottle away in a cool, dark place
- strain the fruit out when it has been in the bottle for 6 to 9 months
- rebottle, and store until the following Christmas!
We ate the sloes left in the jelly bag for pudding – mixed with a little apple jelly and lots of yoghurt. The sloes strained from the gin are excellent when cooked in a special bread and butter pudding.
These 2 recipes for sloes are easy, but rewarding!