Grow Your Own Magazine

Was a bit slow starting my sloe gin this year as I left the sloes in the freezer too long to have the gin ready for Xmas
However - it's ready to bottle now and I was wondering what to do with the sloes?
My SIL says they taste like chocolate at this stage and asked if I could find out what to do with them! ( hers are in her freezer as we speak!)
Any ideas welcome- even if it's put them in the compost!!

place the stoned berries on a shallow-sided tray, space them out a bit, then simply pour on a melted bar or two of plain chocolate.

Leave to cool and harden ... and enjoy.

This is for the used sloes after making your gin/vodka

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Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful..William Morris

It is a wonderful tangy jelly jam that again Shares it wonderful colours with the sloe gin.

All you need is:
900g (2lb) Sloes
1.8kg (4lb) Cooking apples
Juice and peel of one Lemon
Sugar

Wash and drain the sloes and prick them. Put them In a pan with the lemon juice, peel and just enough water to cover. Simmer until pulpy.

Wash and chop the apples, then simmer in a Separate pan, with water to cover - again until soft and pulpy.

Strain the two pulps through scalded jelly bags or fine muslin hung overnight over bowls to catch the juice - do not squeeze the bags, which will result in cloudy jelly.

Mix and then measure the juices, bring to the boil, add sugar at the rate of 450g to 570ml (1lb to 1 pint) and stir until dissolved. Boil until setting point is reached. Remove any scum, using a heated stainless-steel spoon.
then you can bottle it, and store it.

This is for sloes that have not yet made it to the gin but you may still have them lurking in the freezer

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Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful..William Morris

Not sure about sloes as they're quite bitter, but most other fruits that are used to flavour alcoholic recipes can be used as pie fillings, or toppings for ice cream etc. when you've finished using them to flavour the hooch. As they're only fruit, even if you can't use them in a recipe you can put them on the compost heap when you've finished with them. You could put on the lawn for the birds, but if they've been steeped in gin you may have a few problems with low flying drunken blackbirds.