Peach Amaretto - Safe?

[12BottleBar]

There's an article in the latest issue of Imbibe that tells you how to infuse Amaretto with peach pits. Anyone have any thoughts with regard to the safety of this (ie. cyanide issues)?

[slkinsey]

That's how most commercial amaretto is made.

[12BottleBar]

In home-making Sloe Gin or other infusions with pits, I've always been cautioned about the hazards. I would assume brands would have a process in place.

Just curious.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't have experience with alcohol infusions involving pits but I use cherry pits, peach pits and apricot pits (and tonka beans) in pastry work infused into cream or milk. It's not an every day thing but it's not particularly rare that I do it either. Not that it counts as scientific evidence but... I'm still alive and healthy and I haven't killed anybody who's eaten them (with the appropriate advanced warnings in place).

[Kohai]

This is anecdotal, but a friend of mine tried to make peach pit bitters and wound up with something that was extremely similar to cyanide. I believe they even had it tested and found it to toxic.

I would advise the utmost caution when dealing with most stone fruit pits, as everything I've read seems to indicate you could kill yourself with it. I believe there might be some kind of processing (toasting?) that renders the cyanogens inert, but again - caution is the watchword, in my opinion.

[Emmeric]

Dr. Gourmet claims that eating 100 grams of peach pits in a single sitting is bad for you and should be verboten.

I believe the Imbibe recipe called for 20 peach pits, about 10 grams each. So, using that math, drinking half the bottle would be a bad (if delicious) idea

http://www.drgourmet.com/askdrgourmet/peachpits.shtml

Edited October 18, 2010 by Emmeric (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Dr. Gourmet claims that eating 100 grams of peach pits in a single sitting is bad for you and should be verboten.

I believe the Imbibe recipe called for 20 peach pits, about 10 grams each. So, using that math, drinking half the bottle would be a bad (if delicious) idea

http://www.drgourmet.com/askdrgourmet/peachpits.shtml

And that's assuming that 20 pits infused = 20 pits ingested. Not that I'm trying to convince anyone they should do it but people often have a tendency to grab the potential bad and run with it rather than looking at the whole story.

[12BottleBar]

My thought/concern was with regard to a prolonged alcohol infusion. As alcohol really draws out the flavor of the pits, might it be drawing out the bad elements too?

[12BottleBar]

I do like Dr. Gourmet's statement with regard to eating just one whole pit: "overall this is much less poisonous".

[Tom Gengo]

Probably not a good idea since the hydrocyanic acid would most certainly be extracted by the alcohol. I was thinking to boil off the cyanide in a VERY WELL VENTILATED area, i.e. outside. However the BP of HCN (cyanide) is 79 degrees Farenheit and the BP (boiling point) of ethanol is 78.1 F. I guess the old saying, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" would certainly apply to makers of Peach Amaretto, lol.

[mkayahara]

Is it worth mentioning at this point that, in the article in question, it calls for you to broil the peach pits before infusing them?

[Tri2Cook]

Is it worth mentioning at this point that, in the article in question, it calls for you to broil the peach pits before infusing them?

Yes, it's worth mentioning since heat at least reduces if not eliminates the risk. Like I mentioned above, I use pits from time to time. Cherry pit ice cream is my favorite but I work with others as well. I don't roast them and I'm sure they're not heated enough in the infusing process to cook off the bad stuff, but it's a risk I'm willing to take for myself. The flavor just isn't the same after they're roasted. The almond is still there but they lose too much of the subtle flavor of the fruit that the unroasted pits add. If that's the case with the peach pits in amaretto then I don't see the point. Infusing more almond into something already intensely almond?

[12BottleBar]

Very helpful advice on the roasting step. Thanks!

[Frederic]

Often called "Ratafia de Noyau" (or similar spellings) with recipes in Jerry Thomas and before.

Rather tasty and because of the risks of drinking large amounts (as stated above), it has been outlawed. Commercial Creme de Noyau are still produced in France, but they are not as flavorful as the Ratafia (straight infusion in high proof spirits) since they are most likely distilled or other. Most cheap ones (Leroux and other bottom shelf dwellers) use artificial almond flavorings to achieve the peach pittiness.

A lot of old recipes, especially every other one in Bariana, include Creme de Noyau. The Old Etonian being one of the more famous classic ones and the Pink Squirrel being one of the more late 60's-early 70's attrocities that call for it.