homemade apricot ratafia

[paw]

So I'm trying to figure out what to do with all the summer fruit at the farmers market now, and I vaguely remembered that alice b. toklas gave a bunch of recipes for ratafias and other liqueurs in her later, less famous cookbook Aromas and Flavors. She says the best of them is made with apricots. It's basically fresh apricots steeped in brandy with sugar.

Now before I commit several dozen lovely aromatic apricots to a boozy grave, I'd like to know if anybody has tried to make this or any of toklas's other home-brews. Some of the recipes in her first cookbook are notoriously impossible.

[beans]

I've done something similar with peaches in brandy, sugar and a cinnamon stick. They were wonderful. Sorry I'm not familiar with her recipes....

[paw]

Well I plunged fearlessly forward, following Alice B to the letter, and have been rewarded with a truly delicious apricot aperitif. I highly recommend this to anybody who's even mildly interested in experimenting with homemade infusions. The recipe is in her Aromas & Flavors of Past & Present.

Tonight, I bottle it. (My only deviation from her recipe was to refrigerate the white wine/brandy/sugar/apricot/cinnamon stick mixture rather than leaving it at room temperature. The air's been so humid lately I was afraid the apricots would grow mold.)

Emboldened by success, I now plan to make my own version of Southern Comfort with bourbon and peaches. Beans do you remember the proportions of your peach brandy recipe?

[thelastsupper]

The alchohol will prevent any bacteria from forming so long as the fruit is completely covered. I made raspberry ratafia for a chef I used to work for . . . we'd usually let the berries cure till Christmas, right when you're craving some fresh fruit. Or try cherries in grappa. The longer they sit, the better . . .

[beans]

Beans do you remember the proportions of your peach brandy recipe?

I've looked and I can't find it. Sorry. When I find it I will post!

[jsolomon]

So I'm trying to figure out what to do with all the summer fruit at the farmers market now, and I vaguely remembered that alice b. toklas gave a bunch of recipes for ratafias and other liqueurs in her later, less famous cookbook Aromas and Flavors. She says the best of them is made with apricots. It's basically fresh apricots steeped in brandy with sugar.

Now before I commit several dozen lovely aromatic apricots to a boozy grave, I'd like to know if anybody has tried to make this or any of toklas's other home-brews. Some of the recipes in her first cookbook are notoriously impossible.

I did this with Roger Welsch's recipe for a cherry aperitif made much the same way. What he said was one handful of sugar per pint of cherries and fill with bourbon. He called it "cherry bim" in his book "Digging In and Pigging Out". Pretty good, and supposedly good for gout. I don't know about that, but the stuff made me good and stoopid when I got a hankerin for some cherry covered ice cream.

Oh yeah, it was very VERY tasty, to boot.