Recipe: Basic Rum-Pot Fruit Recipe (Rumtopf) and Brandied Fruit Melange

Two Recipes: Rum-pot and Brandied Fruit
From Time-Life's The Good Cook Series

BASIC RUM-POT FRUIT RECIPE (RUMTOPF)

3 cups (3/4 liter) strawberries, hulled
about 2 cups each (about 1/2 liter each) prepared gooseberries, cherries, red currants, black currants, raspberries, apricots, plums and pears (pick over, remove any damaged parts and pit or core fruits)
about 10 cups (about 2 1/2 liters) sugar
about 2 quarts (about 2 liters) rum

Sprinkle the strawberries with 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) sugar. Cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Place the sugared strawberries in the rum pot (asthe rum pot, you can use a 1 to 2 gallon stoneware crock with a lid) and pour in enough rum to cover the fruit by about two finger-widths. Cover the pot with plastic wrap and put on the lid. Place in a cool room, and stir the fruit gently every two or three days.

Starting with the gooseberries, or as the fruits ripen, add the remaining fruits in layers; mix 1 cup (1/4 liter) of fruit with 1/2 cup (125 ml) of the sugar before adding it to the pot, and each time add enough rum to cover fruit by two finger-widths.

After the first two weeks, you will only need to shake or stir the pot every two weeks. But you must always make sure that the top layer of fruit is covered by two finger-widths of rum. Traditionally, the rum pot is begun in early summer. At the end of October or the beginning of November, add enother cup of rum to the pot. By the beginning of December, the fruit will be ready to eat.

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BRANDIED FRUIT MELANGE

About 10 quarts (about 10 liters) prepared fresh fruits: hulled strawberries; pitted cherries; whole raspberries; peeled, pitted and sliced apricots and peaches; whole blueberries; pitted plums; and peeled, cored and sliced pears
about 10 quarts (about 10 liters) sugar
about 2 1/2 quarts (about 2 1/2 liters) brandy

BRANDY BASE:
2 cups (1/2 liter) brandy
1 1/2 quarts (1 1/2 liters) firm, ripe strawberries, hulled
6 cups (1 1/2 liters) sugar
2 cups (1/2 liter) kirsch
2 cups (1/2 liter) sherry
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon (15 ml) whole cloves
1 tablespoon (15 ml) whole allspice
1 tablespoon (15 ml) grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon (15 ml) grated orange peel

For the brandy base, crush the strawberries and simmer them in their own juice until they are tender, about five minutes. Let the berries drip in a jelly bag; discard the pulp. Bring the strawberry juice to a boil, add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Cool the strawberry syrup.

Put the brandy, kirsch, sherry, spices and grated lemon and orange peels into a 4 gallon (16 liter) crock. Add the strawberry syrup to the other ingredients in the crock. Let the mixture stand for at least one week.

As fruits are available, add equal quantities of fresh fruits and sugar, stirring after each addition. Never add more than 2 quarts (2 liters) of sugared fruit at one time. Two or three kinds of fruit may be added at the same time. For each 2 quarts of sugared fruit, add 2 cups (1/2 liter) of brandy. More spices also may be added. Continue this process until the crock is filled. Put the cover on the crock and tie a cloth over it. Let it stand without disturbing it for two or three months.