Creme de Mure

I must admit, I've been lazy recently. No particular reason, I've just gone through one of those periods where I don't feel quite so much like cooking something fancy, and I'm more likely to fall back on an old reliable recipe rather than something interesting or new.

But! Spells of apathy can't last forever, and time changes all things. Tides turn, seasons change, sunrise, sunset, circle of life, like the circles that you find, in the windmills of your mind, etc. The thing that has brought me out of my slump is the coming of blackberry season.

I moved to Bristol about this time last year, which meant that when blackberry season came around I had no idea where to find the best spots to pick them. But I play the long game, and I've been keeping my eye out for months. This time around I knew exactly where to go, and have successfully cleaned out, like, so many blackberries. If blackberries were a new species of human/vampire type deal, I would be the I Am Legend guy. They would speak of me in hushed tones as the Bringer of Death, Maker of Pies.

And now I finally have enough for me to make Creme de Mure, or blackberry liqueur. Ages ago Pete gave me 'How To Make Your Own Drinks' by Suzy Atkins (her off Saturday Kitchen) that had a recipe for Creme de Mure in it, and this is the first time I've been able to try it out.

Her recipe requires:
1 1/2 kg blackberries
2 litres red wine
1kg sugar
70cl vodka or brandy

This is meant to make 2 1/2 litres, and she recommends drinking within 6 weeks. However. As you know, I prefer to treat recipes as the opening offer in a negotiation, and therefore subject to amendments. My thoughts on this recipe were as follows:

1) 2 1/2 litres of a liqueur is a lot to get through in 6 weeks.
2) Blackberries are free.
3) Wine and vodka are not.

My conclusion was to use about the same amount of blackberries, but only one bottle of wine, and amend the amount of vodka and sugar as I saw fit. That way I'd produce less liquid over all, it would be more blackberry-y, and it would be cheaper. This is how it went:

Creme de Mure (Bronners Style)

You will need:

1 1/2 kg blackberries
1 bottle of red wine (Suzy says to use something decent, but then she would say that, wouldn't she?)
50cl vodka (actually, next time I'll probably up this to 70cl)
350g sugar

Wash the blackberries, getting rid of any twigs and bugs. Put them in a large tupperware box or any other receptacle large enough that can still fit in the fridge. Mash with a potato masher and add the whole bottle of wine. Stir a little, then put on the lid and keep in the fridge for a day or so. Suzy says 48hrs, but I'm a busy woman and only left it a day.

After they've macerated pass the wine and blackberries through a sieve into a large pan and add the sugar and vodka. I think I worked the blackberries through the sieve a little too hard so I did get a lot of extra liquid and some pulp in the final mix, but it doesn't seem the worse for it.

Heat through without boiling until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid has thickened and turned slightly syrupy. Store in sterilised bottles.

This ended up making 2 litres,  but as I said I may have forced more blackberry juice into it than perhaps I should. It has a little warmth of alcohol but is a bit weak, which is why I'd recommend upping the vodka. Or, you know, following the original recipe. Either way. On the other hand, I've mainly been drinking this in cocktails where I add more spirits anyway, so it all works out in the end.

Speaking of which...

The Bramble

You will need:

2 measures creme de mure
1 measure gin
dash of lemon juice (optional)

Pour everything over a tumbler of ice and stir. Drink. Drink it up.

Ooooh, this is nice. Not too sweet, fruity and refreshing. I've seen and tried a number of other cocktails that use Creme de Mure, but in my opinion nothing really matches up to this. Go. Drink it up.