Apple and Blackberry Crumble Vodka
Homemade Apple and Blackberry Crumble Vodka with roasted apples, blackberries, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon. An easy fruit-infused vodka for autumn cocktails.
Servings: 20
Calories: 154kcal
Ingredients
- 400 g apples
- 300 g blackberries
- 100 g white granulated sugar divided (20g for roasting the fruit and 80g for the sugar syrup)
- 1 litre vodka
- 6 dashes of Angostura bitters ½ teaspoon
- zest of ½ lemon finely pared (avoiding the white pith)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 80 g water
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted / gas mark 4 / 350°F.
- Roughly chop the apples, don’t worry about peeling or coring.
- Place the apples and blackberries in a roasting dish and sprinkle over 20g of the sugar. Roast for 1 hour, stirring halfway through, until the apples have softened and the fruit has released its juices. Leave the roasted fruit to cool completely.
- Place the cooled roasted fruit into a large, sterilised 1.5 litre preserving jar.
- Pour over the vodka, Angostura bitters, pared lemon zest, vanilla extract and cinnamon stick. Stir well to combine, making sure the fruit is fully submerged.
- Seal the jar and store in a cool dark place for 2-3 weeks, shaking gently every couple of days. Start tasting from around day 10. The flavour should develop into a balance of roasted apple, blackberry and warming spice. If the cinnamon becomes too dominant, remove it and continue the infusion.
- Towards the end of the infusion, make the sugar syrup by gently heating the remaining 80g sugar with 80g water in a small saucepan. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, then leave the syrup to cool completely.
- Strain the infused vodka through a fine sieve lined with muslin into a clean jug. Allow the liquid to drain naturally rather than pressing the fruit too firmly, which can make the vodka cloudy.
- Add cooled sugar syrup gradually, tasting as you go, until the vodka reaches your preferred level of sweetness. You may choose not to use all of the syrup. Pour into a final sterilised airtight bottle and seal.
- Leave the bottled vodka to rest for at least 2 weeks before serving. The flavours will soften and become more rounded over time.
Notes
- This recipe makes about 1 litre of Vodka.
- Apples. For this recipe I used a mix of Pink Lady and Granny Smiths.
- Blackberries. You can use fresh or frozen blackberries. If you are using frozen then you don’t need to thaw before roasting.
- Leftover blackberry pulp. This recipe derived from a need to use up leftover blackberry pulp from making homemade blackberry jam. If you are making the recipe from this then don’t roast your pulp. Top up the amount with fresh blackberries if you don’t have enough then roast the fresh blackberries with the apples.
- Vodka. You don’t need to use fancy vodka. A cheap bottle from the supermarket is perfect here.
- Sterilising the bottles. The bottles need to be washed thoroughly then heated in an oven pre-heated to 160°C / 140°C fan assisted / gas mark 3 / 320°F for 20 minutes.
- Storing. This final vodka should be stored in sterilised bottles in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. If stored correctly it should keep for between 6-12 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 154kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 47mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 43IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.1mg