We have had a mammoth crop of plums and damsons this year!
So I’ve made quite a few Tuscan Plum Tarts, Plum Jam, Plum Chutney, so why not Plum Vodka? This recipe I discovered when trawling through Country Harvest (Linda Burgess & Rosamond Richardson). An old book that has been in the house for years but one that comes into its own at this time of year. There are all sorts of combinations and recipes in there!
Before you go rushing off to gather your ingredients…….. here’s the rub….. the final paragraph….. “store in a cool, dark place for 3 months. Strain off the fruit, pour the vodka into a clean bottle and seal tightly. For best results, store for 1 year before drinking!”
So you see as it’s my first time making this…. it might be Christmas next year before I can tell you whether it’s worth it or not! 🙂
If you are willing to journey into the unknown, here’s what you need.
Ingredients:
- 450 g (1 lb) wild plums or damsons, halved and stoned
- 100 g (4 oz) granulated sugar
- 1.1 litres (2 pints) vodka
Method:
Put the plums/damsons (I actually did a mix of both) into a large, clean bottle and add the sugar through a funnel. Add the vodka, seal and shake well. Continue to shake daily until the sugar has dissolved and the vodka takes on the colour of the fruit – this took about 7 or 8 days.
Then follow the instructions above about storing for 3 months etc.
And another word of warning…. by the time you’ve stoned so many plums and damsons your hands and nails look revolting!
I’m looking forward to enjoying this eventually… give it a try! 🙂
A Year In Redwood 
Well, you know what they say – good things come to those who wait!
It’s one hell of a wait tho!
We made a lemon vodka once with an enormous lemon that we smuggled back to the US from Sicily. It was one of the best things I have ever tasted. This looks so so so so yummy. I would suffer the revolting looking nails for the end result.
Mona…. I have the lemon vodka brewing too! Party anyone????
Waiting months is a serious exercise in self control! Anything with vodka gets my vote 🙂
Good things to those that wait… er Death is there somewhere.. so drink while you can..
I made plum vodka last year , cook the plums vodka and sugar leave the plums in the jar and when you come to serve the vodka you have a really good plum dessert as well
I know Paul…. I did the same… nothing like boozy plums 🙂
Help! I started making plum vodka earlier this week, and my recipe said to put plums in jars with sugar, spices, and vodka, inverting the jar daily for two weeks before storing in a cool place for three months. after four days or so of doing this I noticed this morning that some of the juices leaking onto the counter and the rings look like they’re bending outward from the pressure inside the jar. At this point Im almost afraid to take the lids off, but I don’t want 2 quart jars of glass and sugar water throughout my kitchen. What to do??
Hi Sharon,
I’d be inclined to open them… it does sound like it has started to ferment! And, as you say, you don’t want it to explode! I usually just soak the fruit in the vodka/alcohol first, then make a sugar syrup to add afterwards. Sorry I can’t be more helpful… fingers crossed it will be okay.
Margaret
Hmmm…that’s not what your recipe above reflects. You add the sugar up front. So what do you recommend? Also you never reported in how the plum infused vodka in 2011 turned out. Did you wait 3 months or a year?
I’ve learnt since then!!! I’ve since been making limoncello and cointreau, and find that it works (safer!) by infusing the fruit in the vodka for a few weeks first, strain off the fruit then make a sugar syrup – using as little water as possible – and add this to the vodka.
In response to how it tasted. I liked it but the other person in the house was not enamoured with it at all! I’ve not made plum vodka since… sticking with the two above.
Thanks. You say a few weeks not 3 months or a year. Did you change the time frame too?
Like most these the longer you leave it the better. Since this morning I’ve been chatting with a friend who loves and makes plum vodka every year, and she adds the sugar at the start as above. I guess it is all about experimenting.
Sounds like a liqueur rather than just infused vodka. I make the same recipe with blackberries, just in smaller quantities. Going to have to give this a try. You can infuse the vodka fairly quickly without the sugar if that’s what your looking for. I personally love the liqueurs better. Great for the holidays.