Cherry Brandy & Ginger Beer
Being the sort of girl who needs no excuse to raise a glass, here´s a big “Cheers” to all my new blogging pals celebrating the 4th July. Hope it´s a great day for you all.
As you know, it´s cherry season here up the mountain and after stoning far too many kilos for jam making, I decided to ring the changes and make something gorgeous for the cooler months. I came across a wonderful recipe over on Olive and Artichokes for a cherry liqueur they have made with Eau de Vie. We can´t get that here, at least, I´ve never come across it…but I didn´t let this stand in my way!
I bought a bottle of Spanish Brandy, not one of the rough ones might I add, and got my sugar, cherries and bottles ready.
I followed the instructions given in the recipe, that is layering cherries and sugar and then filling the containers with liqueur.
Hopefully in a few months time I´ll have a delicious cherry flavoured brandy and some brandy flavoured cherries. Can´t wait!
Just over three weeks ago I started to make some alcoholic ginger beer. If you want to give it a go, you´ll find the recipe here.
It´s very simple, all you need is a sachet of yeast, a jar of powdered ginger, sugar and a jar or jug you can loosely cover.
After a week of adding yeast and sugar to your initial mixture (see the recipe) you´ll add water, lemon juice and more sugar to make about 7 litres of ginger flavoured drink.
You need to leave some space in your plastic bottles for expansion, so only fill them about three quarters and then squeeze some of the air out before sealing them. If you don´t do this you´ll have exploding ginger beer all over the place and it´s very sticky. I know this from experience!
Once you´ve been patient you will be rewarded with gorgeous sparkling, lemony, gingery Ginger Beer. I don´t know exactly how alcoholic it is, although it does get stronger the longer you leave it. After about 3 months it starts to taste acidic, but I don´t suppose you´ll have it for that long as it´s delicious. And if you can´t wait 3 weeks, wait a week and mix it up with soda or water for a refreshing, non alcoholic drink.
Happy Independence Day!
Chica Andaluza 