I’ve never been a big drinker, and now being preggers my alcohol consumption is down to zero. But last fall, the madroños or strawberry trees were so abundant that I just had to pick some and preserve them. I didn’t really feel like making a jam so an easy peasy liquor was decided upon. The method is exactly the same as making slow gin, but if you aren’t familiar with that, all you do is put your washed and dried fruit in a jar, add about half a cup of sugar* to cover the fruit and then fill the rest of the jar with alcohol. It really needs to be at least 50% alcohol in order to really preserve the fruits and extract the flavor.
It looks really beautiful , and it extracts into a pinkish color. While I haven’t tried it myself, I have been pawning it off on guests, and the reaction has been very positive!
Even if you don’t drink, if you have access to ripe madroños any time of year, give it a go. You can always add a splash to fruit salads, or make a sangria punch type drink for a party with sparking water, pomegranate or cranberry juice, chopped up fruit and a bit of madroño liquor.
For those that DO drink, one thing I am dying to try is a Madroño Mimosa- some Spanish Cava and my homemade madroño liquor. Try it and let me know how it is 😉
*ordinarily, I would never advise anyone to use processed sugar, but in a recipe like this it really is necessary. Something like agave or honey truly would not work. I used white sugar because we had some on hand for these types of projects but something like demarara or raw cane sugar would be a great option!