With the world around me talking, tweeting and generally enthusing over their part in #NaNoWriMo I decided to get in on the game by writing a short piece on my blog every day through the month of November.

This morning I received a request for a post on sloe gin. As the season for sloes – and therefore – sloe gin, is almost passed I have chosen to concentrate day two of #NaNoWriMo on the more generic fruit gin.

Autumn is the perfect time to get ahead with gifts for Christmas by getting busy in the kitchen and putting all that seasonal produce to good use. On top of the array of jam and chutney recipes an online search will reveal many preserves of the more liquid variety in the form of cordial, vinegar and alcohol.

The beauty of fruit gin is that you don’t need to spend a fortune to create excellent results. Whilst I don’t choose the supermarket value gin it’s not necessary to shell out for a luxury brand name either. Add to that the opportunity for picking fruits – such as sloes or blackberries – for free and it is a relatively inexpensive gift for the grown-ups in your circle.

Ingredients

A large clip down jar
350g – 450g of fruits such as sloes, plums, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackcurrants.
1 litre of gin
200g of caster sugar

Method

1. If you have a hard fruit like plums or sloes prick all over with a fork. Soft fruits can be simply dropped into your jar and ‘puddled’ with the end of a wooden spoon.

2. Tip in your sugar, seal the lid and shake well.

3. Cover the fruit/sugar combination with your gin, seal the lid a second time and shake again gently.

4. Leave to mature. Whilst sloe gin generally requires twelve months to develop, most of the others only need a couple of months. Remember to go back to the concoction every so often and give it a good swirl around.

Simply decant into small bottles to give your fruit gin as a gift or stash in a secret place for private use in times of emergency.

Do you have a hot topic that you would like to see discussed during my food writers nod to #NaNoWriMo? Please add in the comments below.