Gentleman's Jam

by Andrew Barrow, Posted Nov 22nd 2005 @ 9:08PM

punnet of summer fruits It is cold in the UK at the moment; snow is forecast for all over by the weekend and I have a longing for summer already. And its only November; got to get through dismal January and February yet. This hankering for summer fruits led me to this recipe, a dimly remembered snippet from the Times of a couple of years ago.

It is for Gentleman's Jam - a mix of red berries mixed with cognac. You take a punnet each of various fruits - strawberries (hulled), red currants, blackberries and two of raspberries. Place a layer of mixed fruit in the bottom of a large clean glass jar and top with a layer of sugar cubes. Repeat until all the fruit is packed into the jar. Poke in a cinnamon stick and a split vanilla pod and then pour in as much cognac (or Armagnac) as you can. The sugar dissolves so keep topping up with the booze.

Cover tightly and leave in a cool place for a week. Then give a big stir and leave again for at least two weeks. The mix is delicious with cakes, puddings, on scones and over vanilla ice-cream. Summer flavours wrapped up in alcohol; what more do you need to be reminded of summer?

Filed Under: Spirit of Summer, Ingredients
Tags: british isles, dessert, fruit