Few foraging pleasures are more intense than standing in a woodland glade picking a handful of raspberries and popping the lot into your mouth. It is as unfussy a dining experience as you could imagine and difficult to beat. Since this is the only sensible way to eat wild raspberries, cultivated varieties will be required to make an infusion.
Raspberries are the ideal infusible fruit, possessing a perfect balance of subtle flavours and acidity. An eau de vie could be used instead of vodka and I suggest for once that if vodka is used it should not be of the cheap, harsh variety as this will compromise the delicate flavour of the fruit.
Ingredients
- 280 g raspberries
- 140 g sugar
- 600 ml vodka or eau de vie
How to Make It
- Place the raspberries in a 1-litre Kilner jar and add the sugar. Top up with vodka, close the lid and shake. Store in a dark cupboard, shaking once a day until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Decant the infused vodka into a bottle after 3 months, then leave it to mature for 6 months before drinking. The sweet vodka-soaked raspberries are particularly good so don’t share.