Ever since I went and sat in a cherry tree a few days ago, surrounded by gorgeous pink blossoms (and a handful of incredulous birds), I haven't been able to stop thinking about cherry blossom.
So on the way home from my designated local outing today, I stopped at a spot in a local park that's lined with flowering cherry trees this time of year. Rather than me giving you the whole spiel about how super special cherry blossom season is, so special the Japanese have a proper word for it etcetera, I think we can just agree that it's super special and move on. You may be able to tell how much I love these blossoms by the frankly unreasonable amount of pictures gracing this post.
So here's my bounty, freshly picked:
First up, make sure you remove as many leaves and bits of debris as possible. This takes a little bit of time, but is a nice opportunity for all the little critters to escape before finding themselves drowned by the impending gin deluge. I had three earwigs and all manner of other bugs scamper out of my bowl during the process.
Next, find a wide-necked bottle or other receptacle, fill with blossoms and cover with gin.
Because these flowers are so delicate, most recipes I found recommended infusing them for a couple of days only. Once you've strained the blossoms off (giving them a good squeeze to make sure you get all the aromatic goodness out of them!), add sugar to your gin and leave to age for a good few months.
This is a first for me, and I can't wait to see if the delicate fragrance of the cherry blossoms really does come through in the liqueur - I have high hopes!
A non-boozy option would be to make a cherry blossom syrup, which is also super simple - you can find my version here, based on a recipe from John Rensten's excellent book The Edible City.
By the way, I am told that all UK cherry varieties are suitable, even the ornamental ones. The season is fleeting though, so get out there promptish - and as always, remember to pick responsibly.
Comments
Post a Comment