Cherry/Blueberry/Ginger/Cloves Glycerin
Here is a recipe for a concentrate to flavor infused glycerin with. All measurements are approximate, as that is how I cook, and should be adjusted to individual tastes. I make it up a couple of weeks ahead of time in batches and use it as a flavoring concentrate as required.
1 Cup Kirkland Whole Dried Blueberries (Costco)
1 Cup Stoneridge Whole dried Montmorency cherries (Costco)
½ Cup Gari (Sweet pickled Japanese ginger) (Anzen grocery)
2 Drops Clove Oil (Third Day Botanicals)
. Everclear as needed
After dumping the other ingredients into the blender, add enough Everclear to cover and liquefy. Pour and scrape into quart fruit jar and place in 230F hot oil bath, stirring regularly until the last of the visible alcohol has cooked off.
Cap immediately and set aside for a couple of weeks in a cool dark place for the flavors to marry.
Remove the lid and cover the jar with a towel, or replace the center of the lid with cloth and reinstall the lid ring so that the mixture can breathe for around 8 hours to evaporate off the rest of the alcohol.
Recap and save this concentrate.
I place about ¾ of a half quart jar of previously infused glycerin in a 230F hot oil bath; add a heaping tablespoon of the concentrate. When the temperature of the glycerin approaches 160F, I throttle back the oil heat until the glycerin stabilizes at 160F, and cook it for 30 minutes while stirring regularly at that temperature.
I then pour the mixture through a cloth bag made out of a high thread count bed sheet and squeeze as much as I can out of the pulp using a press.
House rules are that the cook gets the recovered fruit pulp. Which usually results in a recess and or nap shortly there after.
I place the freshly squeezed glycerin in a jar, seal, and place in the refrigerator to age. It is useable immediately as is, but the flavors continue to combine if allowed to sit around. I consider anything beyond 30 days delightful, but the improvement between 30 days and 90 days is noticeable.
GW
