Liquored-up fruit

[buttertart]

I tried to find kattyeyes' thread on boozy cherries, but couldn't -- so here we go again. We finally broke into last summer's sour cherries in vodka (just cheapass, regular, ordinary vodka, enough cherries to fill a peanut butter jar) last night. If ever a food item warranted a cosmic OMG, these do. They are much firmer than they were going in and the nec plus ultra of cherrytude. With a nice little kick thrown in. Could almost make a manhattan drinker of me...
This summer more bottles will be squirreled away. Have you had similar successes with other fruits?

[njmarshall55]

A neighbor in our old neighborhood who worked for Avon as a chemist used to bring home pure alcohol (safe to drink kind) and around new years, would fill a jar with raisins, pour in the alcohol, and leave it covered in his basement until Christmas. Not sure of spelling, but phonetically, he called it "boo-dee-yungus." I remember my father raving about it....both the raisins and the liquor.

[mrbigshotno.1]

Jello shots ain't bad either, there was an article on this site about them not too long ago.

[TorontoJo]

Oh hey, jello shots made with the cherry vodka? That actually sounds really good. Way better than the Everclear jello shots of my youth. :)

[Querencia]

I once filled a quart Mason jar with candied fruit (a la fruitcake), chocolate chips, and pecans then poured in dark Jamaican rum up to the top and left it in the refrigerator forever. We ate in on ice cream and when the level got low we added more of whatever was handy.

[Ditdah]

This sounds good, but the chocolate chips scare me - did they get slimy, or "melt" or just chill out in the mix? I'm thinking you'd have to fish them out if you kept it very long... did you?

[kattyeyes]

HEE HEE, bet now you found it as it pops up at the bottom of the page here. Ahh, sweet memories for sure:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/714514

Re similar successes with other fruits? If I were smarter, I would have tequilafied the pineapple I cut up a few weeks back when I made salsa, but the that particular spirit didn't move me that day. Dammit. Too bad. :) A local Tex-Mex place near me sells slices of tequila-infused pineapple and it is hardcore!

P.S. Cherrytude. Love it. Can't stand still while the music is playin'!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlcuAs...

[buttertart]

Indeedy! And yes, I found it. :)

[mtoo]

I make and can my own cocktail cherries using the Ball recipe for brandied cherries. Basically pitted cherries, sugar and brandy. I substitute about half the brandy for Luxardo (the maraschino liqueur) and they are amazing. My boyfriend likes to dump a jar on a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Kind of a pain in the behind to pit all the cherries, but totally worth it.

eta: I use the leftover juice as a grenadine substitute in cocktails. (I realize grenadine is actually pommegranate based, but whatever.) Makes a delightful cherry bourbon smash.

[travelerjjm]

My aunts used to tell stories about making Cherry Bounce -- they even had a special jar for it. It is basically the same "recipe" with some sugar added and more vodka than cherries. My dad would tell stories of stealing and eating the cherries as a kid: it seems the goal was a beverage so the loss of a few cherries now and then went unnoticed.

[TorontoJo]

Curious whether your goal was to make cherry-infused vodka or vodka-infused cherries? What do you do with the vodka? I imagine it's pretty tasty in cocktails.

[buttertart]

It was just a hey we have these sour cherries and this vodka, so what the heck moment. The liquid will get drunk one way or the other (very VERY cherry).

[ChristinaMason]

Curious, did you pit them first?

[buttertart]

Nope.