Raisins in Rum

Ingredients

4 cups dried sultanas

4 cups dried raisins

2 cups dried cranberries

2 cups dried blackcurrants

1.6 litres of good quality dark rum

4 tablespoons of dark moscovado sugar

4 caramelised orange skins

Wash the dried fruit with warm water and pour it into four 400ml jars. Add a tablespoon of the sugar and and orange skin into each jar and fill up with the rum. Shake vigorously.

Leave to soak for a couple of days shaking every now and then: this is perfect either as a present (it takes almost no time and almost no money) or as a delicious snack, spooned over a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream. This is very flammable, which means you can use it to flambee ice cream, crepes and anything you like really: the burning alcohol forms a delicious boozy caramel over the fruits that is simply heavenly.

You can add and substitute any typed of dried fruit you like: figs, prunes, dates, cherries, anything you’d like. You can also substitute the rum with another type of spirit, just reduce or increase the amount of sugar according to the sweetness of what you use.  Another idea is to add some nuts to the mix as well. You can use shop-bought fruit and nut mix, or create your own combinations.

I like dried cherries and almonds (1 part of almonds an two parts of dried cherries) with no sugar added, a couple of drops of peppermint extract (or caramelised mint leaves if you’re in the mood) and sherry instead of rum. My mother’s favourite is walnuts and white sultanas, with a spoonful of white granulated sugar, soaked in white rum and with an added shot of Curacao which will make everything of a pleasant summery shade.