Sloe Sherry recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 43 comments
Sloes and sherry are a good combination
This sherry recipe works equally well for the sloes, bullaces and damsons that are left over from your sloe gin. Our old pal Gilbert always makes this on Boxing Day, having polished of a few bottles at their renowned Christmas Eve Drinks Party and toasted the Queen with sloe gin on Christmas day.
He claims that it is to salve the disappointment of his Christmas stocking. Everyone knows that anything as small as a stocking would never grace the foot of Gilbert and Marjorie’s bed.
Having finished the final batch of our 2005 sloe and damson gin I decided to make this wicked grog. Once upon a time I made sloe sherry every year and it’s lethal stuff. I used to use the cheapest sherry until Gilbert tipped that a reasonably priced medium sherry makes a much better tipple.
So when you finish your sloe or damson gin, don’t chuck out the fruit as there are several recipes for gin soaked sloes, damsons and bullaces. Damsons make a great alcoholic pudding, either baked in a suet pudding, in a sponge or in a pie. They also can be stoned and dipped into melted chocolate to make alcoholic sweets.
Sloes and bullaces are too bitter to be used in cooking but are ideal to have a second alcoholic outing as the base of sloe sherry. (Update: this is a marvellous grog, we added it to our roast chicken recipe, instead of port, with a great success).
| Recipe for Sloe or Bullace Sherry |
- Gin/vodka soaked sloes or bullaces
- Large (1.5 litre) Le Parfait jar
- 1 litre bottle of medium sherry (not too cheap, try a supermarket own brand)
- 1 tablespoon of white granulated sugar, after two weeks (optional)
- Half fill the sterilised jar with the sloes/bullaces from your sloe gin.
- Top up with sherry.
- Fit a new rubber ring and seal. Label the jar.
- Keep turning the jar each day for a week.
- Store the jar in a dark, dry area for 3-6 weeks.
- Sample the grog after two weeks, just to see how it’s progressing.
- A tablespoon of sugar can be added at this stage, according to taste.
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id pick them off the bushes before they rot if you wait for the frost there will be none left worth using
I’m fairly new to Sloe and Damson Gin making – my third year – and believe I need to wait for the first frost for sloes : but with this year’s bizarre weather pattern here I am in October still waiting for a frost even in the Pennines. Should I just go ahead and make it and what difference would it make?
sloe sherry is excellent, the tartness of the used sloes offset the rich taste of the sherry. Question, why not use sherry from the outset? I find vodka and gin too strong
Me n the Mrs couldn’t wait any longer we opened the sloe gin and had a couple of tots it was lovely ..i might have some more tonight now we are snowed in
Like the idea of re-using the damsons, I’m going to try using my brandy infused damsons with sherry. This summer I tried infusing the damsons with tequila, added same sugar as the damson brandy recipe. Wonderful!
I love this site – will definitely be trying sloe sherry. For another idea on how to use the left over sloes, try this site – it is delicious!
http://www.genre.fsnet.co.uk/kitchen/sloejack/index.html
Hi Ollie
The sloes are soaked for 6 months. Three months if you want a sharper brew.
I love the Sloe Sherry idea, thanks – how long does one soak the sloes in is Gin/Vodka for? A day, couple of weeks or a year? Thanks. OH
this has been a fantastic (2009) year for sloes. We were on North Yorkshire
oors and went down a lane that looked purple it was so bursting with sloes. Must have been a wonderful site when it was in blossom. Thanks to your website we have now got lots of ideAS ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH ALL the sloes we picked and all the damsons we have been given. Oh and plums too. What ayear. momaha
i have done this recipe it tastes just like sloe gin its great but it doesnt work if you try using the sloes for a third time ive tried it wasnt very good my dog dog got to them in the rubbish bin he ate them and was drunk and the came out whole the other end ot good
Hi Buckaoa
Glad that you dog had fun and survived.
The reused sloes make great sloe sherry but you are right. Sloes just shine twice.