Rumtopf (Traditional German Fruit Preserve & Beverage)

Thorsten's Note:

Rumtopf (rum pot) is a traditional German beverage. There are many variations. Take this recipe as a more general blue print for your own recipe. The traditional way of making this beverage starts as early as the fresh fruit are available in spring / summer and ends with the last fresh fruit in autumn. But today you can make in "1-step", because you can get always fresh fruit in the supermarket.

• Total Time: 1009 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1008 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 2 lbs fruit (strawberries, plums, cherries, peaches, pears, raspberries, currants, blueberries, gooseberries, ...)
• 1 lb sugar
• 3 cups rum (54%)

Directions:

1. The traditional way of making a Rumtopf started with the first ripe fruit available and ended in autumn (November) with last fresh fruit (often pears). The general rule for making is: for 2 parts fruit you need 1 part sugar and approximately 3 cups Rum.
2. Wash fruit, pat dry and cut into bite sized pieces, if necessary. Measure them.
3. Add half of weight sugar, mix and let stand for about 1 hour. Fill fruit into your Rumtopf and add as much Rum, so that fruit are completely (fingerbreadth) covered.
4. Close Rumtopf and set aside in a cool place.
5. Repeat these steps with other fruit "until" your Rumtopf is completely filled or fresh fruit season is over.
6. Take care of your Rumtopf. Fill up with Rum if necessary. It is important that fruit are always completely covered.
7. After you have added the last "layer" fruit, sugar and Rum let stand for about 6 weeks. Enjoy.
8. NOTE: 1-step preparation. Use any kind of fruit you like. Use a good mixture of different fresh and ripe fruits. Prepare them as describe above. After you have put them into the Rumtopf cover them with Rum. The Rumtopf should be completely filled. Let stand for 6 weeks. Enjoy.
9. NOTE: let stand at least for 6 weeks or even more. And keep the Rumtopf always in a cool place.
10. NOTE on fruit: you can use almost any fruit, but use a mixture of different ones like stone fruit (plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries), berries (strawberries, gooseberries, cranberries, grape wine, and others), you can use figs, apples, pears. Just keep in mind that the fruit will be in the Rum for a long time, so the fruit should be firm enough.
11. Number of servings can not be given. Time to make includes time until first use.

Reviews

[Rita~]

I added fruits starting with papaya,following with mangos, grapes, strawberries, pears, apples added a vanilla bean and cardamom that I ground. (Take note in the pictures you can see the beans and cardamom floating). The fruit did get very soggy, lost its color and not eye appealing at all. And was very strong to taste! So I did squeeze the access liquid from it into the rest of it. Then I strained the liquid. I froze some which became very thick and rich like syrup. Tasty! I had some at room temp. as well and this to was quite delish. Would be nice heated or in hot herbal tea. Very relaxing! Thanks for the comfort!

[French Tart]

Excellent instructions, thanks Thorsten! I lost my original recipe, written on the back of a German menu from a restaurant in Wiesbaden, given to me by a friend who lived there! I started my Rumtopf about 6 weeks ago; so far I have added strawberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots, plums, fresh figs and mirabelles. I plan to enjoy it fairly soon - but I have peeped inside already! It is as it should be, a wonderful dark russet colour, with all the fruit being glossy and perfectly preserved. I used amber rum and brown sugar, as I prefer the flavour of brown sugar in Rumtopf. I made this for Christmas and New year 2007/2008 - but I suspect we will have broken into this a long time before then! Thanks for this recipe Thorsten! FT:-) Added 2nd October 2007 - Posted photos to the recipe.

[justcallmetoni]

OMG, this is so wicked! It has actually been a lot of fun check to see how this developed. My batch included apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries, dried plums, dried apricots and maybe one other thing I forgot. I used an assortment of dark rums including Bacardi, Myers Spiced Rum, and Appleton Dark. After week 2, yes I checked, the fruit still had all its flavor and a nice kick of rum to boot. Started having visions of myself getting soused eating fortified fruit salad. By week 4, the fruit was beginning to lose flavor and color. And my dried fruits were looking quite swollen. The rum was taking on a reddish hue as well. Hmmm. Week seven is here. Fruit is grey and unappealing - no more visions of fruit salad. But the beverage, this is a drink afterall, is rich and syrupy and has all this wonderful flavor that while strong is quite smooth. It tastes more potent than my original rum - so I'm guess a little addition fermentation took place. The color has also deepend to a lovely reddish amber. Now I wish my batch had been bigger to give as a holiday gift. Thanks! 2006 Update: Made this again starting my crock in March for Christmas. Yes that's nine months. Put it away and just left it alone. Amazing stuff. Packed up up with some stollen and it was the perfect gift for a German friend. The biggest challenge was we all fought over the 80 proof fruit which ufter being yucky became wonderful all over again. For eating purposes, the fall fruits and dried fruits worked best. Maybe I should start the 2007 batch now. Thanks again.