Raspberry vinegar is easy to make and can also be used for gifts.
With the Farmers Market going strong now is the time to buy your fruit for jam or canning, your cucumbers for pickles and any other produce you want to freeze.
I have been making raspberry vinegar and it’s my new favorite thing, more so than raspberry jam because it’s just as easy. Whether you are going to make some and keep it on hand for your own use or give it away as gifts try this simple and easy recipe.
Raspberry Vinegar
4 pint baskets red raspberries, rinsed and picked over (Rodriquez Ranch)
3 cups white wine vinegar, 1 cup rice vinegar and I put a splash of orange-flavored vinegar but it’s not really necessary.
You will need two clean quart jars and divide everything equal in the jars. Mash the berries with the back of a wooden spoon and then let them sit outside in the sun for a day or two. Bring them in and put the jars in a cool, dark cupboard and forget about them for a month.
Bring them out, strain the vinegar and berries through a strainer and throw out the berries. Strain the vinegar again through a cheese cloth and put that strained vinegar in a pot and reduce it by a 1/4.
I add about 1 TBSP honey (use a light-color honey, not alfalfa) to the pot, it helps keep in the flavor of the berries. When it has cooled put it in a couple of canning jars or individual jars like the picture.
There will be a small amount of residue in the bottom of the jars but just use it.
