I wasn’t ‘sloe’ to have a good idea!

Out blackberry picking in the summer we came across sloes but had no idea what they were or what to do with them.

A nice man walking his dog explained you use them to make sloe gin. Well it would have been rude not to have a go, wouldn’t it ?!!  To cut a long story short they are part of the plum family and the liqueur I made mixing them with gin was delicious.  

Note to self:  Pick lots more next year so that I can make some ultra yummy Christmas gifts.

Someone suggested that after I drain the sloes from the gin I mix them once de-stoned to make some rather tasty chocolate.  It turns out that the sloes are so astringent, like a red wine high in tannins, your tongue nearly curls!  Sultanas solved the problem and I mixed them with the sloes and melted dark chocolate.  

I wanted to share them with friends in a Covid-safe way.  As you can see, that involved wrapping the chocolates in cellophane tied with curling ribbon.  All I needed to remember was to take scissors so that everyone could taste them.  Feedback was fab!