Rumtopf (Traditional German Fruit Preserve & Beverage)

From: French Tart

On Oct 2, 2007

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.

From: justcallmetoni

On Dec 22, 2006

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.

From: ~Rita~

On Dec 28, 2005

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!

From: mama's kitchen

On Oct 13, 2005

I guess I am starting the reviews for the Rumtopf party in World Tour 2005. This went together pretty easily. The directions are a little confusing but I think I got it right. Mixed the fruit and sugar and let it set for 1 hour. Stirred and added the rum. It says to make sure the fruit is covered so I added more rum to keep it covered. About 1 1/2 cups I think. Some of the fruit was floating though. Hope that is ok. Will update review after the 6 weeks is up. Thanks Thorsten for a traditional German, fun and interesting recipe.