It is generally accepted that tincture is a medicine.
You can’t argue with this thesis, because such an application of an alcoholic extract was actually conceived from the very beginning, even at the dawn of civilization.
When it comes to valerian, calamus, ginseng and other well-known plants that are herbal remedies, then it is worth considering the use of tinctures as medicines, and not otherwise. As the beneficial properties of plants were studied, their assortment expanded, as did the scope.
Fruit and berry tinctures have become a familiar and integral part of the diet, components of dishes and drinks in cooking. They are the ingredients in desserts, confectionery, the basis in the preparation of liquors.
Homemade cherry tincture on vodka - basic technological principles
Tincture - This is an extract (extract) from plant materials of soluble components (extractants). There are three main solvents: oil, water and alcohol. Oil components are typically used to extract essential oils from plants. The most common example of water infusion is tea. But water infusions have a short shelf life, unlike alcoholized infusions, in which alcohol plays the role of not only a solvent, but also a preservative. Alcohol tinctures, depending on their type, can be diluted with water or juice to obtain the necessary strength.
Depending on the sugar content, they are classified into sweet, semi-sweet, bitter and dessert. The alcohol content in tinctures varies from 16% (in dessert tinctures) to 60% in bitter ones.
It should be noted, that liquors, liquors, balms in many respects have a similar technology with the preparation of tinctures, but in the classification of alcoholic beverages occupy a separate niche due to some distinctive features of the composition. So, the basis of the balms is a multi-component herbal composition. The amount of balm ingredients can reach 40 units, but these are mainly dry herbs and roots, and fruit components are used much less frequently.
Liqueurs are different from tinctures. high sugar content: it is believed that its content should be at least 1/3 of the total volume of the drink, regardless of the percentage of alcohol.
But in all of these drinks, alcohol and vegetable raw materials are used to a greater or lesser extent, with the addition of juices, fruit drinks or water as part of alcohol.
In the preparation of homemade tinctures, the boundaries of the standard classification are more blurred. This is due to the fact that often home masters prepare tinctures, using not the special equipment, but the available devices, their own recipe, compiled on the basis of the available raw materials for manufacture, and are often guided exclusively by their own taste, creating completely new drinks.
Therefore, sometimes there are unique recipes for homemade tinctures of cherries on vodka, in which, in addition to these main components, you can also find in the recipes the classic combination of cherries with chocolate, almonds, oranges. The strength and sugar content in homemade tincture of cherry on vodka can also be different, depending on the purpose of the drink.
Recipe 1. Sweet homemade cherry tincture on vodka
A drink according to this recipe can be used to soak biscuits, prepare creams and desserts, as a standalone drink or an ingredient for a cocktail.
Composition:
Sugar 5 kg
Cherry 3.5 kg (pitted)
Vodka (40%) 4.0 L
Cooking:
Put the washed cherry in a bottle in layers, pouring sugar. After filling the container, fill the cherries with vodka, 3-4 cm above the level of berries. Close the bottle cap. The minimum exposure period is 1 month. It is advisable to mix the contents of the bottle at least once a day to improve the extraction process.
After insisting, drain the liquid, and squeeze the berries. Put the tincture squeezed from the berries separately, wait for the settling of small particles, remove from the sediment, combine with the tincture previously filtered. Store tincture at 8 ° C, in tightly corked bottles.
If you like homemade sweets with cherries and liquor, do not wring out the strained berries, but put them in small plastic molds and fill with melted chocolate. You can use ice molds. From these cherries you can make a wonderful chocolate cake.
Recipe 2. Homemade tincture of cherry on vodka: cream with chocolate and almonds
Composition:
Cherry juice 0.5 l
Milk chocolate (shavings) 1 kg
Almond extract, oily 20 g
Vodka 0.7 L
Sugar 0.5 kg
Vanilla essence 5 g
Cooking:
Dissolve sugar in cherry juice, warming up to 35-40 degrees in an enamel bowl.
Pour vodka, almond and vanilla essence into the chilled syrup, stir and pour into a glass bottle. Soak for two to three weeks.
Melt the chocolate for a couple and transfer it to a large bowl.
Rub with a spatula, pouring the prepared tincture in small portions until a uniform stretching consistency is formed.
Beat with a mixer (blender) and pack into bottles or shtoffs. Cream liqueur can be stored in the refrigerator for 10-15 days.
Recipe 3. Homemade tincture of cherry on vodka with a citrus note
Composition:
Oranges 1 kg
Cherry 1.5 kg
Vodka 2.1 L
Sugar 2.0 kg
Water 0.5 L
Pcooking:
Sort the cherries and wash. Put on a baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 80 degrees. Slightly dried cherries (with a stone) can be combined with slices of oranges and put in a bottle. Pour half a liter of water into a heat-resistant dish, boil and dissolve all the sugar in it.
Boil the syrup until a caramel shade is obtained. Mix the cooled syrup thoroughly, until completely dissolved, with vodka and pour into a fruit bottle. Infuse the drink for 3-4 weeks.
Strain. Squeeze thick through gauze. Wait until the precipitate falls to the bottom of the glassware and gently remove the tincture from the precipitate, pouring it with a tube into a clean and dry container. Keep the tincture tightly closed in a cool place.
It can be consumed immediately after removal from the precipitate, but when aged for 6 months, the drink acquires a beautiful cognac color and caramel flavor.
Recipe 4. Semisweet homemade cherry tincture on vodka
Composition:
Cherry 1 kg (net)
Vodka 1.5 L
Cinnamon 10 g
Cherry leaves, fresh 300 g
Sugar 1.2 kg
Cooking:
Grind washed and slightly dried berries (seedless) and cherry leaves with a blender or with a meat grinder. Add cinnamon and sugar.
Stir the mass, transfer to a glass bottle, pour vodka. Shake the bottle to improve extraction during the first week, preferably several times a day.
After three weeks, remove the tincture in a cool place and wait for the microparticles of the raw materials to settle. After that, pour the transparent liquid into a separate jar, and strain the thick one through cheesecloth, folded into several layers, slightly squeezing it.
Put strained tincture separately: it must be removed from the sediment later, when it becomes transparent. You can combine tincture from both cans, or use them separately.
Recipe 5. Strong homemade cherry tincture on vodka
Composition:
Vodka 1.5 L
Clove 5-7 pcs.
Nutmeg 2 nut
Vanilla 2 pods
Oak bark 50 g
Cherry leaves (tea) 150 g
Coffee beans 10-15 pcs.
Sugar 300 g
Orange peels to taste
Dried Cherries 200 g
Cooking:
Grind the spices into powder and put them together with oak bark and sugar in a bottle.
Pour the prepared mixture with vodka.
Close the bottle cap and remove for a long time in a dark place. Then strain the tincture and fill it with dried berries.
The ideal aging time for such a tincture is at least a year, so those who do not intend to endure for so long can take ready cognac and pour them dried leaves and fruits of cherries, adding sugar.
Recipe 6. Homemade cherry tincture on vodka: berry liquor
Traditionally, for the preparation of fruit or berry liqueurs, only one of the elements of plant material is used. They are mixed ready-made. But sometimes, at least for the purposes of the experiment, you can deviate from the rules to get a completely new taste of the drink. Softness and sweetness of mulberry, raspberry aroma, astringency of bird cherry and cherry sourness are an example of harmony of taste. But to achieve a balance, it is necessary to take into account the proportions so that the qualities of some berries do not prevail over others.
Composition:
Mulberry 200 g
Raspberries 250 g
Cherry 150 g
Bird cherry 30 g
Sugar 650 g
Vodka 0.7 L
Cooking:
Mash the prepared berries with sugar and pour vodka into the bottle.
Close the bottle cap and steam it up to 60 degrees.
It is important to verify the tightness of the lid, and it is necessary that the bottle is not filled more than 2/3 of the volume: the alcohol should not evaporate.
Therefore, use a seaming machine.
After cooling, keep the bottle sealed for at least 10 days in the cold.
Then strain the liquor and pour into coffers or bottles.
Homemade cherry tincture on vodka - tricks and tips
Cherry stones contain hydrocyanic acid. Without a doubt, this is a poisonous substance, but its presence in all stone fruits is so minimal that it can not cause harm to health. Therefore, you can safely save time on the preparation of stone fruits for the preparation of alcoholic drinks without removing them, if you are not going to, say, use alcoholized cherries in the future for making desserts.
From candied jam or frozen berries, you can prepare a tincture or liquor, not inferior to the taste of drinks from fresh berries.
Any fruit tincture is an excellent supplement for yeast-free dough. It gives not only the aroma characteristic of fruits, but also makes products softer and more airy, improving the properties of baking powder.
Cherry has not only delicious fruits. This plant also appreciates leaves, stalks, as a rich source of vitamins, minerals and other substances that help fight various ailments. If in cooking it is difficult to think of a use for cherry leaves, besides adding them to marinades and pickles during the preservation period, then these parts of the plant can and should be used in the preparation of tinctures, balms and liquors at every opportunity. You can store cherry leaves for the future and make healthy and fragrant fruit tea from them.
