Poached pears, bourbon cherries, mango punch – all of these garnishes have experienced baptism by fire in a glorious font of booze, endearing us to their fruity hearts forever. Which begs me to ask the question, what about the oft-overlooked blackberry?
Can we show this dark horse fruit a little love too?
Of course we can!
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I was working on my Blood Orange Bourbon Sangria recipe the other day when it suddenly dawned on me that I've never tried a drunken fruit recipe before. Seizing the moment, I set aside 1 cup of my sangria mixture to be used for a bourbon marinade of sorts.
The results were nothing short of incredible. Because sangria uses a blend of red wine and some other spirit (usually brandy), the flavor profile is more nuanced than just using wine alone. I highly recommend siphoning off a portion of the sangria recipe ahead of time (the pitcher typically needs to sit a day in advance anyway) and using that small amount to make a batch of these delicious sugared blackberry garnishes!
The sangria can be added back to the pitcher once the blackberries are strained the next day! No alcohol goes to waste.
If you don't like sangria, you could definitely use wine or brandy on its own.
Ingredients
- 12-15 washed blackberries
- 1-1.5 cups of sangria or dry red wine (enough to submerge the berries completely)
- pinch of sugar
Steps
- Fill your bowl of blackberries with wine or sangria. Cover and place bowl in the fridge overnight.
2. The following morning, strain your blackberries over a container so as to save your marinade. Pour it back into your sangria pitcher.
3. Pat blackberries mostly dry. Roll in a shallow plate of sugar. Give them an additional light dusting of sugar.
4. Place berries back in the freezer for approximately one hour. Once chilled through, serve in a bowl or as a cocktail garnish.
Enjoy! If you make these I'd love to hear how it goes! Tag #topshelfie on Instagram or comment below.
📖 Recipe
Sugared Sangria Blackberries
Ingredients
- 12-15 individual blackberries
- 1.5 cups sangria or wine
- 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- Wash blackberries and submerge in a bowl filled with sangria or wine. Store in fridge overnight.
- Drain berries over separate container to capture sangria marinade. Add marinade back to sangria pitcher.
- Dab blackberries mostly dry. Roll in a small bowl filled with sugar. Add sprinkle of sugar to coat. Place in the freezer for about an hour.
- Serve in a bowl or spear with toothpick as cocktail garnish.
Cheers,
Erin
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