What to make from dogwood: jam, liquor, sauce

Dogwood is almost the only berry that ripens in the fall. This is exactly the kind of product that our body needs during a period of vitamin deficiency. Dishes made from these fruits have a special sourness and spicy flavor.

Today, the FoodOboz editorial team shares ideas for making dogwood jam, liqueur, and sauce that can be stored all winter long.

Which dogwood is best for jam

• Any dogwood can be used for jam: wild and garden dogwood. Garden varieties have smaller seeds and more fleshy berries.
• It is better to make jam only from fresh and fully ripened berries. Their ripening time is from August to October.
• The dark maroon berries are sweet and fleshy, and they make the most delicious jam.

How to properly prepare dogwood

• Sort the fruits, and remove the stalks.
• It is better to boil the berries in an enameled or stainless steel pot. It should be low and wide, for even heating.

• To keep the dogwood intact, you can soak it in a soda solution: a dessert spoon of soda per 1 liter of water. Soak for 2 hours.
• For winter harvesting, you can add dry red or white wine instead of water.
• To make the fruits beautiful, you need to dip them in hot water and hold the berries in it for 5 minutes.

Dogwood jam

Ingredients:

• dogwood - 1 kg
• sugar - 800 g
• water - 1 glass

Method of preparation:

1. Pick and rinse the berries.
2. Put them in a saucepan, cover with sugar, and cover with water.
3. Cook over high heat until it boils, stir.
4. After boiling, reduce the heat and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove the foam with a spoon.
6. Sterilize the jars, pour the jam, and roll up with clean lids.
7. Turn the jars over and cover with a warm blanket.
8. Wait for it to cool completely.

Turn the container over with the lid on and cover with a warm blanket.

Leave it to cool completely.

Dogwood liqueur

Ingredients:

• dogwood berries - 0.5 kg
• moonshine (40-45% alcohol, vodka, cognac) - 1 liter
• sugar (honey) - 50-150 grams (optional).

The amount of sugar (honey) can be changed to taste or completely abandoned. If moonshine is used, it must be without a nasty odor, otherwise the characteristic dogwood flavor will disappear.

Method of preparation:

1. Put the washed berries, cleaned of stems, twigs, and leaves, into a jar for infusion.
2. Mash the dogwood with a wooden rolling pin until it becomes porridge.
3. Pour the alcohol base into the jar. Stir, and close the lid.
4. Leave for 15-20 days in a dark place at room temperature. Shake every 3-4 days.
5. Strain through a double layer of cheesecloth, and squeeze out the cake.
6. Add sugar, and stir. Close the lid. Leave for 5-7 days in a cool, dark place. Shake once a day.
7. If the dogwood liquor is cloudy, strain the drink through cotton wool. Pour into bottles for storage, and seal hermetically.
8. If stored in a dark place, the shelf life is up to 5 years.

Dogwood sauce

Ingredients:

• dogwood - 1 kg
• sugar - 1.5 tbsp
• adjika - 1, 5 tbsp
• salt - to taste
• black pepper - to taste

Method of preparation:

1. Wash the dogwood, put it in a saucepan, and pour boiling water over it. You don't need much water, just enough to cover the berries.
2. Boil the berries for 10 minutes.
3. Put the berries in a colander or sieve.
4. Put the colander over a saucepan in which the sauce will be cooked and crush the berries with a wooden pestle, then grind them by hand.
5. Add sugar, ground black pepper, and adjika to the resulting mass. You can add salt to taste.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Put it in sterile glass jars and close the lids.

If there is no ready-made Abkhazian adjika, you can simply add spices to your taste: ground coriander, hot red pepper, saffron, smoked paprika, suneli hops.