One of the great things about having a dog is that whenever i’m out for a walk i always have a bag with me. Let me explain… Last night on our walk we came across a huge crop of wild raspberries and after stuffing a few into my pocket and hearing them squelch i remembered the poop bag! Don’t worry, it was empty…my mum used to put my sandwiches in sick bags on aeroplanes so it must be in the genes!
Martin was mortified, to say the least, when i placed the poop bag on the work surface and didn’t really seem to understand my excitement that it was full of raspberries! It then became a mission to convert him to the cause and awaken his senses to the wondrous ways of wild food. The way to do this was to make a syrup and mix it with GIN!!
I wasn’t quite sure whether gin and raspberries would work but they complemented each other perfectly. The only thing i would say is that after a while the syrup becomes gloopy so you have to keep mixing the cocktail. After a few hours the syrup was more like jam so you either have to drink them really quickly or stir furiously…not that this blogs encourages or condones binge drinking! If anyone knows how to prevent the syrup from thickening then i would love to hear it.
Wild Raspberry Syrup
250ml water
4 tbsp sugar
handful of raspberries
- Boil the water and add sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved
- Add the raspberries and simmer for 20mins. Strain.
Wild Raspberry Syrup and Gin Cocktails
1 part wild raspberry syrup
1 part gin
3 parts tonic
- Pour syrup, gin and then tonic.
This could also be served with vodka, ice or soda water.
[...] raw – much to my mother’s disgust! Today, however, was a EUREKA moment! I could replicate the wild raspberry syrup recipe using lavender flowers. It seems so obvious now and i don’t know why i didn’t [...]