An Heirloom Recipe: Tutti-Frutti

The other night while I was making yogurt, my dad happened to remember a recipe that his mother and father used to make, something that involved "some type of whisky" and a lot of different fruits.

"You could put it on ice cream," he said, "and Ma would make cakes out of it. "

It took him a while to remember what it was called, but he eventually remembered that the stuff was Tutti-Frutti.

After a search, I located one recipe, and Dad confirmed that, yes, this is the one.

For the sake of slow foods, I'm publishing the recipe here. It's a really, really slow one...like all growing season long! Dad remembered the recipe while I was making yogurt because he said that when the Tutti-Frutti jar ran low, they'd have to use the remaining sauce as a starter for the next batch.

I'm kicking around the idea of making a batch of this for my dad this summer, if I can figure out what a "sweet" jar is.

Keep in mind if you try this that I have not tested it in my kitchen.

o_-.*.-_o_-.*.-_o_-.*.-_o_-.*.-_o

Tutti-Frutti

Put a pint of brandy into a thoroughly sweet three-gallon stone jar.

Beginning with strawberries, the first fruit of the season, add in succession the various fruits as they appear in market, taking care to choose only those which are choice, firm and fresh.

Add a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit until the jar is almost half full, then use three- quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit.

Stir the mixture thoroughly for several mornings after each addition of fruit and sugar to dissolve the sugar, using for this purpose a wooden or granite-ware spoon and taking care not to mash the fruit.

Cover the jar securely and keep in the cellar or in a cool, dry place.

Use the following proportion of fruit: Two quarts strawberries, one large pineapple, one quart red cherries, one quart yellow cherries, one quart red raspberries, one pint large currants, one quart apricots and prunes, plums and peaches to fill the jar.

Leave the berries whole, cut the pineapple into suitable pieces for eating, seed the cherries, pare the apricots and peaches and cut into halves or quarters, and stone the plums and leave whole.

From lovetoknow recipes.