But there is still plenty of time to make all of the crafts I have posted so far, and here is one more for you to try. This one is quite possibly the quickest and easiest of them all ~ Saucy Sultanas.
You may well have heard me banging on about these before, I do like to rave about them on my facebook page, but that's because they are simply delicious and only get better with time.
You will need:
Sultanas
Sherry (Ximenez or Cream are best as they are the most raisin-y)
Orange
Whole Cloves
Jar
Ribbons and tags to trim
Pare short curls of zesty peel from the orange with a vegetable peeler. Fill your jar with sultanas, sprinkling a few cloves in as you go according to taste. I only used a couple as I think the flavour can be unpleasant if too overwhelming. Poke some of your orange peel pieces down and around the sultanas, making sure to have a few pieces at the sides of the jar so they can be seen. Then all you have to do is top the jar up with sherry, add a lovely tag, and you have a beautiful and proper lush gift for someone!
Voila!
Use your sultanas to turn a scoop or two of creamy vanilla ice-cream into a luxurious grown-up pudding, or can you imagine how wonderful they'd be in a bread and butter pudding?
If you're not keen on sherry, try using rum or brandy ~ I find those spirits too harsh myself, but I know a lot of people who would prefer them to sherry.
These taste better the longer you can leave them, as the fruit absorbs the sherry and plumps up juicily. If you like, you can heat the mixture very gently for a few minutes to help kick-start the process, but be careful not to cook the sultanas, or to catch the sherry alight!
