Brandied Fruit Day

What the day is

Brandied Fruit Day is observed on October 20. The preparation is simple: fruit packed in brandy with sugar and left to sit, producing preserved fruit and, as a by-product, flavored spirit.

The October date is practical. It follows the last of the stone fruit and the peak of pears and plums, and it lands far enough ahead of the winter holidays that a jar started now is ready for them.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented. The technique is old and was a matter of necessity rather than indulgence. Before refrigeration, a glut of ripe fruit had to be dried, salted, sugared or drowned in alcohol, and spirits work because most spoilage organisms cannot survive above roughly twenty percent alcohol by volume. Brandy, being distilled from fruit itself, suited fruit better than grain spirits did.

The German Rumtopf is the best-known formal version: a crock started in early summer, with each fruit added as it comes into season along with sugar and rum, topped up through the year and opened at Christmas. Several European traditions have their own equivalent, as does the American practice of keeping a perpetual brandied fruit starter that is fed and divided among neighbors like a sourdough culture.

Two things follow from the chemistry. Sugar draws water out of the fruit by osmosis, which both firms the fruit and dilutes the spirit, so the ratio matters. And the alcohol level must stay high enough throughout; topping up with fruit and no additional spirit is how a jar goes wrong.

How to take part

• Use firm, ripe, unblemished fruit. Anything bruised will break down and cloud the jar.
• Keep the fruit fully submerged. Anything above the surface is where spoilage starts.
• Use a spirit of at least forty percent and do not dilute it.
• Sterilize the jar properly and store it somewhere cool and dark.
• Wait at least a month, and preferably three. This is not a same-day project.
• Keep the liquid when the fruit is gone. It is excellent over ice cream or in a cocktail.