Inspired by a colonial era cherry tipple, this stone fruit shrub is the perfect base for a sweet-tart summer mocktail! Cherries, apricots, and sweet basil mingle in a mixture of apple cider vinegar and local honey for 24-48 hours before being strained. Enjoy with sparkling water or alongside your favorite liquor.
I’m about to let you in on a secret few people know about me: I plan my Saturday mornings around watching Martha Stewart on PBS. If her show Martha Bakes isn’t going to be on that morning, it’s quite the melancholy affair. I think it’s her dedication to local growers and producers combined with that nostalgic feel of classic baked goods and homesteading. And, I’m sort of obsessed with her farm/garden/house set-up on the East Coast.
As I was checking out at the grocery store this past weekend, bag of cherries in hand from Washington as a splurge because they don’t grow here, I spied her magazine at the checkout. On the cover? A feature on cherries. Still in my Martha Bakes bliss from that morning, I decided to splurge on the magazine as well.
The cherry feature was a lovely editorial about the summer ritual of picking sour cherries. To go along with it was a varied spread of cherry-centric recipes, one of which was for a colonial-era tipple called a cherry bounce. It’s basically sour cherries infused into an alcohol base (brandy, rum, whiskey, etc.) along with sugar. And, trivia moment, it is said to be one of George Washington’s favorite drinks.
My interest in alcohol is slowly waning as I get older, but I do love a thoughtfully executed mocktail. So, I turned the idea of the cherry bounce on its head and made it into a stone fruit shrub with sweet basil: apple cider vinegar stands in for the liquor, honey for the sugar, and to go along with the cherries there’s an apricot and a handful of fresh, sweet basil. I’ve talked about shrubs on the blog before (here and here) so I’ll spare you further details. If you feel like making this an alcoholic affair, add in a shot of vodka or gin. Or, you could play around with adding a bit of Lillet blanc.
Small Batch Stone Fruit Shrub with Sweet Basil
- Total Time: 5 minutes + steep time
Description
Inspired by a colonial era cherry tipple, this stone fruit shrub is the perfect base for a sweet-tart summer mocktail! Cherries, apricots, and sweet basil mingle in a mixture of apple cider vinegar and local honey for 24-48 hours before being strained. Enjoy with sparkling water or alongside your favorite liquor.
Ingredients
- 1 apricot (or 1 plum or 1 small peach)
- a large handful of fresh cherries
- small handful of fresh sweet basil leaves
- 1/3 cup honey (local is best!)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Dice the apricot and add it to a pint jar. Pit the cherries, chop them in half, then add them to the pint jar with the apricot. You should have at least 1/2 cup of fruit. If not, add a few more cherries. Add the basil leaves and the honey to the jar. Using a muddle or a wooden spoon, begin to gently smash/muddle the fruit so that it begins to break down and release its juices. When it looks pretty juicy, stir in the apple cider vinegar. Cover the jar with a lid and park it in the fridge for 24-48 hours.
Strain the fruit from the shrub mix. Save the liquid and discard/compost the fruit solids. This is your shrub! I like to mix it with sparkling water for a mocktail in a 1:1 ratio with lots of ice. I highly recommend kicking your feet up while you enjoy a glass.
Makes about 1 cup of fruit shrub. Store in the fridge up to 2 weeks.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Steep Time: 24-48 hours
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