Jump to content
The Corroboree
Sign in to follow this  
qualia

cactus fruit cordial

Recommended Posts

i remember reading here somewhere (maybe i was meandering in the archives somewhere) about making cordial from a trich (?) fruit. i can't find it but i remember they said it was really nice unique flavour. can anyone shed some more light on this?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That would taste pretty good. Shortly has mentioned something about it to me before.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The trick is to not add too much water when your shuzzing up the pulp to remove the seeds.

No more than equal parts pulp to water, agitate it & let sit over night and all the plump seeds will settle on the bottom. Its a pain for seed separation but too much water will make it difficult to get a good strong cordial.

Decant the liquid & pulp then recover wash & dry your seed.

I think the boss adds 1 part sugar to 3 parts pulp water mix & simmers on a low heat for about 3/4 hour constantly stirring (having lots of daughters helps here), it should be about a quarter to a fifth the volume. Then just strain as you bottle & refrigerate.

If you have one of the yellow fleshed fruits you might want to add a rosella or a few red rose petals for colour as they can look a bit sus otherwise:blink:

If you have enough pulp you can always make jam :drool2:

A good splodge of passion fruit skin broth will make the jam set perfectly every time B)

And always try a bit of the fruit first, occasionally you strike very bitter ones that are better suited to compost.

Edited by shortly

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

wikkid sick that sounds great!

thanks!

just have to get my hands on some fruit now..

Edited by qualia

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If you have enough pulp you can always make jam

I tried making jam with spach fruit but it didnt work very well at all, i prefer to just eat the fruits. Stack em in the fridge, they are nice as when they are really cold, best summer breakfast i can think of :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I tried making jam with spach fruit but it didnt work very well at all, i prefer to just eat the fruits. Stack em in the fridge, they are nice as when they are really cold, best summer breakfast i can think of :)

 

sounds like cactus calippo's for everybody!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

are there any tips anyone can share to encourage a cactus to fruit? i'd love to try this but none of the cacti in my collecton have fruited for me yet

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
are there any tips anyone can share to encourage a cactus to fruit? i'd love to try this but none of the cacti in my collecton have fruited for me yet

Get some spachianus. Is easy to get as they are everywhere and they are self fertile so you pretty much get fruit with every flowering. Fast grower and flowers readily.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Get some spachianus. Is easy to get as they are everywhere and they are self fertile so you pretty much get fruit with every flowering. Fast grower and flowers readily.

 

thanks for the tip ive actually already got quiet a lot spachianus and i planted a large one in my mums backyard a couple years ago [it's getting close to 3 m tall now] but they haven't flowered at all this year yet [or last to my knowledge]

damn prickly fuckers... i use an old armchair cushion [from the arm rest] to wrap around them to pick them up etc... they have attackd me on numerous occasions i also find large tongs handy too

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I tried making jam with spach fruit but it didnt work very well at all, i prefer to just eat the fruits. Stack em in the fridge, they are nice as when they are really cold, best summer breakfast i can think of :)

 

You need to add a ton of pectin to get the jam to set properly, otherwise most cactus fruit jams just end up as sugary goop.

You can always tell how well it will set by puttin a small dollop on a cold dish while you are still stirring the pot on the stove, if the dollop sets after a minute or so its good, if not add more pectin.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

found this to work well....

get 2 plastic pots a couple cms bigger than the ends of the length of cactus.

place one on each end.

pick up cactus by holding on to the pots ....

t s t .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

im having trouble with my pc at the moment(windows explorer has fatally crashed) so cant get stuff out but i have a cactus cookbook which i believe you will find very handy. shall try to load it(pdf) from work next week so keep an eye out.

Appetizers

Soups

Salads

Entrees

Vegetables

Breads

Desserts

Beverages

Candies

Food Preservation

Prickly Pear Wine.

Take 4 pounds dark red Prickly Pears, 4 oranges, 4lemons, 4quarts boiling water, 4pounds sugar, 1 yeast cake dissolved in 1/4 cup of water, 1 piece of toasted white bread. Cut up picly pear,oranges and lemons.Pour boiling water over mixture, cover and let stand 4 days.Mash through colander, strain through cheese cloth, discard pulp. Add and dissolve sugar to clear fruit juice.Dissolve yeast cake in 1/4 cup of water and soak toast in yeast mixture.Float toast on top of fruit juice.Allow stand 4 days.Remove toast.Put fermenting liquid into large bottle with a cork stopper fitted with a piece of glass tube to which can be attached a hose of sufficient length to be submerged in a container of clear water(fermentation lock).As long as fermentation continues, bubbles will percolate from the end of the hose.When bubbles no longer appear fermentation is complete.Bottle, seal and stand in cool dark place 4 months.

Candied Cactus Pears

Clean cactus pears and cut into very thin strips or dice cubes.1 1/2 cups of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in small pan, bring to boil, drop in small amounts of prickly pear at a time, stir while boiling. Done in about 8 to 10 min, remove from syrup and place on plate to cool.

Torch Cactus Sherbet.

Use a basic ice cream or sherbet recipe, mixing in a blender, then adding the frozen fruits of Trichocereus Spachianus.When smooth and creamy, eat at once.(heres one for My Kitchen Rules,lol)

The majority of the recipes (126pages) revolve around the prickly pear but with a bit of smarts could prob be converted to other species

Oh and no i havent tried any yet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Are the Candied Cactus Pears made using the pads (nopal) or the fruits?

Opuntia or one of the other "pears" like Acanthocereus?

Sounds like it will be worth a try either way.

Always keen on new & interesting cook books :drool2:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Are the Candied Cactus Pears made using the pads (nopal) or the fruits?

Opuntia or one of the other "pears" like Acanthocereus?

Sounds like it will be worth a try either way.

Always keen on new & interesting cook books :drool2:

 

Opuntia fruits.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

this cookbook sounds pretty dece, will look forward to seeing some more of it if possible, also could you tell us the title and name of the author if you get a chance?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×