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Raisins Steeped in Bourbon


GaryT
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funny i saw this thread today. last night i was munching on raisins and drinking KCSB and thought they were tasty together

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funny i saw this thread today. last night i was munching on raisins and drinking KCSB and thought they were tasty together

Aren't they? The bump here reminded me I still have a jar (almost) full in the fridge, just sitting in some OGD 114. Although some of them look more like grapes now - JOY! :yum:

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What a coincidence! I had been awaiting the right mood to attack the last of a bottle I had in the fridge with about 1.5 cups of raisins and about 2-cups of JTS Brown in it. I whaled on about half of that dude Saturday. Not the usual sort of thing for me; but tasty and different enough to make a very nice afternoon and evening.

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how long should I let these raisins soak? 12 hours and theyve doubled in size already.

I bet these would make some good oatmeal cookies.

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Mrs Emma Kate Willis, my friends grandmother lived to be 103 years old. She died about 6 years ago and was very much a part of the old south and Tallahassee's history. By all accounts and existing photos a charming, elegant and witty woman in her youth she was high spirited even in her final days.

As she approached the century mark a local paper sent a young reporter to interview her. At some point in the interview he asked her the secret of her longetivity. We were all startled to hear her answer "raisins, I always have 6 raisins in the evening, usually as I'm getting ready for bed, sometimes twice on holidays." He followed up with more questions about the raisins, and we learned she kept them in a mason jar and the the brand wasn't important.

After the interview we asked her more questions and wondered why we didn't know about the mason jar full of raisins. Turns out she kept them hidden in her bedroom and there was a little more to it than she admitted to the young reporter. She had been toping the jar with raisins in it with Old Grand Dad Bonded Bourbon since just after prohibition "just for a little more flavor" she smiled.

To this day my friend has a mason jar full of raisins soaking in OGD BiB on his side board in memory of his grandmother.

Fantastic! I loved that story. Who could argue that she wasn't on to something when there's empirical evidence to support her claim that the "enhanced" raisins were responsible for her longevity? In the interests of science and a good, long life, I plan to hijack one of my wife's mason jars and do the same. I just have to keep my raisin-loving son away from them.:grin:
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how long should I let these raisins soak? 12 hours and theyve doubled in size already.

I bet these would make some good oatmeal cookies.

Honestly, I left my first batch (the ones that went into the cookies) sit for several months. The ones I have in the fridge now were placed there near the start of this thread (so November?) But within just a couple of days they are delicious. I assume there is a point of diminishing returns, but I just let them sit mostly so I have them at the ready when I want some. The first batch I didn't keep refrigerated either (and now I'm trying to remember why I have this batch in the fridge? It's hell to get old, ya know?) And besides the raisins being improved, if you like sweet - the raisin infused bourbon is mega-sweet. Looking forward to that some hot day this summer :yum:

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Honestly, I left my first batch (the ones that went into the cookies) sit for several months. The ones I have in the fridge now were placed there near the start of this thread (so November?) But within just a couple of days they are delicious. I assume there is a point of diminishing returns, but I just let them sit mostly so I have them at the ready when I want some. The first batch I didn't keep refrigerated either (and now I'm trying to remember why I have this batch in the fridge? It's hell to get old, ya know?) And besides the raisins being improved, if you like sweet - the raisin infused bourbon is mega-sweet. Looking forward to that some hot day this summer :yum:

All I want to know is whether these magic cookies are showing up on the 22nd or do I need start steeping my own raisins?:grin:

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All I want to know is whether these magic cookies are showing up on the 22nd or do I need start steeping my own raisins?:grin:

:lol: I can arrange for some oatmeal "raisin" cookies (although some of the raisins might not be drunk, will have to see how they measure when strained). Can also bring some of the reserved "raisin infused bourbon" (although I'll probably throw some of that into the cookies just for the hell of it).

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:lol: I can arrange for some oatmeal "raisin" cookies (although some of the raisins might not be drunk, will have to see how they measure when strained). Can also bring some of the reserved "raisin infused bourbon" (although I'll probably throw some of that into the cookies just for the hell of it).

Baking geek tip: Save that and use it in place of vanilla where appropriate: cakes, cookies, homemade ice cream, etc.

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Baking geek tip: Save that and use it in place of vanilla where appropriate: cakes, cookies, homemade ice cream, etc.

Well hot damn, I may do that with some of it! Ironically I used to bake pretty often, but trying to watch my girlish figure (and hopefully watch it transform from a Melissa McCarthy type to something closer to respectable :lol: )

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Anyone remember a TV show (and book) years ago called "Death by Chocolate"? The chef created all sorts of ridiculous chocolate creations. I have the book and there is a recipe in there for Chocolate Whiskey Raisin Ice Cream. You soak the raisins overnight in whiskey (WTRB or FR work well) and then fold them into the chocolate ice cream mixture before freezing it. Totally awesome!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Operation Oatmeal *wink* Raisin Cookie was a success! Didn't have as much bourbon as I had hoped (maybe 3 oz), so bottled just under 2 oz for future baking (thanks for the tip Big Rich!) and used the rest in the cookies. Re-filled the jar, and switched to RRSmBSB for the next batch.

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Honestly, I left my first batch (the ones that went into the cookies) sit for several months. The ones I have in the fridge now were placed there near the start of this thread (so November?) But within just a couple of days they are delicious. I assume there is a point of diminishing returns, but I just let them sit mostly so I have them at the ready when I want some. The first batch I didn't keep refrigerated either (and now I'm trying to remember why I have this batch in the fridge? It's hell to get old, ya know?) And besides the raisins being improved, if you like sweet - the raisin infused bourbon is mega-sweet. Looking forward to that some hot day this summer :yum:

Hey Gary -if you ever think of why you have those in the fridge,,let me know,I made me a batch,and have just been letting it sit out on a cool shelf,my wife asked me if they would get moldy,I said I wasn't sure,but from the original post it did say that gramma left them by her bed...Anyway they are delicious even after a week,the juice was very sweet,I cut it a little bit with water and it was good.I definetly like the idea of using it in place of vanilla.I wonder how some different dried fruit would work,cranberry's, apricots?

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Hey Gary -if you ever think of why you have those in the fridge,,let me know,I made me a batch,and have just been letting it sit out on a cool shelf,my wife asked me if they would get moldy,I said I wasn't sure,but from the original post it did say that gramma left them by her bed...Anyway they are delicious even after a week,the juice was very sweet,I cut it a little bit with water and it was good.I definetly like the idea of using it in place of vanilla.I wonder how some different dried fruit would work,cranberry's, apricots?

I think what I did (although not entirely certain) is stick the raisins w/ OGD 114 in the microwave for a bit, with plastic wrap covering - just to heat it all up. Then I moved them to the fridge, and then left them there. My new batch I just stuck in the cupboard. When I'm preparing to make bourbon balls, I leave crushed walnuts soaked in bourbon in the same cupboard for a year, and never had any unfriendlies grow. I do try to keep enough bourbon in the jar so that all of the solids remain below the surface (and the jar is screwed as tight as I can by hand; not "canning" or any crap like that).

I'll bet cranberries and apricots and the like would be amazing! I have done dried apricots (diced up) and soaked them for just a few days to use in a banana nut bread type thing (and those seemed to work OK, but they are so dense they didn't seem to absorb as much bourbon as I would have liked; or they needed a lot more time, or the microwave treatment). But cranberries bring a nice bitter element that I'll bet would be awesome! If you try those, let us know how it turns out!

Edited by darylld911
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i imagine as long as they stay under the liquid, theyll last longer than youd want to keep them.

the rumtopf i made last summer with fresh fruits has been sitting submerged in rum for 8+ months, at room temp. We took a drink out of it a few weeks ago and it was great. Im sure the fruit is still consumable as well, this was a german tradition for centuries. raisins should be no different.

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