Many people grow pumpkin in order to make fragrant pies and casseroles, healthy cereals and soups from it, but not many people know that a truly winter drink can be made from this vegetable, which will retain all the warmth and generosity of summer days. Pumpkin wine is an original drink with a characteristic tart taste and an incomparable aroma.
Taste features of the drink
Pumpkin wine is unlike other drinks in this category. It has a tart taste and a characteristic aroma of fresh vegetables. An interesting feature - pumpkin wine retains all the beneficial properties and vitamins of a recently harvested crop. The drink is rich in vitamins (groups A, B, C, D, E, F, T), contains macro- and microelements (magnesium, potassium, calcium and iron), has excellent antioxidant properties.
It is noteworthy that many gourmets, having once tasted wine made from pumpkin, created at home, prefer this particular drink, which warms in the winter and helps strengthen the immune system. Moreover, they come to villages and towns for pumpkin wine, as it is difficult to find such an exquisite drink in ordinary shops. By the way, few people know the recipe for pumpkin wine, but all because this vegetable is not so common in the beds.
Quick cooking method
The essence of this method is to artificially accelerate the fermentation process by heating.
So, a step-by-step recipe for homemade pumpkin wine:
- Wash, cut into slices and peel a medium-sized pumpkin.
- Cut the vegetable into small pieces and put in a container suitable for volume.
- Pour the chopped pumpkin with water and put the pan on a small fire.
- Boil until soft, but do not boil.
- Transfer the cooked thick to a glass bottle (with a volume of 5 l or more) or a barrel.
- Add yeast (about 1-2 tablespoons per 5 liters of the resulting mass), sugar (depending on individual preferences) and barley malt.
- Mix well and pour hot water.
- Immediately after the mixture cools down, it is necessary to tightly close the container and put a water seal or home-made “water plug”.
- Leave for 3-4 weeks to ferment in a dark place.
As soon as the fermentation process is over, you can strain the wine from the pumpkin and bottle it.
A painstaking way to make pumpkin wine
This method is longer than the previous method of making pumpkin wine. But it is distinguished by a richer taste and high value of the drink. First of all, it is necessary to select the fruits - vegetables must be ripe, without signs of rot and spoilage. After that, you should carefully prepare all the dishes that will be used to prepare the drink.
Ingredients:
- 3 kg of peeled pumpkin;
- 3 liters of boiled water;
- 50 grams of raisins, which can be replaced with the same amount of wine yeast;
- 300 grams of sugar and 5 grams of citric acid per 1 liter of liquid.
Warning! You can not use baker's or alcoholic yeast - this will lead to mash.
Citric acid acts as a preservative and stabilizer of acidity. Its presence improves the fermentation process, and also prevents the formation of pathogenic microflora. Sugar content of wine should not exceed 20% - for this it is better to add sand in equal parts.
Wine making
In the event that there is no wine yeast at hand, they can be replaced with self-made raisin yeast. It is prepared for 3-4 days, so the wine itself will be prepared a little later.
Sourdough preparation:
- Pour the washed raisins into a jar, add sugar (20 grams) and water (150 grams). Everything is thoroughly mixed and covered with gauze.
- After the container with raisins goes into a dark room.
- As soon as foam appears on the surface of the can, the leaven is almost ready - the corresponding smell of fermentation should tell about this.
- This may not happen if you get low-quality raisins that have been treated with chemicals.
Some housewives prepare sourdough from currant, cherry or plum berries.
Classic recipe
To find exactly your recipe for making pumpkin wine, you should try several methods on a small amount of ingredients, and then choose the most suitable among them. There is another fairly common method for making pumpkin wine at home. The recipe is simple:
- Prepare the starter if there is no wine yeast.
- Peel the vegetable and grind its pulp with a meat grinder.
- Dilute the puree with water (1: 1), add the leaven.
- Add a small amount of lemon juice and sugar to taste.
- Stir the resulting mass thoroughly.
- Cover the container with gauze and take to a dark place for 4 days.
- From time to time it is necessary to mix the entire mass directly.
- After 4 days, you need to strain the brewed mass by squeezing the cake.
- Add sugar to the resulting liquid (approximately 100 grams per 1 liter).
- Pour into a fermentation tank.
- Install a water seal or medical gloves and leave in a dark place.
After a week, it remains only to add a little more sugar (about 50 grams per 1 liter of liquid). To do this, it is better to pour a small amount of wine and dilute sugar in it, then pour it to the bulk. It is still impossible to mix wine. The capacity is sent for further storage with a water seal. Now the young wine is stored for six months. After 6 months, you can bottle the drink. If a precipitate has formed, strain pumpkin wine at home. A simple method is to do this with gauze.
Hanging Pumpkin Wine Method
To prepare a fragrant drink in this way, you should choose the largest pumpkin (at least 10 kg). The vegetable must be wiped with a damp cloth, cut off the top and gently peel the seeds. A small amount of pulp should also be removed to form a so-called wine reservoir.
In a pumpkin "pan" you need to pour about 5 kg of sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of wine yeast and pour it with water. The cut off part will act as a lid - it is necessary to cover it with a kind of pan. The gap can be closed with adhesive tape. After that, it is necessary to completely cover the pumpkin with a plastic bag to prevent oxygen from entering. A bag of vegetables should be hung a short distance from the floor in a dark place. It is advisable to immediately substitute a clean basin under it. Literally in 1-2 weeks the fruit will become soft - this means that it is time to make a small hole in the bag through which the resulting wine will drain. As soon as all the liquid drains, it must be poured into a large bottle and left until completely fermented. Once the process comes to its logical conclusion, you can strain the drink and bottle it.
Spiced Pumpkin Liqueur
A drink with a characteristic tart aroma and unusual taste - pumpkin wine. Reviews about it are very diverse: someone says that alcohol has a characteristic pumpkin flavor, someone finds pronounced notes of ripe vegetables and fruits in this drink. In any case, pumpkin wine is unlike any other drink in this category.
It turns out that one more alcoholic drink can be made from this vegetable. We are talking about sweet liquor, which will warm you on a cold evening and will remind you of autumn generosity.
Essential Ingredients:
- 500 ml of boiled water;
- 1 cup white sugar;
- 1 cup brown sugar;
- about 500 grams of pumpkin puree ;
- 5 sticks of cinnamon (can be replaced with ground);
- 5 small cloves;
- 2 vanilla beans (can be replaced with regular vanilla);
- 2 glasses of white rum.
Mashed potatoes should be prepared in advance - to do this, wash and peel a medium-sized vegetable, free it from the core and peel, and then grind it with a meat grinder or blender.
Cooking method
Pour water into a small saucepan, add sugar and bring to a boil over low heat. Then add pumpkin puree, cloves, vanilla beans and cinnamon. Beat everything carefully with a whisk and return to the stove. As soon as the mass boils, make less heat and continue to cook until a characteristic rich aroma appears (about half an hour).
During cooking, you can start cooking the so-called filter. To do this, take a gauze cut and cover it with a clean pan. Then gently pour the blank of the future liquor into it and wait a bit. You can slightly speed up the filtering process by gently pressing the pumpkin mass with a silicone brush. The result should be approximately 2 cups of liquid. It is to her that rum is added, after which the whole mass is thoroughly mixed and removed to the side until it cools completely (for about 1 hour).
Once the liquor has completely cooled, you can pour it into a bottle and send it to storage. This drink should be stored no more than 3 months.