How to Make Golden Raisins
The work generally considered to be the first still life painting is by an Italian painter, Jacopo de'Barbari, and was created in 1504. Grape cultivation on the other hand began around 4000 BCE and extended from Transcaucasia to Asia and onto Egypt. Today at Happy Belly, we are working with a few bunches of grape deliciousness and transforming honoring these spherical gems by transforming them into a timeless juicy masterpiece.
Making your own raisins for adding to a morning meal or to snack on over lunch with a bit of goat cheese can be a simple and delicious treat that’s worth the effort, even if just once for a fun learning experience! A few hours in a low heat oven caramelizes the skins and adds rich flavor to the raisins. These are insurmountably better than your off-the-shelf dried out lunch box raisins. A simple recipe for gin soaked raisins follows. Did you know that a handful of gin soaked "drunken" raisins a day may even help with arthritis?
Preheat the oven to 250˚
Make raisins – Spread the grapes on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet. Pierce with a knife. Bake 5-6 hours, checking every hour, until the grapes have shriveled. Turn the oven off and let the raisins dry overnight in the oven. Alternately, a dehydrator can be used, which could take between 10-12 hours at 115˚.
Make gin soaked golden raisins – In a quart mason jar or other container, add 2 cups of golden raisins. Fill the jar with gin, seal and store in a cool dark place, i.e., your refrigerator. Note: Make sure your gin is made from juniper berries.
make about 10 oz of raisins
RAISINS
- 3 large bunches green seedless, cotton candy or Muscat grapes, washed and stemmed