How to Make a Rumtopf

Start a Rumtopf at the beginning of the produce season and by the time the holidays come around you have an amazing liqueur to sip and boozy fruit that you'll want to eat by the spoonful! 

Have you ever heard of a rumtopf?  If not, get ready to fall in love with this fun and easy liqueur infusion.  If you have heard of it and you haven't made one yet, then read on to see how easy it is! 

A rumtopf is a German recipe that is basically fruit preserved in rum.  The idea is that by the time the holidays roll around you have the fruit infused rum and boozy fruit to enjoy or give as gifts. 

I originally posted this recipe back in 2013.  I showed you the first photo, which looked pretty similar to the one above.  

The problem is I didn't come back and revisit the post and revisiting is what this liqueur is all about.   

You see, you start at the beginning of the year, adding fruit (and sugar) as it's in season.  You keep adding to it all season long and then by the end of the year, you'll have something amazing. 

This time, I plan on doing it right.  I will update this post when I add new fruit, so you can see the whole process from start to finish. 

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Ingredients

• Rum - I've used white and dark rum and liked them both, this time I am using white.  Using overproof rum is more traditional and recommended.  I started with regular rum, but I will be getting some overproof to continue with the rest of the fruit. 
• Fruit - I started with strawberries because they are the first to come in season here. 
• Sugar - just regular white granulated sugar will work, I used organic cane sugar.

Note - this is more of ratio than a recipe.  You simply weigh your fruit, add ½ it's weight in sugar and cover with rum.   The beauty of this is that even if you only have a cup or so of fruit, you can still add it.  Just weigh it, add the sugar and cover with rum.

Directions

Wash your fruit.  Trim and stem if needed.  Leave strawberries whole and add them to a jar.

Add the sugar to the jar and then pour in the rum.

Stir the rum, sugar and strawberries.  You want to make sure that the strawberries stay submerged in the rum, I used glass weights. 

You might notice that I didn't stir mine before taking the photos.  Oops.  I did remove the weight and stir it.

Some people put a linen cloth over the top, some top with plastic wrap, I just use the lid for my jar.  Store in a cool dark place. 

Adding to the rumtopf

Then the fun begins.  You add to your rumtopf as fruits come into season. As you grow or buy more fruits, mix them with half their weight in sugar; add them to the jar, top off with rum, and cover as before. 

When you’ve added all you wish (it doesn’t have to be full), leave for at least 1 month in cool place before eating, although it tastes best after 3 months of maturing.

Fruits

There is a bit of consensus about what fruits work and which ones do not seem to be as good.

Use these fruits - strawberries, peaches, apricots, pears, grapes, pineapple, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, plums and figs.   *Note blueberries and blackberries may turn everything purple - so avoid if you want to keep it colorful. 

Do not use these fruits -  melons, bananas, oranges, grapefruits, rhubarb and apples.

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Recipe

Note this recipe is more of a guideline, since the amount of rum you use will be dependent on how much fruit you use.  

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This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated for 2020.