Is it a Bullace or a Sloe? The question keeps getting asked. Bullace is half way in size between a Sloe and a Damson. Often mistaken for a Sloe you will know you have a Bullace the moment after the first frost, or your freezer!
Bullace tastes Cherry Plummy after frost, however before the frost they can be pretty indistinguishable from an over sized Sloe. Tart and astringent.
So why Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)? Well I simply love it, that’s the only reason and I reckon it will go very well in this recipe if I don’t over steep it. My first finger test is confirming this. You might want to adjust the quantities of honey to suit the sweetness of your tooth.
Ingredients
- 500g Bullace
- 200g wild flower honey
- 5g Mugwort flowers/buds
- 75cl bottle of gin
Suggested Instructions
- Freeze Bullace for 48 hours, then defrost and mash with a rolling pin in a large jar.
- Dissolve the honey in a cup of gin by stirring, then pour into the jar with the Bullace, Mugwort and add the rest of the gin bottle.
- Stir every day for a week, and leave until Christmas… if that’s possible.
Makes: 75cl
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
wow so glad im following your blog, both bullace and mugwort are new to me. great to be learning new things!
thanks for sharing
Mugwort is ace – so great in beer instead of/as well as hops too!
Thanks for the recipe, hedges are dripping with bullaces in my locale.
Does the mugwort go in at the honey stage? Looks yummy – thanks!
Mugwort flowers have finished in much of Kent. Although still the odd sprig of new growth leaf about that could be used instead. Good combo Robin. 2 plants I love and have infused into vodka etc separately but not together. I tend to have fun mixing and blending afterwards.
Mugwort in your pillow is even more intoxicating than taken internally. I’ve used it for dream work for a number of years and highly recommend it (collected April-August).
Loads of walnuts comming down now – my hands are black! And just picked a whole bag of huge acorns straight off the tree (almost guanteed bug free that way).
Happy foraging!
also good with molasses instead of honey
I’ve not seen Mugwort in my area (Greater London), I’d imagine you could used dried Mugort from a herbalist in slightly smaller quantities though?
I’ve not seen Mugwort in my area (Greater London). I’d imagine you could used dried Mugwort from a herbalist in slightly smaller quantities though?
What do you do with acorns Fergus, have you any recipes you can share? I’m quite new to this foraging business! I have been collecting walnuts the last couple of weeks, my fingers are black too, the stain doesn’t even come off with bleach! I was lucky enough to discover 4 beautiful walnut trees nearby, can anyone tell me the best way to store them? Are they freezable?
I thought I knew a lot about wild flowers, herbs etc. but wouldn’t know mugwort if it tripped me up. However, we do have a bullace and a lot of fruit this year, it IS a problem knowing how to use them so some tips about mugwort identification would be good. It might be that ‘ere oop north (Yorkshire) it doesn’t grow. We also kept bees for twenty five years and still have buckets of honey so it’s just the mugwort …
Oh – Google says it’s wormwood, which I used to grow but not for many years. Never seen it growing wild though and it didn’t really flourish in the garden either.
I have Never heard of Mugwort or Bullace, so this is great!
I would also be interested in reading about the walnuts. Had two trees in my garden in New Zealand and I too picked them and got black fingers, this I was told by the locals was a sure sign that my walnuts were not of the edible kind?
This looks delicious. I’ve just used up all the bullaces in gin (with vanilla sugar – a variant on sloe gin). Never thought of using mugwort with it. Next year.
One thing worth mentioning, though, is that thujone, the substance in mugwort which gives it the distinctive smell and taste, can cause miscarriages, so it’s one to avoid if you’re pregnant.
On the other hand, it has been used at birth to ease the contractions, so it just depends how pregnant you are.
Keeps moths out of the wardrobe, too!
Love this recipe! Just a wee correction for Google though Mary – this isn’t Wormwood. Same family so often mixed up. Wormwood is Artemisia absinthum (of Absinthe fame) and very bitter. Mugwort is Artemisia vulgaris. You can see how easy it can be to make that mistake. I’m a herbalist, that’s why I know the geeky stuff!
Hope that doesn’t put you off making though – I’m off to give it a try!
Pamela
Thanks Robin,
The mugwort is interesting. I pop in a hand full of almonds for a ametto after taste which is nice with the sloes. I must say in Cornwall the old sloe is more like a damson in size! n
The frost idea is also mimicked by popping them in the freezer. It alters the molecular make of the fruit so it breaks down in the gin better…so I believe, ha ha.
Sheena.
Use a green walnut hull to remove the black stain from clothes and body parts.
Inmature walnuts, picked before the shell hardens can be pickled.
Gil Robertson
Port Lincoln
South Australia
Pamela – there were lots of definitions of mugwort and I realised that they couldn’t all be right
I used to grow what we call Lad’s Love which was also locally known as wormwood – there are very many common names for very many plants and there is bound to be some overlap. I wouldn’t use wormwood in a drink anyway and would be cautious of anything similar. Absinthe has been responsible for a lot of unhappinesses and worse and they might have been caused by very slight differences in identification of the ingredients. I’m not enough of a botnaist to make reliable distinctions.
Even bullaces have different identifications!
That should of course have been botanist
Folks, when I say Mugwort I am referring to Artemisia vulgaris NOT Wormwood Artemisia absinthum.
You can use fresh or dried Mugwort in this recipe.
How to Process Acorns
Spiced Pickled Acorns
Mugwort does contain Thujone (potentially toxic), so you need to be conscious of the amount of Mugwort you use. See EC Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food on Thujone
Hi Folks
Greetings from wet and windy Scotland.
Earlier this week went sloe picking not so good this year perhaps due to weather and shortage of bees but managed just enough for a couple of bottles.However whilst picking I came upon a rich seam of berries and had taken about 50 or 60 before I noticed the branches had no thorns.The leaves were like blackthorn possibly a shade wider but thats not uncommon up here.
The berries are a little smaller I think and don’t have the same amount of “bloom”.Cut open they appear the same and when crushed on kitchen paper the “dye” is the same. Anyway I became a bit paranoid and just to be safe disposed of the top100 berries in the tub.
Any ideas what they were? Definitely not Bullace too small I think
Did something similar but sugar plum and vodka, forgot a couple of jam jars with the mixture in. Two years later the flavor is round very sweet with a slight nutty aftertaste, the plums on ice cream are a delight.