Glace Bushfruits

[Shalem]

Has anyone made their own glace bush fruits, if so which fruits and would you mind sharing how it's done. There's recipes around for making glace fruits, just wanted to see if anyone does their own bushfruits.

Any good online sources for a good range of glace bushfruits?

[eataust]

I posted the recipe used by Keith and Irene Smith in "Grow your own Bushfoods" in your "Fruitcake recipe" thread above.

Bushfruits wouldn't be so different to exotics that you'd need to change the recipe significantly. However, you can use honey instead of sugar, which means you can use sugarbag honey ... but it might end up prohibitively expensive!!

A Taste Of The Bush has "sweetened" (glace) fruits for sale: http://atasteofthebush.com.au/

So does Cherikoff (cheikoff.net but it's not opening for me right at the moment).

There seems to be a SA supplier that does glace fruit, although some of their products dont' seem available currently: http://www.aldermanprovidore.com.au/bra ... Grove.html and see also http://www.aldermanprovidore.com.au/native-produce/.

[Shalem]

Thank you to Eataust for the following glace bushfruit recipe and source:

1 kg bushfruits, fresh or frozen
500ml water
caster sugar

Bring bushfruits to the boil in clean cold water and boil for 5mins.
Strain fruit and place in a clean container. Boil the liquid with one cup of sugar and pour over the fruit. Leave overnight.
Strain and repeat the process, adding another cup of sugar to the liquid. Repeat this daily. The more often this is done, the thicker the syrup becomes. You must do this 7 to 10 times at least!

Recipe from "Grow your own bushfoods", Keith and Irene Smith, p46.

The following online stores sell glace quandongs. Not able to find any other glace bushfruits online for now, will update accordingly.
www.atasteofthebush.com.au
www.aldermanprovidore.com.au

[JohnRFL]

Good-day All,

I allways use organic raw sugar, I start with equal amounts of fruit and sugar, mix and leave over night to draw out liquid. The next day I slowly heat to 70 Deg. C. and take off of heat, never boil. The second day I add 10% sugar and reheat to 70 C. I add sugar for the second, third, and fourth days at least - I work on at least 60 brix sugar percent and for moist fruit have added sugar for up to 7 days. I keep reheating to 70 C. for 9 days and on the 9th day strain off the syrup and dry the fruit. Best results Ficus coronata, Sandpaper Fig, two never to try to Glace, Illawara Plum and Midyim.

Has worked well for me for the last 30+ years and the raw sugar adds an extra richness to my fruit cakes.
Cheers, John

[roughbarked]

Yep, I'm a big fan of raw sugar. There is never any white sugar in the house. There is only brown sugar or raw sugar.

[eataust]

I like all kinds of sugar, depending on what I'm trying to do ... got everything from refined white caster sugar through to molasses, plus palm sugar (that might be an interesting glace fruit!). But I'm a bit obsessive about trying all kinds of a thing :)

I know I've read a recipe for using honey for the preservation, too ... it might be one of my mediaeval recipes (they had honey but no sugarcane ... beet spinach was their closest refined sugar). It needs more boiling, as I recall, to get the correct consistency.

[Shalem]

Unfortunately, as much as I would like to make my own glace native fruits, it is unlikely I will be able to.

As a home user and with native fruits being so expensive, the most economical way for me would be to buy in bulk by the kg @ $60-$100/kg average for one type or a variety of fruits. (I have been given some tips about where I might go "hunting" locally in the streets for some native fruits).

That is why, under Bush fruitcake topic, I have shown a photo of my fruitcake decorated with conventional glace fruits.

www.australianproduce.com.au currently have some glace quandongs and figs in myrtle leaves for clearance, best to check with them about shelf life etc.

[Shalem]

Fruits in Syrup

1) Cherikoff Dining Downunder online store sell sugar cured fruit confits which can be classed as glace bushfruits in syrup.

They come in: rosella, riberry, rainforest lime and quandong.

I have bought and tried 3 out 4 of the above.

There is also another 2 stores that sell fruits in syrup, that may possibly be classed as glace fruit, but if required, it's best if you check that detail yourself with the store.

2). Desert Limes in Syrup (from Australian Desert Limes). I have bought this.

3). www.galeru.com.au (I've never bought anything yet from this store).

[Shalem]

From A Taste of the Bush:

glace quandongs
glace native limes
glace muntharies

[Shalem]

also from A taste of the Bush, the following product could possibly be classed as a glace bushfruit which is quandongs in sticky balsamic. These are very rich & give me a quick energy boost if I just eat 1 or 2. Could go well decorating fruit cakes. I suppose I'm listing this here as glace bushfruits seem to be scarce in that they're hard to source, and doesn't seem as many variety around as non-bushfood ones.