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Ratafia, Red
A fortnight before the ratafia is to be made infuse some bruised cloves in brandy, and use this for flavouring. A drachm will be sufficient for a quart. Put a quarter of a pound of small black cherries, sometimes called brandy cherries, into a large bowl with a quarter of a pound of raspberries, a quarter of a pound of strawberries, and a pound and a half of black-heart cherries. Bruise the fruit well, let it stand twenty-four hours, and drain off the juice. Measure the juice, and with each pint put a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar boiled to a clear syrup with two table-spoonfuls of water and a quart of flavoured brandy. Filter the liqueur through a jelly-bag, put it into small bottles, and store for use.
A steeped fruit cordial rather than anything cooked, and the proportions are given as a ratio, so the quantities scale with however much juice your fruit gives up. Start the clove brandy two weeks ahead or the recipe stalls before it begins.
- Start with the clove brandyThe flavouring infusion needs a fortnight, so it is the first job, not the last. Bruise the cloves in a mortar to crack them open, steep them in the brandy in a sealed jar, and strain them out before the brandy goes near the fruit.
- A drachm of clovesAn apothecaries' drachm is about 3.9 g (60 grains), or roughly a couple of teaspoons of whole cloves, per quart of brandy -- an imperial quart here, about 1.14 litres. Clove is aggressive; do not round it up.
- Black-heart cherriesAn old English name for dark, firm, heart-shaped sweet cherries. Any dark sweet cherry such as Bing works. The 'brandy cherries' called for alongside are simply described as small black cherries; a small dark cherry, or a Morello if you want more acidity, will stand in.
- Loaf sugarSugar sold in hard cones and broken down as needed, prized because it was well refined. Ordinary granulated white sugar is the nearest modern equivalent.
- The ratio is the recipeA quarter pound of sugar (about 115 g) and a quart of flavoured brandy for every pint of juice. How much juice this fruit gives up will vary, and it may well fall short of a pint, so measure the juice before you commit to the brandy.
- Pits and stemsCherry stones are left in here, which is traditional and contributes a faint almond note over a short steep. Twenty-four hours is short enough that this is not a concern, but do not extend the maceration for days in the hope of more flavour.
- FilteringA jelly-bag means an untwisted, unpressed drip through cloth, which is what gives the clear liqueur the recipe wants. Squeezing forces pulp through and leaves it permanently cloudy; a coffee filter finishes the job if needed.
- KeepingStrong enough, with the sugar, to keep in sealed bottles kept dark, though it is diluted well below brandy strength by the juice and syrup. It is drunk in small glasses, and the clove mellows with time in the bottle.
Ratafia was the general European name for a sweetened spirit flavoured by steeping fruit, kernels or spices, and by the nineteenth century it covered everything from a cherry cordial like this one to the almond-flavoured biscuits still sold under the name. The origin of the word is disputed; it is often traced to the Latin toast rata fiat, "let the deal be ratified," a drink taken on the sealing of an agreement, though that etymology is traditional rather than settled. Household books of this period commonly distinguished red ratafia, built on dark cherries and soft summer fruit, from white ratafia, built on apricot or peach kernels. Note that the recipe assumes bought brandy: distilling was a licensed and taxed trade, while flavouring spirit at home was not.