Rumtopf (Rum Pot)

NOTE: It will take the entire summer to prepare this delicious treat. If you have the patience it is well worth the wait and come December you'll be very, very happy. Add each fruit as it comes into season and ripens

Ingredients:

• 3 cups hulled and washed strawberries
• 2 cups cherries, pitted
• 2 cups gooseberries
• 2 cups each black and red currants
• 2 cups raspberries
• 2 cups apricots, pitted
• 2 cups plums, pitted
• 2 cups pears, cored
• 10 cups granulated sugar
• 2 quarts rum

• Use a 2 gallon stoneware crock pot with lid as your rum pot.
• Sprinkle the strawberries with 1 ½ cups sugar.
• Cover, and let stand for 30 minutes.
• Place the sugared strawberries in the rum pot.
• Pour in enough rum to cover the strawberries by about an inch and a half.
• Cover the pot with plastic wrap and put on the lid.
• Place in a cool room, and stir the fruit gently every two or three days.
• As the other fruits ripen throughout the season add them in layers on top of the strawberries AFTER you have mixed it with sugar. The fruit to sugar ratio should be approx. 1 cup of fruit to ½ cup of sugar.
• After each layer add enough rum to cover the fruit by about 1 ½ inches.
• After the first two weeks, you will only need to stir the pot every two weeks.
• It is important to always be sure that the top layer of fruit is covered by 1 ½ inches of rum.
• Traditionally, the rum pot is begun in early summer. At the end of October add another cup of rum to the pot. By the beginning of December, the fruit will be ready to eat.