Homemade Flavor Extracts

This post is a shout-out for all of you out there who always seem to have some over-ripe fruit hanging around. You know who you are.

You have a few options.

1. Make puree's. They keep fairly well in the freezer and can be added to smoothies, ice creams, etc.
2. Dehydrate them. This only works if you have a dehydrator, and one can only take so much dehydrated fruit, but this is a good option every once and a while.
3. Make flavor extracts. This is my favorite. Why? Because an extract can be used to make delicious candies, chocolates, and way more without having to mess much with an existing recipe. 

I apologize for the bad picture.

The process is super simple, and you only need two ingredients.

1. Ripe fruit
2. Vodka

When selecting a vodka, shoot for the middle of the road. You don't need a great vodka (it's not worth it), but you don't want the cheapest vodka you can find, either, because some off flavors can get in.

All you need to do is cut some of the fruit up nice and small, add it to a small bottle (to 1/4 full or so, less for citrus), and pour in some vodka. It takes a few weeks to get good flavors, but you can shove them into the back of your pantry and forget about it. For citrus fruits, use the zest. For others, try to figure out what the most flavorful part of the fruit is. For apples, the peel makes a great extract, but for mangoes, the flesh is best.

Eventually these extracts will lose their alcohol smell and taste, and will blossom into delicious flavors. I will warn you, however, that this can get a bit addicting. A bit.

What do you usually do with fruit that's nearing its end?

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