Spiced Hawthorn Pear Persimmon Brandy
Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor
Bent over the moist earth, we gathered up the crimson and golden fruit into our hungry bags, chatting about life as old friends will, with meandering topics and understood nuances. Picking through the fallen leaves and occasional thorn, our bags grew plump with the fallen medicinal jewels, soon to be infused in a seasonal libation: my spiced hawthorn pear persimmon brandy. A curious passerby interrupted our chatter, inquiring about the fruit we were harvesting.
My dear friend, more patient than I, spun the whole tale, from the identity of the trees we crouched under, to the future of our cache, which was to involve honey, brandy, and spirits.
Our guest revealed that she had wondered what kind of trees grew in this grove for almost a decade; she had danced naked under their pendulous branches in the springtime when the hawthorns were adorned with creamy buzzing blossoms. Perhaps one might be surprised upon hearing such a story, but we were near Asheville, so we soaked in this tidbit with cheer and took it in stride. Personally, I am happy to hear about anyone dancing under trees, and what better place to strip, than under a sacred grove of hawthorns on high in the craggies (Craggy is an Appalachian term for a rocky place).
Earlier that morning I had visited the farmers market and bought some pears from a local fruit and humor expert, Bill Whipple (pictured here). When I returned home, I just knew the craggy hawthorns needed to meet his bronze pears — in some brandy, of course. Then the persimmons chimed in: we want in on this action, too. Hence the inspiration for the recipe, representing this year’s incarnation of fall in the mountains.
Hawthorns are small thorny trees in the rose family, which bear fruits resembling wee apples. It is estimated that there are anywhere between 150 to 1,000 species in the hawthorn genus (Crataegus). The reason for such a wide discrepancy in the species count is due to hawthorns’ proclivity for interspecies relations, resulting in confusing hybrids and murky species delineation. Most botanists do not bother keying out or identifying hawthorn to species, due to rampant hybridization. Thankfully, proper species identification is not necessary, as all hawthorn berries are edible and medicinal, with a long history of use in Europe, North America, and Asia. The berries have been eaten everywhere it grows, and it has been a staple famine food, seeing many peoples over lean winters.
The Chinese have used their local hawthorn species as a heart remedy, with recorded uses dating to the seventh century. Western herbalists use hawthorn as a remedy for hypertension, atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, and angina pectoris. Ample literature exists on hawthorn’s use as a cardiotonic, with its wide variety of flavonoids present in the fruit, flowers and leaves. The flowers and berries are also used for more energetic heart maladies – grief and loss. I prefer to use the flowers in these situations, as they carry lightness and hope. Hawthorn is a food herb and thus can be ingested in a wider variety of mediums than most herbs. Tea and tincture are classics, but people also make honey, jam, syrup, cordials, elixirs, and vinegar from the fruit. Hawthorn-infused honey is a beautiful rose color and quite fruity and pleasant.
Most of the traditional recorded use of hawthorn by Native Americans centers on its use as a digestive tonic for various gastrointestinal maladies, such as diarrhea, dysentery, and bloating. The bark and branchlets are more astringent (puckery) than the flowers and fruit, and thus have been used to slow diarrhea and excessive menstrual bleeding. The thorns were used as a lancing tool for boils and the Okanagan would place a thorn into an arthritic area, and ignite the distal end, letting the thorn burn down to the embedded point. This painful remedy would apparently cause a scab to form, but clear the afflicted area from arthritic achiness.
The folklore around hawthorn’s magic is especially rich in Europe, with admonishments to not cut the tree, except during the springtime—the trunk is used for a maypole in Beltane dances and the flowering branches are adornment for home and maiden alike. The trees are associated with fairies and seen as a portal to the otherworld. Hawthorn branches have been placed over the threshold as protection from malevolent energies in Europe. The Iroquois used a decoction as a protection against the personal physical manifestations of witchcraft.
Hawthorn trees can often be found in young woods, hedges, and cow fields. Look for the thorns and little red fruits. The leaves are variable, but are often wedge-shaped, with teeth and straight veins. Some hawthorns have slightly lobed leaves. The small trees are often planted as ornamentals for their showy flowers and fruit. In addition, they possess a suitable stature for small urban spaces. It goes without saying (so why I am writing this?!) that you should be 100% positive of your identification before you harvest the fruit. Ask your local botanist, herbalist, extension agent, arborist, or pagan for some identification tips.
Spiced Hawthorn Pear Persimmon Brandy Recipe
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
- Double boiler or crockpot with lid
- Cheesecloth or cotton t-shirt
- Gallon glass jar or several smaller mason jars
Ingredients
- 1.75 liters brandy - The big bottle.
- 2 Tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 1 Tablespoon cardamom seeds - Decorticated (no pods).
- 2 vanilla beans
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 pears
- 1 persimmon
- 3 cups hawthorn berries - Or half the amount of dried hawthorn.
- ½ cup honey
Directions
- Coarsely chop the pear and persimmon and place them in a food processor. You may need to remove the peel of the persimmon if it’s especially astringent. If you are working with fresh hawthorns throw them into the food processor whole with the other fruit. Coarsely blend the fruit in the food processor and add to a gallon glass jar (or several smaller mason jars). If you are working with dried hawthorn place them in the jar directly now.
- Add all of the other herbs and brandy and let sit for 2 to 4 days. If you are in a pinch, place all of the ingredients (except the honey) in a double boiler or crockpot, with the lid on, and simmer at the lowest heat for 5 hours.
- When perfect synergy has been achieved, strain through a cloth and wring out all the brandy with your hands. A clean older cotton tee shirt with a loose weave works well. Another option is the tighter-weave cheesecloth sold for cheese making (regular cheesecloth is too porous). You will probably need to strain out several batches to be able to effectively wring out the brandy from the pulp.
- Slightly heat the strained brandy to dissolve the honey and stir well.
- Bottle the infused brandy and label.
- You can compost the remaining slurry of herbs and fruit, or add it to apple cider and warm slightly. The slurry will have absconded with some of the brandy, so the cider infusion will have a kick, and be for adult palettes only.
I enjoy this brandy sipped on its own, or added to warmed apple cider and served with a cinnamon stick and thin slices of pear. I highly recommend accompanying the brandy with a nibbling plate of pomegranate seeds and cacao nibs.
Meet the Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:
JULIET BLANKESPOOR is the founder, primary instructor, and Creative Director of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, an online school serving thousands of students from around the globe. She's a professional plant-human matchmaker and bonafide plant geek, with a degree in botany and over 30 years of experience teaching and writing about herbalism, medicine making, and organic herb cultivation. Juliet’s lifelong captivation with medicinal weeds and herb gardening has birthed many botanical enterprises over the decades, including an herbal nursery and a farm-to-apothecary herbal products business.
These days, she channels her botanical obsession through her writing and photography in her online programs, on her personal blog Castanea, and in her new book, The Healing Garden: Cultivating and Handcrafting Herbal Remedies. Juliet and her family reside in a home overrun with houseplants and books in Asheville, North Carolina.
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Kat P says:
This might be a silly question but I’m going to ask it anyway. I have read that hawthorn seeds contain the same cyanide-producing compounds as apple seeds, and that these compounds are released when the seeds are crushed. Is it a similar case with apple seeds where the amount is small enough that crushing the seeds in the food processor is not a concern? I realize this is overly paranoid but I’m one of those people who wants ALL the info 😁
Melissa Quercia says:
Some folks suggest that hawthorn seeds may be toxic due to the presence of cyanogenic glycosides. However, there have been no reported cases of toxicity when hawthorn is used as food or medicine in Europe and the U.S. This is why we confidently use the whole fruits in this recipe. That said, it’s always wise to exercise your own discretion!
Rosemary Dzus says:
I made this, but mistakenly left the herbs to steep in the brandy for 2 weeks instead of a few days. It tastes ok, but I’m wondering if this amount of time will make the herbal medicinals too intense.
Christine Borosh says:
The shorter steeping time is recommended for this recipe because flavor of the herbs can become more bitter if they’re steeped for a longer period of time. I hope you can still enjoy it!
Rosemary Dzus says:
It tastes fine! 🙂
Christine Borosh says:
Great! It will be a little stronger medicinally, but it shouldn’t be overly intense at all.
Becky hutcheson says:
Hello!
I wondered if more medicinal properties would be extracted from the hawthorn berries if they were to stay in longer?
2-4 days sounds so short!
But I have limited experience;)
Thank you!
Melissa Quercia says:
Hi, Becky! Yes, more medicinal properties would be extracted from the hawthorn berries if they were steeped longer than 2-4 days, but then you will be moving into the category of making a tincture. Since this beverage is for sipping, we don’t want it to be as strong as a tincture because it will be consumed in larger amounts than a tincture. I hope that helps clarify this for you. Feel free to let us know if you still have questions about it. Enjoy making the recipe!
jayne says:
Hello!
Could you consider adding a “print recipe” link to your wonderful recipes? I did my normal right click and print thing on the recipe image, and made the mistake of walking away after I did so and ended up printing the entire blog post! So…that was a mistake on my part and a lot of wasted paper….ouch. I then highlighted the recipe and got a nice print but I so appreciate the “print recipe” function as they usually come out so much more beautifully. Hopefully I didn’t miss that option on your blog?
Melissa Quercia says:
Thanks for your feedback, Jayne. I’m sorry to hear about your printing mishap. I will pass your suggestion along, and we’ll see what we can do. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Amanda Davis says:
The print recipe button has been added! Enjoy 🙂
Johanne says:
Hello Juliette,
I don’t drink alcohol so i don’t know what is the way of having this 🙂 is it like this, 2, 3 ounces of it in a glass or mixed like your proposed with other things or you add some hot water to it .. ?!
Also, i imagine you can keep this on shelf ? how long ?
** i would give this as a ‘digestif’ ( cordial ) .
Sara Kinney says:
This is mainly an herbal cocktail, so you would drink it any way you would drink brandy! It’s good on its own, but if you want to dilute the alcohol, you can add it to warm apple cider. It should be pretty shelf stable at room temperature as long as the brandy contains at least 30% alcohol.
Johanne says:
Hi Sara
Thank you for your reply
… as i don’t drink. I don’t know how you take Brandy usually .
Is it one ounce straight in a glass ?!
Sara Kinney says:
I do like drinking this cordial in a small glass! Brandy has a lower alcohol content than other liquors, and it will be further diluted by the herbs and honey, so it’s not as strong as something like, say, vodka. An ounce sounds about right to me, but there’s really not one right way to enjoy it.
Johanne says:
Sweet ! Thanks ..
* found a 40% Alcohol (Brandy)
And pimped the recipe a bit 🙂
Will make beautiful gifts in 2 weeks
Candace says:
Do you all know if the Washington Hawthorn is also ok to work with? I think it’s an ornamental tree.
Sara Kinney says:
Sure, you can use any hawthorn tree in the Crataegus species.
Margot says:
A couple of clarifications, please. Is the measurement for ginger that’s fresh and grated, or ground dried ginger? Do you recommend Ceylon cinnamon sticks, as opposed to the cinnamon sticks generally found in most stores? Length of stick recommended, so I know if I needed more of less of short or long cinnamon sticks, please?
Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try this for the holidays!
Sara Kinney says:
Hi Margot, this recipe is actually for fresh grated ginger. I’ll go back and make that more clear, thank you for bringing that to my attention! For the cinnamon stick, you can use any kind, so long as it smells good to you. Most cinnamon sticks we see are about the length of a finger, and that’s what I would recommend.
Laini says:
Should the hawthorns be crushed before adding them to the jar if using dried ones?
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Hi Laini. Nope, if you’re using dried hawthorns you can just add them directly to the jar, rather than whirling them in the food processor first. Enjoy!
Cathryn Kasper says:
Dear Juliet,
When I first moved to the Northwest, I discovered the beautiful Hawthorne that the bees love so much in springtime. I had read of its medicinal value, but not until your recipe have I found a good way to use it. Thank you so much! I am blessed by the many Hawthornes that grow in our woods and by your wisdom!
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Cathryn,
Enjoy the hawthorns and the brandy 🙂
Ellery says:
Do the seeds need to be removed from hawthorn before consuming?
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Hi Ellery,
If you’re making a tincture, syrup, honey, brandy, etc. theres no need to remove the seeds. If you’re eating the fruit, you can eat little seeds but you might want to spit out the bigger seeds.
Cecilia says:
Thank you for this beautiful post. I just strained my batch & it’s amazing!
Jenna says:
How do you think this would turn out with whiskey or bourbon? I made it with brandy last year (yummmmm) but was thinking of switching it up.
Juliet Blankespoor says:
We say go for it! It sounds delicious. Let us know how it turns out!
Jenna says:
I did it with crown royal and it’s fantastic. So good with ginger ale. I was gonna bring it to Thanksgiving but not sure if there will be any left!
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Fun, thanks for letting us know!!
Sue says:
I made this with bourbon…it was well received. I’m British and I so miss the Hawthorne flowers.
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Kathleen,
Thanks for catching that! I amended the recipe. Yes, you add the brandy right away if you are using the glass jar method.
Sorry for the confusion!
Juliet
Kathleen says:
This is confusing me. It says add fruit and spices to vessel and sit three to four days then goes right to telling a short cut using crock pot but not what to do after letting fruit sit in jars for days? Doesn’t the fruit rot? Do I then add the bendy directly after three to four days with the honey and strain as described?
Kris V says:
This was a beautiful read and I can’t wait to make this!
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Thanks, let me know how it turns out for you!
Juliet
Sarah Clarkson says:
Thanks so much for this recipe, Juliet! This stuff is keeping me warm up here in Quebec. I used the slurry to make an amazing mulled wine, along with elderberries left over from making syrup, some bayberry leaves, citrus, and some extra cinnamon. Hope you’re well!
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Sarah,
Im glad you like it! The mulled wine sounds absolutely amazing, especially with the bayberry leaves!
Hugs,
Juliet
Stacey Hudson says:
Very important topic and you just did an amazing job presenting it in a simple and clear manner.
sharin says:
i just pressed this and i can’t believe how good it is! i halved the recipe and now i wish i did the whole thing instead. thank you!
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Wonderful, glad you like it!
Forest Grace says:
I just love this. And yes, your writing is so fresh, vibrant and heartfelt. I’m going to make this for my friend for her birthday in January. Thank you so much.
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Thanks! Let me know how the recipe works for you 🙂
Nina says:
Simply stated, “beautiful writing”. I’ve grown, harvested, used and loved my herbs and plants but to read your blog was like breathing brand new life into old, old ways. Thank you for the motivating and uplifting words.
Claudia Green says:
Thank you for sharing about this enchanting day of gathering, processing and flowing with all the entertainment around our time in the woods!
Looking forward to squishing and squeezing all the yumminess from the jar and bottle up the brandy to share with others in this winters season coming forward here in the chilly mountains of NC! Here’s to more jaunts in the woods!
Danielle Eavenson says:
YES!! i can’t WAIT to make it. Thank you, Juliet. I love the way you honored the sweetness of Hawthorn and the picture of the naked dancer prancing through the forest!