I had never heard of rumpot until a German friend of mine served it many years ago. She spooned a drift of softly whipped cream into a stemmed glass and topped it with a ladleful of dark, sweet preserved summer berries in a heady syrup. Accompanied by dark-roast coffee, it was irresistible. My version of rumpot consists of whole berries and cherries preserved in a rum and sugar syrup. The sugar and alcohol preserve the berries while adding a flavor of their own. Theres no set recipe, but the technique must be consistent. Select only perfect berries as they come into season. Weigh them, put them in a crock or a jar, add an equal portion of sugar, douse with rum, cover the container, and set it in a cool, dark place to work its magic. When you get the next lot of berries, repeat the process, adding everything to the same crock. EASY AND SWEET For the container, youll need a two to four-quart crock, such as a bean pot or a heavy, wide mouth jar. If you want to be absolutely authentic, check out flea markets or country stores for a ceramic German crock labeled "rumtopf." Glass is less traditional but it works just fine. Since the pot must be covered, it's best to use a container with a tight-fitting lid, but you can always cover the pot with foil or plastic wrap. Since fruit and sugar are added in equal weights, youll also need a scale. Anything from a handful to a whole basket of berries can be added at any time. There are no rules for amounts, but a good proportion might be a quart of strawberries, a quart of raspberries, two cups of cherries, a cup of blueberries, and two cups of blackberries. The fruit will shrink somewhat during the steeping as the sugar solution pulls water from the fruit by osmosis. Apples, peaches, plums, citrus fruits, and pineapple are often added to rumpots. Theyre delicious, but because they must be peeled and chopped, they tend to change the character of the mixture as they steep. And because they let off so much of their juice, they also cloud the syrup. Whether you use light or dark rum is a personal preference. Ive used all light, all dark, and a mixture of both. HOW TO BEGIN Start your rumpot as soon as the summer fruit comes into market, beginning with the first strawberries of the season. Choose unblemished berries with an even red color and a heady perfume. Handle the berries gently-bruised fruit will spoil the clarity of the syrup as it steeps and spoil the rumpot. Give your berries a light rinse and then let them dry. Remove the hulls and weigh the strawberries before putting the fruit in the pot. Scatter an equal weight of sugar over the fruit and pour on enough rum to cover the sugar. Dont shake or stir. There is no exact measurement for the amount of rum; add just enough to cover the fruit. To keep the fruit completely submerged, choose a plate just a little smaller than the circumference of the container and set it on top of the berries. You want to be sure that the fruit is completely immersed in the rum to prevent it from being exposed to air and spoiling. Put a tight fitting lid on the pot if you have one; otherwise, cover it with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. If the pot isnt tightly covered, the rum will evaporate. (If that happens, simply add more rum.) A fruit cellar is the traditional spot for storing a rumpot. Keep yours in any cool, dark place. Add cherries next when they come into season in early July. Red Bing cherries and white Rainiers are both good candidates; save sour cherries for pies. Rinse and dry the fruit, remove the stems, and leave the pits intact. Check the pot for any undissolved sugar before adding more fruit. Use a chopstick or a rubber spatula to soften any lumps you may see, but be gentle-over stirring can damage the fruit and make the syrup cloudy. Add the cherries, an equal weight of sugar, cover with rum, replace the plate to submerge the fruit, reseal the pot, and return it to a cool, dark place. Add black and red raspberries as they come into season. Be sure the raspberries are plump and juicy; avoid any that are dry, seedy, or show signs of mold. By now the sugar and rum should have married into a syrup. If, when you add a new batch of berries and sugar, theyre covered with syrup and well below the surface, dont bother adding more rum. The point is to be sure that the fruit is submerged, not drowned. Too much rum makes the syrup weak. Next add blueberries, but not too many, because they can get stiff and rubbery as they steep. Since blueberries are so small and easy to pick over, its tempting to add a whole basket. Resist the urge or youll end up with an unbalanced ratio of fruit. Blackberries ripen in August and are usually my last addition to the rumpot. Other parts of the country have an abundance of native berries that are good rumpot candidates, too. Use whatever is plentiful and luscious in your area. Follow the same procedure with the sugar and rum, stirring gently to distribute any undissolved sugar, before adding the fruit. By summers end you will have the bounty of half a farm field on the shelf. Think about serving the rumpot in late fall, long after local fresh fruit has become a, fond memory. At our house, we open the crock after Thanksgiving dinner, al though you could begin sampling as early as the end of October. A rumpot is fruity and delicious, but remember that the syrup is still an alcoholic beverage. Its alcohol content is closer to that of a liqueur than of L rum, however, because the sugar draws the juice out of the berries and dilutes the rum. Rumpot for dessert Rumpot has an affinity for plain- Jane desserts, and its texture is greatly enhanced by the silkiness of whipped toppings. Here are some ways to serve it: Top a slice of pound cake or angel food cake with a spoonful or two of rumpot and garnish with whipped cream. Sneak some into the center of a filled cream puff. Spoon a fluff of softly whipped cream into a small wine glass. Top with a spoonful or two of rumpot. Add elegance to a simple dish of ice cream with a ladleful of rumpot. Try it with vanilla, cinnamon, or berry ice cream. Spoon rumpot over any cheesecake, mousse, or soft pudding that needs a lift. Is there too much liquid in your rumpot? Dont worry about it. Trying to end up with equal amounts of berries and syrup is like trying to saw a four-legged table: it never comes out just right. Any leftover syrup can be strained, bottled, and kept in the refrigerator and used in any of the ways suggested above. Or, after a big dinner, forgo dessert and pour, yourself a liqueur glass of rumpot nectar.