Mildura Community Water Bank is proud to present our very own Darling Harvest Gin.
More than just a tasty drop, the proceeds of each bottle sold will hugely benefit small‑scale farmers and allow them to grow and prosper.
Our region is abundant with an amazing array of produce.
We hand-picked Blood Orange & Mandarin – two amazing local citrus fruits – to bring an amazingly juicy and succulent taste to our Gin.
Only 200 Bottles of this worthy drop are available for purchase – each bottle individually hand numbered with care.
Our Murray Darling is Australia’s largest river system and it accounts for over 40 per cent of Australia’s agricultural production. Our most sacred river system connects us all and it is dying. Political and commercial interests are destroying a natural resource that should be accessible to all of us.
The Mildura Community Water Bank was established to support the farming independence of small scale farmers growing food for local food systems, including migrant and Indigenous farmers.
Each bottle sold helps subsidise the cost of water for those who lack negotiating power to survive in a market of volatile water prices and information asymmetry.
By buying this bottle of gin you are helping small-scale farmers to keep growing food for their communities. The biodynamic fluorescent mandarins and deep burgundy blood oranges that were peeled, cut and squeezed for this juicy gin are fruits threatened by the commodification of water.
This is the taste of our Murray Darling and it is bittersweet.
Elise Pulbrook
Food Nerd & Masterchef Top 4 Finallist
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW Revive Our Rivers project amplifies the voice of river-dependent communities along the Darling-Baaka river. Collectively, we counter the influence of large-scale corporate irrigators upstream who have created an ecological crisis through over-extraction.
Crises like millions of native fish kills and downstream communities relying on water trucks to meet basic human needs.
The Darling-Baaka is now connected all the way to the Murray river and the Menindee Lakes are overflowing, but mismanagement means the next drought will be even worse.
The Revive Our Rivers campaign aims to ensure water management decisions benefit ecosystems and communities, not just big irrigators, so our rivers can flow, native fish can recover and communities can thrive.
Become a supporter at www.nature.org.au/rivers_wetlands.
Nature Conservation Council
nature.org.au
in the kitchen
While a tipple of the Darling Harvest Gin is the standard way of indulging, it also makes an incredible ingredient!
Check out the creative recipes curated by Elise Pulbrook for you to try below.
Makes enough batter for approximately 32 crepes, 15cm in diameter.
Ingredients:
450g full cream milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
60g unsalted butter
170g plain flour (if a nuttier flavour is desired, substitute 70g flour for buckwheat flour)
3 large eggs (60-70g per egg)
115g buttermilk (or beer)
Cultured butter, for melting onto hot crepes
Method:
- At least 2 hours before frying or the night before, prepare your crêpe Begin by gently heating the milk, salt, sugar and butter.
Only warm this mixture until the butter has melted. - Measure the flour into a mixing bowl and create a well in its centre. Add the oil and eggs, mixing slightly with a whisk.
When the mixture begins to thicken, gently stream in the warmed milk mixture, little by little. Beat well until smooth.
Mix in the buttermilk then whisk and strain before popping the batter into your refrigerator. - Before frying, allow the batter to come to room temperature and whisk in any congealed butter that has solidified on top of the mixture.
- Heat your crêpe pan until a drop of water sizzles when you throw it in the pan.
Rub the pan with a little butter and wipe it out with paper towel (you should only need to do this once per batch of crêpes).
Lift the pan off the heat and pour 1/3 cup of batter into the centre of the pan, tilting and swirling the batter evenly around.
There shouldn’t be any more batter than what will stick to the pan in one wafer thin uniform layer.
It takes about 1 minute for the batter to brown on its first side over a medium-hot flame. Lift with a spatula or butter knife to check if it has browned enough before flipping.
Cook the second side for about 1 minute before turning out onto a plate. Continue cooking crêpes until no batter remains. - Serve your crêpes hot from the pan. I suggest brushing them with sweet melting butter, sprinkling them with sugar and then dousing with a teaspoon or two of Darling Harvest Gin, substituting the classic option of lemon juice with this citrus forward liqueur.
Fold into a quarter circle and eat immediately.
Ingredients:
1/2 quantity of Elise’s Crêpe recipe (as above)
60g caster sugar
250ml freshly squeezed mandarin juice
125ml freshly squeezed blood orange juice
Zest of 1 blood orange
Zest of 2 mandarins
1 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp Darling Harvest Gin
75g unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
Method:
- To make your caramel, use a stainless steel or light coloured pan to easily gauge the progress of your darkening sugar. Set the saucepan over a low-medium heat and begin to melt your sugar into a light golden brown caramel.
Allow the sugar to melt slowly and gently, swirling the pan every now and then to encourage even melting. Don’t stir the sugar! If you stir your sugar to try to make it dissolve faster, you run the risk of crystallisation. - Once your caramel is light golden in colour, take it off the heat. It will continue to darken. When the colour is a deeper and more amber golden, carefully pour in the mandarin and orange juice. Be careful as it may splatter and spit!
Return the caramel to a low heat and stir constantly, until all the caramel has dissolved. Add the zests, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the Darling Harvest Gin before gradually whisking in cubes of butter. Season your caramel, turn off the heat and spike with the remaining Darling Harvest gin, whisking it in thoroughly. - To serve Crêpes Elise, fan half of the crêpes folded into quarter circles around a non stick pan. Drench them in your spiked citrus caramel and gently heat. Add a splash of Darling Harvest Gin, tilt your pan into the flame and flambé! Serve immediately with blood orange custard gelato.
Serve this bright gelato with your epic Crêpes Elise and Darling Harvest caramel for a taste of the vitality of the Murray Darling region.
Makes approximately 1.2 litres of gelato.
Ingredients:
3-4 blood oranges
500ml milk
200g sugar
6 egg yolks
400ml cream
1 tbsp Darling Harvest Gin
1/4 tsp salt
Method:
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel thin pithless strips of peel from 2 of the oranges. Place the peel into a saucepan with the milk and sugar over a low-medium heat. Heat the mixture gently to just before boiling point. Remove from the heat and step for 15 minutes.
- Reheat your milk mixture. If a skin has formed, you will need to sieve the mixture into a clean saucepan and add new orange peel.
- Whisk the egg yolks thoroughly and gradually pour in the hot milk, tempering the eggs slowly and whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and heat gently, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
- Strain the custard into a bowl, season with salt and add finely micro-planed zest from the remaining fruit. Whisk in the cream.
- Juice your oranges and strain 3/4 cup of juice into the custard. Add Darling Harvest Gin and stir.
Ensure your mixture is completely cold before churning according to the instructions of your ice-cream maker. Serve with Darling Harvest caramel drenched crepes. Buon appetito!
As citrus season fades, ruby rhubarb springs forth. The bitterness of rhubarb marries well with the bright citrus profile of our Darling Harvest Gin. This is a pretty in pink cocktail for enjoying in the warmth springtime sunshine.
For the rhubarb simple syrup:
400g rhubarb
100g caster sugar
Juice of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the drinks:
125ml rhubarb simple syrup
500ml tonic water
60ml lime juice
125ml Darling Harvest Gin
Method:
- A few hours prior to making the slushies, prepare your rhubarb simple syrup. Preheat your oven to 200C.
Toss all of the ingredients for the rhubarb simple syrup into an oven-safe dish in which your rhubarb can ideally sit in one single layer. Cover with foil and roast for 30-40 minutes until the rhubarb is just tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. - Strain the pink glowing syrup into a jar and set the rhubarb aside. While we only need the syrup for this cocktail, the rhubarb would pair nicely with crêpes adored with blood orange and Darling Harvest custard gelato and a sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts. Refrigerate the simple syrup. It will last 2 weeks covered in the refrigerator.
- Mix all of the drink ingredients and churn in an ice-cream machine until a slushy consistency. Alternatively, freeze the mixture into ice-cubes and blitz with a blender just before serving. Another method for making this slushy would involve freezing the mixture in a large container and stirring every half hour for approximately 3 hours until that classic slushy texture is achieved.
- Scoop into glasses, garnish with a twisted orange peel and enjoy!