It is Halloween and nothing better than trick Brazil’s national cocktail Caipirinha (traditionally made of cachaça, lime and sugar) and make a darker and scary-looking version instead.

I made this perfect wicked potion mixing vodka, crushed ice, sugar and Jaboticaba.

Jaboticaba is a fruit native to southeastern Brazil and its particularity is the fact that it grows in the tree trunk. The fruit has a purplish black astringent skin, with a white gelatinous flesh. It is lovely when eaten raw and commonly used on desserts, jams and wine.

The tree usually fruits only once or twice a year, but a single tree produces so much fruit that I remember when neighbours would share bowls full of the freshly picked treats from their backyards as a celebration for the abundance.

Jaboticaba is in season from September to November in Australia and luckily I found it in a local market in Sydney.

So who is up for some treats and tricks?