This week, Roy decided that with the weather so hot it would be a good idea to make some cordial for a nice cold drink. When we were getting our ingredients together he decided he would like to write down his recipes so that he can share them with you. One of them is a lemonade recipe which my Mum, Roy's Grandma, made when I was a little girl and the other was given to me by a friend of the family, Leonie. Both make delicious syrups!
In the past, making cordial at home was very common because you could make massive amounts of it for a low cost. It was also a good way of preserving fruit. The history of making cordials goes back centuries, but it was actually the Industrial Revolution which probably really introduced cordial making on a large scale because for the first time water was actually safe to drink! Before then, water was only drunk by the very low classes because it was dirty and unhygienic.
Lemon Cordial
You will need:
- 1 large lemon (or 2 small ones)
- 3/4 of a kilogram of sugar
- 25 grams of citric acid
- 1 and 1/4 litres of water
- A large saucepan
- A grater
- A citrus juicer
- A knife
- Some bottles
- A sieve
Method:
- Finely grate the peel of the lemon into the saucepan.
- To this add the juice of your lemon, the water, sugar and citric acid.
- Bring the cordial to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- When the cordial is boiling remove from the heat and allow it to cool completely. Roy and I left ours over night
- When the cordial is cold, strain it through a fine sieve to remove the lemon rind.
- Pour the cordial into bottles.
Fruit Cordial
You will need:
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 orange
- 2 passionfruit
- 500 grams of sugar
- 2 teaspoons of citric acid
- 3 and a 1/2 teaspoons of tartaric acid
- 450 millilitres of boiling water
- A bowl
- A citrus juicer
- A grater
- A sieve
- Bottles
Method:
- Finely grate the rind of your orange into the bowl.
- To the rind add the juice of the orange and the grapefruit and all the pulp from your passionfruit
- Add your sugar, citric acid and tartaric acid to your bowl.
- Pour over the boiling water
- Stir until the sugar has all dissolved.
- Cover the bowl with clingwrap and leave overnight.
- Strain out the orange rind and passionfruit pips
- Bottle your cordial
Make up your cordials with water, soda water or (if you like it sweet) lemonade. Dilute them according to your own preferences, but it is quite strong. Enjoy!