This week, with strawberries being extremely well priced at the shops due to a glut, Roy decided he wanted to try his hand at making a recipe he had seen in one of his old cookbooks quite some time ago. The recipe was for a strawberry cordial (though it was called a squash in those days - cordial was something a little different) which Roy thought sounded delicious and as the weather begins to warm up, he also thought it would be a lovely refreshing drink to enjoy on a warm day. He was very happy with his resulting cordial and even more so when he read that it would last in the icebox (or modern refrigerator) ‘through Spring and into Summer’. So this week Roy Creates Super Strawberry Squash Cordial.
Note: this recipe was converted from ounces to kilograms which accounts for the slightly strange amount of sugar.
You Will Need:
- 1 kilogram of strawberries. The original recipe called for 35 ounces, which is a little less than a kilogram, but the recipe worked with the extra fruit.
- 1.7 kilograms of castor sugar
- 2 lemons
- 90 grams of citric acid
- 1 litre of water
Method:
- Hull and cut the strawberries up roughly and put them into a large saucepan or bowl
- Use a potato masher to break the berries up
- Cut the lemons into quarters and then finely slice the segments.
- Add the sugar, citric acid and lemon to the berries and mix
- Bring 1 litre of water to the boil and pour over the fruit
- Mix everything together, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved
- Leave the bowl to cool and then cover (Roy used the saucepan lid but the original recipe used a cloth. You could use clingwrap)
- Keep the mix in the refrigerator for four days or more (taste and decide if you want a stronger flavour. Roy left his for 5 days, mainly because it was convenient and the taste was great)
- Strain the mix through a fine strainer (the original recipe used a muslin cloth) and pour the cordial into sterilised bottles.
- Store in the refrigerator. By Roy’s calculations, this cordial should last for 4 or 5 months in the fridge (possibly up to 6 months if the recipe meant the entirety of Spring and Summer!)