Scratch Made Cordial

Making your own cordial from scratch has maaaany benefits but some of them include:

1. controlling your sugar intake, 
2. knowing exactly what's going into to your family's drinks, 
3. using up fruit which would otherwise have gone to waste and 
4. getting messy in the kitchen (safely) when conjuring up your favourite flavours!

Furthermore, Cordial isn't a million miles away from "coulis" (a posh fruit sauce!) or even just simple stewed fruit which can top yoghurt and desserts to add extra flavour so what's stopping you giving it a bash? 

To make cordial I would recommend marrying 500g fruit (such as raspberries, cranberries or blueberries) with 300-500g sugar (depending on how sweet you like your syrup) and 3 tablespoons of 'acid' (such as red wine vinegar, cider vinegar or lemon juice). 

Heat these in a pot, stirring often so the sugar doesn't stick,  until everything has dissolved into a pulpy mush.

Once you have achieved "mush" you are then looking to strain this through a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth, you may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your jug or bowl. 

Once strained, place the left over pulp back into the pot and add 300-500ml of water, bring back to the boil and sieve again. Once combined, your syrup should be runny and, well, syrupy! Don't worry if it's quite thick though, you can repeat the process a third time to water down some more, or stick with what you have and impress your friends by calling it coulis :)

For the stewed fruit I mentioned, stop short on step one of completely heating it to mush. So long at the fruits are soft, sweetened and balanced with acid you will have the perfect topping for a New York Style Cheesecake!

These syrups make great treats for kids and delicious mocktail bases for those looking to cut back on alcohol or cut it out altogether. One afternoon, pictured below, I mixed my scratch made cranberry and apple cordial with sparkling water, a squeeze of lime and a dash of My Secret Kitchen Balsamic Vinegars - Blood Orange, Mango and Guava, and separately Caramelised Coconut and Spiced Rum - which might sound odd but are absolutely delicious! If you fancy trying the same you can purchase these vinegars here. Go on give them, and cordial, a go! 

Happy tippling x