A Very Red Currant Cordial

 Home made cordials make the most of seasonal fruit and taste much better then those you can buy.  If like us you have too many redcurrants in your garden, then making cordial from them I think is the best and easiest thing to do. We really have a lot, I have already picked 2 1/2 kilo's of berries and there is still a lot more.   These berries are a good source of vitamin B1 and C, and are rich in iron, potassium, copper and manganese. The best way to get all the goodness out of these little berries is to eat them straight off the bush.  But we can't do that all year round so making a preserve is the next best thing. The best time to pick them is before they are too ripe to get more fruity flavour.

Here is how you can make your own redcurrant cordial in just 30 minutes.


 
Ingredients:

• Redcurrants (as many as you can pick or have)
• Sugar
• 1 lemon

Equipment:

• Measuring jug 
• 2 cooking pots
• potato masher
• Sterilized bottles
• A clean muslin and a sieve
• Sterilized funnel

Process:

• Place the berries, storks and all in a cooking pot and add a very small amount of water, simmer on a low heat of about 15 minutes to extract all the juices then add the juice of 1 lemon.  Squash the fruit from time to time with a potato masher.

• Place the muslin over the sieve and strain the liquid though it into a clean bowl.  Using your hand, squeeze all the remaining liquid out of the pulp.

• Pour the liquid into a measuring jug to calculate the amount of sugar needed. It all depends on how sweet you want your cordial to be and how long you want it to keep.  To make a sweeter, longer lasting cordial then add 1 part sugar to 2 parts liquid.  I used just under half, 400g of sugar for 1 litre of liquid, this only keeps for about 6 months.   

• Pour the juice into a saucepan and add the sugar.  Heat up gently and simmer for a few minutes to let the sugar completely dissolve, then pour though a funnel into the warm sterilized bottles.  Seal bottles straight away and then label with the date. 

•  You can buy or make you own labels. To make your own just wet some paper in a bit of milk and then stick onto the bottle.  This way the labels can come off much easier than the ones you buy so if like me, you want to use your bottles again, then you don't have to spend a long time scrubbing them off.

 

You can use your cordial to flavour milkshakes or smoothies. It can also taste very nice poured over ice cream or yoghurt. To make juice then just add water.

I gave a bottle to my daughter to take to school and she said that everyone but 2 out of 23 children liked it, so I think it's a winner with the kids and a great way to get some vitamins preserved for winter.