Superb cordial that is easy to make and better tasting than the most expensive cordial brands you can buy.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 kg sugar.
- 8 to 12 Citrus fruit (lemon, orange, tangelo, grapefruit etc..) on their own or in any combination.
- 30 g citric acid.
- 30 g tartaric acid
- 800 ml water
DIRECTIONS
- Grate rind from some of the fruit until you have about a 1/4 cup of rind.
- Squeeze citrus fruit until you have 1.2 litres of juice.
- Combine water, juice, rind, citric and tartaric acid in a large pot and bring to the boil.
- Add the sugar, stirring it as you add it, and bring to the boil again.
- Bottle immediately in sterilised bottles and cap the bottles.
FURTHER NOTES
The citric and tartaric acid is both flavour enhancers and act as a preservative. If sterilised properly unopened bottles should last a couple of months without refrigeration. Though I prefer to run my bottles through the The Fowlers Preserving System, cordial processed using this method will last at least two years.
This is not a hard and fast recipe so feel free to experiment with the levels of water, fruit, acids etc… What is important is to add citric and tartaric acids in some form as fruit cordials made with them will both preserve and taste much better.
If I am making cordial using just oranges I usually use a higher proportion of juice. This is because oranges do not have as strong a flavour as lemons or grapefruit. Similarity, when using only lemons or limes I use a 50/50 water juice ratio. I also do not always grate the rind as it is largely added to give the cordial a visual texture.
