Strawberry cordial

Strawberry cordial might sound decadent and extravagant but if you can find over-ripe or bruised strawberries at your local greengrocers – or if you have a glut in the garden – it isn’t as expensive as it first sounds.

The resulting cordial can be diluted into a refreshing summer drink or it can be used as a syrup and poured over vanilla ice cream for a simply but delicious impromptu pudding!

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Ingredients

• 500g strawberries
• 400g granulated white sugar
• 500ml water
• Juice of one lemon

Makes around 1lt of cordial.

Method

1. Add the strawberries to a saucepan and pour over the water.

2. Bring them to the boil. Remove from the heat and crush them with a fork or potato masher. Add the sugar and lemon juice and leave to stand for a couple of hours with the saucepan lid on, stirring from time to time to help encourage the sugar to dissolve.

3. Sterilise your jelly bag by sitting it in boiling water for a few minutes before putting it in its stand.

4. Strain the strawberry mixture through the jelly bag overnight. Don’t be tempted to squeeze it to speed things up at it will turn the juice cloudy.

5. Pour into sterilised bottles. It will keep for a couple of weeks but you can store it indefinitely if you freeze it in a Tupperware container.

6. You can serve as a cordial or sauce or add a dollop to a glass of sparkling white wine for a wonderfully fruity summer drink.

Variations

You can steep the strawberries in 500ml of cheap vodka and 500g of sugar to make the most amazing strawberry vodka. Just sayin’…

Try our recipe for strawberry jam

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