Lemon cordial is a refreshing summer drink, and making your own using this recipe is surprisingly simple.

It would be a great recipe to do if you ever find crates of lemons being sold off cheap, as can happen on markets towards the end of the day. It's also a good choice for making early in the year, before the elderflowers are ready for  elderflower cordial.

I wasn't totally sure about Elderflower Cordial I made a month ago, at the time I had said I thought it tasted too sweet and needed a bit of tartness. After a bit of experimenting with adding lemon juice I decided to go for it and add citric acid to the whole lot.

Citric acid wasn't the easiest stuff to find but I eventually tracked some down it a local independent cookery shop. They had small 100g tubs in the brewing section, but when I took 3 to the till the assistant kindly offered me a 500g bag from under the counter. I didn't realise it was such a sought after ingredient until I was looking round for recipes and found out that others were having trouble finding it too. You can buy it online if you're prepared to wait a few days for delivery.

image source wikimedia commons

1. Citric Acid is a weak organic acid, its molecular formula is C6H8O7