We've been drinking a lot of elderflower cordial recently, and stocks are getting low, so I've been looking round for other cordials to make.

Using the gooseberries from the garden seemed to make sense, they're just starting to ripen and taste wonderfully fresh.

This recipe also includes lemon verbena, which should add a few citrus notes to the finished drink. Lemon verbena is one of those herbs that grows like crazy in the garden but which I very rarely actually use for anything, so it's nice to feel it's making itself useful.

This recipe is adapted from one on The Independent website.

Click here for the Gooseberry And Lemon Verbena Cordial recipe  in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£0.52 400g gooseberries (PYO cost, mine were free)
£0.36 280g caster sugar
£0.00 1 litre water
£0.00 6 sprigs lemon verbena

£0.36 Total (£0.88 if buying the gooseberries)
£0.36 per litre of cordial (£0.88 if buying the gooseberries - an equivalent cordial at ocado costs £5.78 a litre)

One time saving aspect of this recipe is that the gooseberries don't need to be topped and tailed, just a quick rinse to remove any dirt and insects, then they're placed in a pan with the sugar...

...water (I find a glass measuring jug the easiest way to measure out quantities of liquid)...

...and the lemon verbena.

Interestingly, lemon verbena originated in South America and can grow to 3 metres high, our plants seem to like it here but have never grown more than a metre high, although they do tend to spread sideways rather quickly.

The strong lemon scent is said to keep for longer after picking than other lemon scented herbs, other than for culinary use the herb can be used as a reviving addition to a hot bath.

The herb is crushed under a rolling pin before adding to the pan, as this release the essential oils.

The mixture is simmered for about 10 minutes, or until the gooseberries start to get tender.

It's allowed to cool, then strained through muslin, making sure every last drop of flavour is squeezed out of the fruit pulp.

After bottling in steralised bottles, this cordial will keep well in the fridge for several months, it can also be frozen in plastic bottles.

Dilute to taste with still or sparkling water, or sparkling white wine.

Recipe Timings

10 minutes Preparation
20 minutes cooking
1 hour cooling
10 minutes bottling

Taste Test

A subtle tasting, not overly sweet cordial, but very refreshing. The lemon verbena adds a very slight citrus taste.

The gooseberries are swelling nicely and early varieties are already in the shops. The fresh fruit is not to everyone's taste, but is delicious when used in jam or chutney. Why not try some of these recipies:

 

Gooseberry and Lemon Verbena Cordial
A thirst quenching way of using up a glut of gooseberries.

Gooseberry Chutney
A basic gooseberry chutney.

Green Gooseberry Jam
Quite simply the best thing to do with gooseberries.
An excellent jam for breakfast, tangy yet sweet, a lovely orange colour, can be flavoured with the addition of elderflowers.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Cordial
A combination of early summer flavours in a cordial. Uses 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.

The amount to add varied from recipe to recipe, so I plumped with an approximation to the one we got off our friend Sarah which was about 50g a litre.

Click for Elderflower Cordial recipe.

Recipe Costs

In addition to the costs from the previous recipe

£0.65 100g citric acid

Out the bottles came from the fridge,  and it was all brought to a simmer on the stove again and the citric acid dissolved in. Back in the bottles and fingers crossed.

Taste Test

Much nicer, still has the scent of elderflowers but isn't too sweet. 

We've been trying to cut down on the amount of fruit juice we consume since I read this article in the paper some time ago. Making a cordial which is basically sugar water may seem a silly way to go about this, but hopefully once diluted it won't be as bad.
There are three good trees in the hedges round the cricket field, and they are nicely away from any roads, which makes for safer and cleaner picking. It's the same place I tend to pick blackberries from, I see it as an added bonus to being a member of the village cricket club.

The flowers themselves smell lovely, it was one of those times I really appreciate living in the countryside, helping the boy pick flowers and then chasing him through the thistles with fallen flowers stuck in his hair.
An hour later, and back home, we had a washing up bowl full which were duly shaken to remove insects and snipped to remove the biggest stalks.

I'd checked out a few recipes online, but all had citric acid in them, which, this being a spur of the moment sort of thing, I didn't have.

(Note: There is a blog post about elderflower cordial with citric acid here.)

Luckily a friend had given us the lovely Edible Wild Plants & Herbs by Pamela Michael which had a recipe for elderflower syrup, which she recommends as a drink diluted with water. You can also use it for cooking fruit in, adding 1 1/2 cups per kilo of fruit. I'll try this once the gooseberries are ripe.

See here for the elderflower cordial recipe.

Recipe Costs

£0 bowl full of elderflowers
£1.63 1750g granulated sugar
£1.63Total
£0.40 per litre of cordial - 2p per diluted litre (4% the cost of the equivalent at ocado)

Into the preserving pan went all the flowers with enough water to cover (about 4.5 litres)

Half an hour of bringing to the boil and simmering later, and with the kitchen full of the smell of flowers, the soggy mass of flowers was strained off. I used some muslin in a sieve, as there were quite a lot of small bits of flower in the pan.

The resulting liquid was measured (3.3 litres) and 400g of sugar added for each 750ml. After bringing to the boil again I bottled it in some steralised screw top wine bottles. This should keep for several months in the fridge, and should last us through the summer.
I also put some in plastic bottles in the freezer, which should last until the autumn.


Recipe Timings

1hr picking flowers
0.5hrs Preparation of flowers
0.5 hrs simmering
0.5 hr Bottling

Taste Test

For an initial taste test I diluted this about 1:20 (15ml per 300ml) with water, and if anything it's was a bit sweet and tasted more of elderflowers than perhaps I'm used to with commercial cordials. It may be why many recipes include citric acid, as a bit of acidity would contrast the sweetness well.
I think I'll try to dilute it more, especially for children, as I worked out diluting it 1:20 means 1.3 teaspoons of sugar per 300ml of finished drink. This is however still much better than fizzy drinks at 8tsp per 300ml, and orange squash at 3.5tsp per 300ml. Pure orange juice contains over 5 teaspoons, although this is in naturally occurring sugars.

For a second test I reduced it to 1:30 (10ml per 300ml), and this is much more refreshing, and only has just under a teaspoon of sugar per 300ml.
I'll look forward to trying it with the Rhubarb Schnapps which is still banished to under the stairs.