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 elderflowers are bursting out of the hedgerows at this time of year. The best time to pick them is on a dry, warm day when the blooms are newly open and white. Try to find a bush that is away from a main road (to avoid exhaust fumes), and remember to keep to public footpaths. Their fragrance gives a wonderful summery flavour to the following recipes.

 

Elderflower and Rhubarb Jam
A combination of the best two early summer flavours.

Elderflower Cordial
A special drink ready in time for the summer, great served with fizzy wine.

Elderflower Cordial With Citric Acid
A tart, refreshing version of the classic elderflower cordial recipe.

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.

 

 

Now is the time of year when rhubarb is readily available. Why not get the preserving pan out, celebrate this most English of vegetables, and try some of the following recipes:

 

Elderflower and Rhubarb Jam
A combination of the best two early summer flavours.

Rhubarb and Ginger Schnapps
A delicious summer drink, spiced up with a hint of ginger.

Rhubarb Schnapps
A special drink ready in time for the summer, great served with fizzy wine.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
A subtle tasting jam with crystallised ginger.

Rhubarb Chutney
Recipe for a rich dark chutney with apricots.

 

Rhubarb Relish
Make with maincrop rhubarb, good with curries, oily fish and cheese.

 

Last spring's rhubarb schnapps was one of the great preserving successes of the year, so I have been keen to make some more from the moment the rhubarb in the garden started sprouting

As well as making a jar of the original version this year I have also tried a jar with added ginger. Ginger always works well with rhubarb, rhubarb and ginger jam also being a favorite, so this schnapps should be good with a extra bit of spice.

See here for the rhubarb and ginger schnapps recipe.

Recipe Costs

£6.22 1kg rhubarb (equivalent cost, mine was free)
£0.28 300g granulated sugar
£11.19 1l vodka
£0.50 50 g fresh ginger

£18.19 Total (£11.97 without buying the rhubarb)
£18.19 per litre of schnapps (£11.97 without buying the rhubarb - peach schnapps costs £14.27 at ocado)

I picked the rhubarb on one of the glorious sunny mornings we've been having recently, just the weather for getting inspired to make a drink that's best drunk when outdoors.

One kilogram of rhubarb stalks (a mixture of thick and thin) is chopped up and packed in to a steralised preserving jar.

Sliced fresh ginger is added amongst the layers (best to add it as you're packing the rhubarb in the jar).

300g of granulated sugar, this amount can be varied if you prefer a sweeter or sharper schnapps. You can taste the schnapps after six weeks or so and add more sugar if you wish.

I find a jam funnel helps to avoid spilling sugar everywhere, although obviously it's not a problem if you're working outside.

The jar is topped up with cheap vodka, sealed, and given a good shake, once a day for a few weeks until the sugar is dissolved and then every week until you feel like straining it. The jar should be kept in a cool dark place and the rhubarb should be strained out before drinking. Wait at least six weeks before sampling, but you can leave it for up to six months if you wish.

The liquid will turn a lovely pink colour and is great drunk neat, with sparkling wine or with fizzy water.

Recipe Timings

15 minutes Preparation
6 weeks Standing

Taste Test

This will have to wait a few weeks.

With the sloe gin sitting under the stairs being regularly shaken, thoughts have turned to making other sorts of warming drinks which will be ready for Christmas. Also, as our neighbours have been supplying us with quantities of apples, it would be nice to be able to repay them in a few months time.

The obvious conclusion, especially after the successful making of rhubarb schnapps,  was to try and hunt down an apple schnapps recipe, maybe with the addition of cinnamon for that extra warming taste. I found just what I was looking for on the canadianliving.com website.

See here for the the apple and cinnamon schnapps recipe in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£1.34 1kg bramley apples (equivalent cost, mine was free)
£0.09 100g granulated sugar
£7.89 70cl vodka
£0.17 1 cinnamon stick

£9.49 Total (£8.15 without buying the apples)
£13.55 per litre of schnapps (£11.64 without buying the apples - peach schnapps costs £14.27 at ocado)

The apples were washed and then thinly sliced without peeling or removing the cores. The whole lot is strained out after several months so it all adds to the flavour.

The apples, cinnamon stick and sugar are put into jars which have an airtight seal, I find Le Parfait jars ideal for this.

I used two 1 litre jars for this, as it leaves a bit of room for shaking the contents every now and again. After mixing well to dissolve the sugar the jars are put in a cool dark place for a minimum of 3 weeks, preferably two months. The contents will then be strained off through muslin, pressing the apples to release all the liquid.
Should be ready just in time for Christmas.

Recipe Timings

15 mins preparation
2 months sitting

Taste Test

Compared to something like sloe gin, this is very sweet and smooth with the cinnamon adding a warming afterglow. Definitely one to make if you have a glut of apples.

 

I've been looking around for some inspiration for sloe gin labels, as some of ours will probably be and parceled up for Christmas presents. This example from the 1920's is a beauty, the original can be found at the International Poster Gallery.
I rather like the idea of putting superior quality on my own sloe gin labels.

I have discovered sloes in our garden hedge, which I am very excited about as I had forgotten I'd planted blackthorn as part of the native hedge mix put in 5 years ago. I shall have to make some sloe gin.

Until a few weeks ago the stretch of hedge was inaccessible, but as part of landscaping the garden to create a lawn I reached it and gave it a well needed trim. Amongst the hawthorn and hazel I found six bushes of the small purple berries, which were confirmed as sloes by a experienced gin maker who happened to be visiting at the time.

I am conscious I maybe picked the sloes a bit early, but I've now sown a lawn in front of the bushes and shouldn't walk on it for several months.

I've done a bit of research into the best way to make sloe gin and it seems to be one of those recipes that varies from region to region and person to person. Is it best to pick after the first frost or has this now changed due to global warming? Do you prick the berries with  a thorn from the bush, a silver fork, or just hit them with a rolling pin? Do you add freeze the berries first, add almond essence,whole almonds or cinnamon?

There are many excellent sites discussing these issues, the most helpful were at:

The Cottage Smallholder

The sloe.biz forums

The recipe I used was adapted from the sloe.biz forums.

See here for the sloe gin recipe in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£1.90 340g sloes (equivalent cost from ebay, mine were free)
£ 7.99 70cl gin (from aldi)
£0.12 130g granulated sugar
£10.01 Total (or £8.11 if you pick the sloes yourself)
£14.03 per litre of sloe gin - 63% the equivalent cost at tesco (£11.58 with picking your own sloes - half the equivalent cost at tesco )

Here are the sloes after I'd frozen them overnight, defrosted them and pricked them all with a needle, they were quite squishy at this stage so some got squashed.

I used a wide necked 2 litre kilner jar, the same as used for rhubarb schnapps, this makes it very easy to get the ingredients in and mixed up. Advice on how much sugar varies, but several sources recommend tasting the gin after a few months and adding more sugar if necessary.

I used 70cl of Aldi's best quality gin, which I'm sure won't be enough when it come to Christmas, but I'd picked all the berries from my young bushes. I shall have to go out and see if I can find any larger bushes nearby.

Here's the colour of the mixture after 12 hours, already showing the characteristic deep purple starting to develop. I've put the jar on the kitchen windowsill and will shake it every time I do the washing up, once the sugar is dissolved it will go under the stairs until Christmas.

Recipe Timings

20 mins preparation
5 mins mixing
2 - 3 months waiting

Taste Test

Marvellous, just right for sipping in front of the fire after a winter walk. The colour after 3 months is incredibly deep which adds a festive feel. I wouldn't change the amount of sugar used, although of course this may vary with how tart the berries were to begin with.

After making Rhubarb Schnapps six weeks ago (see here for the rhubarb schnapps recipe) I've been popping under the stairs every few days and giving it a good shake. It's been great to watch the colour change, and finally yesterday I got to strain it and see it in all it's glory.

Straining was easy enough, a piece of muslin in a sieve worked well, although you can get muslin bags for this purpose. I just need to think of something to do with all that vodka infused rhubarb. Not sure if it would work in a crumble, maybe an alcoholic smoothie.

The first taste test was the neat drink (in a small amount), and it was not as rough as I'd expected given the quality of the vodka used. Actually the rhubarb taste was much stronger than I'd hoped for, and the sweetness wasn't overpowering.

The second taste test was a cocktail of one shot of schnapps and one of elderflower cordial topped up with sparkling water. This was a much more of a refreshing drink, with a wonderful summery taste.

I had a hunt around for cocktail recipes using rhubarb schnapps, but perhaps not surprisingly I couldn't find any. There were plenty using either rhubarb puree or peach schnapps, so  may be doing a little experimenting over the next few months, first off will be rhubarb schnapps topped up with sparkling white wine, a sort of rhubarb Bellini.