This delicious, bright red raspberry cordial is the perfect drink to cool down with on a hot summers day. Inspired by the raspberry cordial Anne Shirley so raved about in Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic novel, 'Anne of Green Gables", we tried to keep the recipe as true to the old fashioned PEI drink as possible, using only four ingredients!
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My wife took my daughter to see Anne of Green Gables the Musical for the first time this year, and I though what a fitting recipe to treat the kids with during the hot summer weather we are having!
What is a cordial?
Depending on where in the world you are, a cordial can be an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink:
- In the United States and Canada 'cordials' are most often sold as a sweet, fruit infused spirits or liqueurs.
- In the UK , cordials are commonly a sweet, non-alcoholic drink and are often called a squash.
Non-alcoholic cordials are often used to help flavor mixed drinks, but they also make the perfect child friendly summer drink as well! Almost any fruit can be used to make a home made cordial, making the flavor options almost limitless!
Frozen or Fresh Raspberries?
Many home made cordial recipes use frozen fruit, and I believe it is simply for convenience. Frozen fruit is often cheaper, and available throughout the year, while fresh fruits, (especially berries) can be much more expensive and wont last as long.
As the raspberries are cooked in this recipe, it doesn't matter if you use fresh or frozen fruit, though we have found fresh, homegrown raspberries to have a brighter, sweeter flavor then frozen raspberries which are often times quite tart.
How to make your own 'Anne of Green Gables' inspired Raspberry Cordial
For this simple summertime treat, we wanted to keep the recipe as true to what would have been used in the olden days on Prince Edward Island. That means no frozen fruit, and no food coloring or special sweeteners. Only fresh raspberries, sugar, lemon, and water!
Raspberry Cordial Ingredients
To make your own old fashioned raspberry cordial you'll need:
- 750 grams fresh raspberries - (3x 6oz ½ pint containers or 5 cups fresh berries)
- 1.5 cups white sugar
- 6 cups water
- 1 lemon juiced and strained
Raspberry Cordial Instructions
In a large pot, combine the fresh raspberries, sugar, and a splash of water and heat over medium heat until the sugar has melted. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring periodically to prevent scorching.
As the sugar melts and heats up it will create a sort of raspberry puree as the raspberries start to break up. Add the rest of the water and bring the pot to a low simmer.
Once the pot starts to simmer, turn the heat down to low, and gently simmer for 15 minutes to extract all the flavor from the fresh raspberries. Try to keep the pot from boiling, and keep the temperature as low as possible to retain as much of the natural flavor of the raspberries!
Strain the entire pot through a fine mesh strainer. We used a fine mesh chinois strainer, though any other fine mesh strainer will work as well. Gently mash the berry pulp, to squeeze as much juice and flavor out of the raspberries as possible. Be careful! The raspberries and juice are hot!
Important Note: By mashing the raspberries, your cordial will end up being cloudy, though this will not effect the flavor at all. To remove any cloudiness, you can strain the juice a second time through a food grade microfilter or clean linen cloth.
Once the juice has been strained, fully cool the raspberry juice in the fridge. Once cooled, add the strained lemon juice and mix well.
Pour the raspberry cordial into clean glass bottles for storage in the fridge. Serve and enjoy!
How To Store Raspberry Cordial
The finished raspberry cordial will easily store for a week if refrigerated in a clean, non-reactive food grade bottle or container. Glass pop top bottles work especially well, you just need to make sure they are cleaned very well before filling.
For longer term storage, the raspberry cordial can be bottled and canned as per standardized canning methods for fruit juices.
Tip: To keep your raspberry cordial fresh for as long as possible when storing in the fridge, fill bottles as close to the top as possible leaving less then an inch of headspace (air). Less air means less chance for bacteria to grow!
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Recipe
Raspberry Cordial - Inspired by Anne of Green Gables
Ingredients
- 750 grams fresh raspberries 3x 6oz ½ pint containers or 5 cups fresh berries
- 1.5 cups white sugar
- 6 cups water
- 1 whole lemon juiced and strained
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine the fresh raspberries, sugar, and a splash of water and heat over medium heat until the sugar has melted. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring periodically to prevent scorching.
- As the sugar melts and heats up it will create a sort of raspberry puree as the raspberries start to break up. Add the rest of the water and bring the pot to a low simmer.
- Once the pot starts to simmer, turn the heat down to low, and gently simmer for 15 minutes to extract all the flavor from the fresh raspberries. Try to keep the pot from boiling, and keep the temperature as low as possible to retain as much of the natural goodness of the raspberries!
- Strain the entire pot through a fine mesh strainer. We used a fine mesh chinois strainer, though any other fine mesh strainer will work as well. Gently mash the berry pulp, to squeeze as much juice and flavor out of the raspberries as possible. Be careful! The raspberries and juice are hot!
- Once the juice has been strained, fully cool the raspberry juice in the fridge. Once cooled, add the strained lemon juice and mix well.
- Pour the raspberry cordial into clean glass bottles for storage in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
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