Winter berries cordial

I really love making our own cordials, knowing what goes into them and tasting the fruits (or flowers) at their best is just wonderful.

As posted in my Mixed Up Monday post, I have been making a cordial today using Sloes, Cranberries and Blackberries. With the addition of some cloves, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, the house smelt wonderfully festive. It's still a bit too early to put festive decorations up though (isn't it!?).

This is what I did:
1 lb Sloes
Approx 4-5oz Blackberries
Approx 4-5 oz Cranberries
Juice and zest of 1 unwaxed Lemon
Cube of root Ginger sliced
1 stick of Cinnamon
10 Cloves
Freshly grated Nutmeg
Fresh Bay leaf

everything in the pot to simmer

Put all in a pan and cover with water and simmer gently until all the fruit is softened and appears cooked through (30-45 minutes).

straining the fruit

Allow to cool a little and strain, discarding the bay leaf. Whizz the berries with some of the liquid and strain again to remove seeds, etc. Measure how much liquid there is and return it to the pan. For 1 pint of liquid, add 1lb sugar and heat until all the sugar has dissolved.
Pour into sterilised bottles and store. Dilute to taste, lovely as a warm drink, and just as lovely in water or sparking water.

Bottled Cordial

Having allowed this to cool and tasted it, it is absolutely wonderful. It has such a full-bodied taste, I'm not sure how long these bottles will last. This is one of my favourite cordials I have made (Elderflower being my absolute favourite in the Summer). The best thing is, I have more of these fruits in the freezer to make more batches. Yum.