Cordial Recipes

Since I've seen a few posts here asking for recipes, I decided to post two here and make a few other recommendations. If anyone is looking for a specific recipe, mail to me and I'll mail it back.

First, the part that makes cordials sweet is sugar syrup. It is 1 cup of sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water. This makes about 2/3 cup sugar syrup and for those of you who have made candy, this is very similar to a recipe for rock candy. If any coridal is not sweet enough, just add a little more sugar or sugar syrup, depending upon what you want to do with it.

Second, the alcohol. Vodka is as pure an alcohol as most of us can get, and since it will be flavored, don't worry about a high quality (or even a medium) vodka. Just get the cheapest stuff you can get. It will serve quite nicely. Brandy and white wine are different. Get what you can afford. A good brandy helps a liquor always.

Since a lot of berries are in season, here is a raspberry recipe.

1.5 cups ripe raspberries
sliced and scraped peel of 1/2 lemon
3 cups vodka or 3 cups brandy or 2 parts vodka and 1 part brandy, or substitute white wine for brandy
3/4 cup sugar syrup

Lightly crush the berries, add the lemon peel and berries to the alcohol. Steep for 2-4 weeks. Strain and filter, squeezing all the berries for the juice. Add the sugar syrup and let it mature for 4-6 weeks.

For Creme de Framboise, use all brandy and add 2 cups of sugar syrup.

4-5 whole tangerines
4 whole cloves
3 cups vodka
1 cup sugar syrup

Pierce the tangerine peeling swith a fork and insert the cloves into the indentions. Steep in vodka for 10 days using enough vodka to cover the fruit. Strain and filter. Add sugar syrup and mature

I disagree with this recipe since it calls for the whole tangerine. The with pith (the white part between the skin and fruit) will give anyone wine or liquor and bad taste (this is according to all my taste testers who for once did not finish a sample bottle like they usually do). Try this recipe by peeling the skin very lightly so as not avoid the pith and juice the fruit in a juicer or some other way. Throw the juice and skin in together with the alcohol and let it sit for 3 weeks before adding the sugar syrup. Then strain, filter, and mature,

3 cups brandy can be used for this recipe with a little more sugar syrup also. Tastes different and maybe better.

William Silke, Ansteorra