Recipe: Make your own - Ribena (blackcurrant cordial)!

As I sit here typing I'm sipping that most delicious of drinks... but it's homemade and so simple to do that I just had to post it.

With the heatwave we've had I think we'll be in for a bumper crop of blackcurrants this year and if you can gather a kilo from your bushes you'll have enough to make approx 3 x 250ml bottles of this special cordial that's full, for most of us, of childhood memories.

My urge to make it came mostly from necessity, as I actually had blackcurrants still in the freezer from last year's crop! (life has been too hectic to make jam etc).

It's hard to do a sugar/nutritional comparison with actual Ribena because of the way they word their labelling (just how much water is in their 'juice'?) but I do know that my cordial contains no added Potasium Sorbate, Sodium Bisulphite (preservatives) or additional Anthocyanins (for colour).

What a perfect summer drink. What a perfect summer.

Chantal xx

Collect: large heavy bottom pan, wooden spoon, measuring jug, scales, large sieve, fine sieve, glass bottles, funnel, ladle, large spoon, boiled kettle.

Gather

1kg ripe blackcurrants - off the stem (a job to do while sitting in front of the TV one night)

500ml water - ideally filtered or bottled so that the taste isn't tainted in any way

300g white granulated sugar approx (you can use less - go by a taste that you prefer - or a good rule of thumb is half volume of sugar to juice you produce)

Create

1. Add the blackcurrants and water to the pan and bring to the boil.

2. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the fruit are softened and the juice released. Press them gently with the the back of your wooden spoon or a potato masher to make sure you extract as much juice as possible.

jam bubbling in background, cordial at front & sieve at the ready

3. Whilst simmering, sterilise your bottles - you can either do this in the oven, or, if lazy like me and they have been through the dishwasher, you can fill them with boiling water and empty just before you fill them with cordial. (I place the bottle lids in boiling water too.)
 
4. Strain the mixture through a sieve and press with the back of a spoon to make sure you get the maximum juice.

5. Strain the juice again through a fine sieve if you have one or through a muslin cloth (this may take some time) into a measuring jug and note the volume.

6. Add the juice to a clean pan and add sugar to half the volume of the juice that you've collected. I had 600ml juice and so added 300ml sugar (but I think I could get away with less next time) so err on the side of caution first and taste as you add sugar a bit at a time.

7. Gently heat the juice and sugar until it's just simmering and all of the sugar has dissolved. 

8. Using your funnel (don't forget to sterilise this in boiling water too) ladle or carefully pour your boiling cordial into your hot sterilised bottles and cap tightly immediately.

9. Leave to cool completely before labelling and using.

motley assortment of bottles I had to hand at the time!

Enjoy!

Simply add cold water to dilute to a taste that you like. Sparkling water is great with it and I dare say it would be fabulous (dahlink) with a drop of champagne!

Keep the opened bottle in the fridge and consume within a week (no problem with that once you've tasted it) and keep unopened bottles in a cool dark cupboard. [unsure yet as to how long it will keep - will update when I know]

Cooks tips:
I use Silver Spoon sugar because it's made from sugar beet grown in the UK and is suitable for vegans (it isn't refined/bleached using animal ash).
I keep all old jars and glass bottles for just such an occasion - they are very expensive to buy new, so its a great habit to get into!