Lemon & Orange Cordial

Sunday night I came home from a dinner with friends with a huge basket of lemons.  Yesterday I made our first batch of homemade cordial for 2011.  I also had a few home grown oranges Craig had been given by a customer, so I decided on an orange/lemon cordial. It is a wonderfully refreshing drink when made up with water and ice, or my favourite way to drink it is mixed with soda water for a 'real' lemonade taste.  Today I will juice the rest of the lemons and freeze the juice to make up some more once this batch is gone.

I combined a couple of different recipes for this batch.  If you want to make your own here is the recipe I used.

Lemon & Orange Cordial

7 medium lemons
3 oranges
1.5kg sugar
1 1/2 litres water
2 Tablespoons Citric acid
2 Tablespoons Tartaric acid

Combine water and sugar, in a non aluminium saucepan, and heat until all the sugar is dissolved.
Add the finely grated zest of three lemons to the sugar syrup and allow to cool.
Juice the lemons and oranges and dissolve the Citric acid and Tartaric acid in the juice.
Add strained juice to cooled sugar syrup mixture and mix well.
Transfer to clean, dry (and sterilised, if you want) bottles.

Refrigerate.  Keeps for 4 - 6 weeks...if it lasts that long!

Drink diluted to taste with water and ice, soda water or lemonade.