cumquat cordial

please don't judge me too harshly when i tell you this but i've watched the film 'meet the parents'! there's a scene in the film where milking a cat is discussed..now you're probably wondering what the heck cumquat cordial has got to do with cats and their mammaries but bear with me..

i've made a few cumquat recipes over the last few years..there've been brandied cumquats and cumquat peel, cumquat jelly (the  gelatine one), cumquat marmalade, cumquat jelly (the jam one), cumquat curd and cumquat delicious (like lemon delicious but without the lemon)..and i've added cumquat marmalade to bread and cake..if you had a cumquat tree like mine you'd understand..and you can't give them away because the only people i know who'd be interested in all things cumquat already have their own supply to deal with..but don't get me wrong here people..i'm not complaining..it's just that cumquats are so small..yeah they're ever so cute and they smell adorable but they're the devil to juice..

cumquat cordial

sally wise

i doubled the recipe which made 6 bottles

ingredients

1000 gms cumquats washed and stems removed
3 kgs sugar
8 cups boiling water
2 heaped tablespoon citric acid

method

~ place sugar, citric acid and water in a large bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved
~ process cumquats finely, add to the sugar solution, and then leave until cool
~ strain through a muslin lined sieve pressing to extract as much juice possible
~ pour into sterilized bottles and refrigerate

to serve

~ a splash of cordial with soda water or water

comments

even though this cordial is delicious i think it needs a higher cumquat to sugar ratio..and that's not just because i've got so many cumquats i don't know what to do with them! to counteract the sweetness i've been adding some fresh juice to each glass of made up cordial and that's worked well but next time i make the cordial i'm going to add it directly to the syrup to get the tangy flavour i'm after..i've given up on the juicer method since i made a miraculous discovery that's entirely technology free..i just squeeze each half between my fingers..mieow!

do you make cordial? if so what's your favourite?