Gluten Free: Cherryade

This time last year, I was pregnant, making me the designated driver. At a time of year when a fruity cocktail or chilled glass of wine is the perfect remedy to heat and humidity, I was drinking fizzy water. What I needed was something to liven up my summer drinks. I needed cherryade.

Cherryade was my drink of choice at school sports days, picnics in Balloch and after swimming lessons. It's refreshingly sweet and probably full of the sort of food colourings that cause hyperactivity in children. This one is just as brilliantly pink, but far more natural than the wee plastic bottles from my school tuck shop. It's a great way to make use of the wonderful cherries that are in season and ideal to cool down in this hot (so hot, I can't cope!) weather.

Admittedly, it's not hard to find gluten free drinks. Wine, spirits, fruit juice and most fizzy drinks are fine. Apart from barley squash, certain colas and cloudy lemonades and beer, very few drinks are off the menu. This is about variety. And cherries. If you're not on the wagon, this tastes amazing mixed with vanilla vodka.

Cherryade (makes about 500ml of syrup, 2 litres when diluted)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

You'll need:

• 400g cherries, stones removed
• 200ml fizzy water
• 200g caster sugar
• juice from 1 or 2 lemons

Make it!

1. Put the cherries and water in a saucepan and heat gently until the cherries start to get soft. 
2. Attack it with a potato masher or the end of a rolling pin to mash the cherries and get the juice out of them. 
3. Strain the cherries, giving them a good squish in the sieve to get all that tasty juice out.
4. Add the sugar to the hot juice and stir until dissolved.
5. Add the lemon juice.
6. Leave to cool before mixing with sparkling water or soda water and lots of ice. I use 1 part cherry syrup: 3 parts fizzy water, but let your own tastebuds guide you.
7. The syrup will last a week undiluted, pour it into a clean jar and pop into the fridge until you need it.