Mocktail Hour: Raspberry and Redcurrant Cordial

This is an easy recipe for a (shock, horror!) non-alcoholic beverage. But, if you want to cheat, you can add sparkling wine to the finished cordial instead of lemonade. There’s no need to be too fancy, anything cheap but bubbly will be fine. This makes around half a litre of cordial, which goes a long way when diluted, so it’s perfect for parties, especially in summer. But, if you do end up having any leftover at the end of the day, make sure it’s kept in a sealed, sterilised bottle, and finish it off within two weeks.

All you need is:

• 400g mixed redcurrants and raspberries
• 150g caster sugar
• 1tbsp lemon juice

All you need to do is:

Blend the fruit until it’s soft and mushy, then decant into a bowl and add 50ml of boiling water. Cover and leave for an hour. Then, sieve the mixture into a bowl, pressing the pulp through using the back of a spoon. Heat your sugar in a pan with 50ml of water until the sugar’s dissolved, then add to your strained juice along with the lemon juice. Give it a good stir, and you’re done! Chill before serving with lemonade (or sparkling wine, if you really can’t resist).

Flickr image from Rodrigo Miguez's photostream.