This Page

has moved to a new address:

http://farmersgirlkitchen.co.uk

Sorry for the inconvenienceā€¦

Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service
----------------------------------------------------- Blogger Template Style Name: Snapshot: Madder Designer: Dave Shea URL: mezzoblue.com / brightcreative.com Date: 27 Feb 2004 ------------------------------------------------------ */ /* -- basic html elements -- */ body {padding: 0; margin: 0; font: 75% Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #474B4E; background: #fff; text-align: center;} a {color: #DD6599; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;} a:visited {color: #D6A0B6;} a:hover {text-decoration: underline; color: #FD0570;} h1 {margin: 0; color: #7B8186; font-size: 1.5em; text-transform: lowercase;} h1 a {color: #7B8186;} h2, #comments h4 {font-size: 1em; margin: 2em 0 0 0; color: #7B8186; background: transparent url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/bg-header1.gif) bottom right no-repeat; padding-bottom: 2px;} @media all { h3 { font-size: 1em; margin: 2em 0 0 0; background: transparent url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/bg-header1.gif) bottom right no-repeat; padding-bottom: 2px; } } @media handheld { h3 { background:none; } } h4, h5 {font-size: 0.9em; text-transform: lowercase; letter-spacing: 2px;} h5 {color: #7B8186;} h6 {font-size: 0.8em; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 2px;} p {margin: 0 0 1em 0;} img, form {border: 0; margin: 0;} /* -- layout -- */ @media all { #content { width: 700px; margin: 0 auto; text-align: left; background: #fff url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/bg-body.gif) 0 0 repeat-y;} } #header { background: #D8DADC url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/bg-headerdiv.gif) 0 0 repeat-y; } #header div { background: transparent url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/header-01.gif) bottom left no-repeat; } #main { line-height: 1.4; float: left; padding: 10px 12px; border-top: solid 1px #fff; width: 428px; /* Tantek hack - http://www.tantek.com/CSS/Examples/boxmodelhack.html */ voice-family: "\"}\""; voice-family: inherit; width: 404px; } } @media handheld { #content { width: 90%; } #header { background: #D8DADC; } #header div { background: none; } #main { float: none; width: 100%; } } /* IE5 hack */ #main {} @media all { #sidebar { margin-left: 428px; border-top: solid 1px #fff; padding: 4px 0 0 7px; background: #fff url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/bg-sidebar.gif) 1px 0 no-repeat; } #footer { clear: both; background: #E9EAEB url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/bg-footer.gif) bottom left no-repeat; border-top: solid 1px #fff; } } @media handheld { #sidebar { margin: 0 0 0 0; background: #fff; } #footer { background: #E9EAEB; } } /* -- header style -- */ #header h1 {padding: 12px 0 92px 4px; width: 557px; line-height: 1;} /* -- content area style -- */ #main {line-height: 1.4;} h3.post-title {font-size: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0;} h3.post-title a {color: #C4663B;} .post {clear: both; margin-bottom: 4em;} .post-footer em {color: #B4BABE; font-style: normal; float: left;} .post-footer .comment-link {float: right;} #main img {border: solid 1px #E3E4E4; padding: 2px; background: #fff;} .deleted-comment {font-style:italic;color:gray;} /* -- sidebar style -- */ @media all { #sidebar #description { border: solid 1px #F3B89D; padding: 10px 17px; color: #C4663B; background: #FFD1BC url(http://www.blogblog.com/snapshot/bg-profile.gif); font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 0.9; margin: 0 0 0 -6px; } } @media handheld { #sidebar #description { background: #FFD1BC; } } #sidebar h2 {font-size: 1.3em; margin: 1.3em 0 0.5em 0;} #sidebar dl {margin: 0 0 10px 0;} #sidebar ul {list-style: none; margin: 0; padding: 0;} #sidebar li {padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 0.9;} #profile-container {color: #7B8186;} #profile-container img {border: solid 1px #7C78B5; padding: 4px 4px 8px 4px; margin: 0 10px 1em 0; float: left;} .archive-list {margin-bottom: 2em;} #powered-by {margin: 10px auto 20px auto;} /* -- sidebar style -- */ #footer p {margin: 0; padding: 12px 8px; font-size: 0.9em;} #footer hr {display: none;} /* Feeds ----------------------------------------------- */ #blogfeeds { } #postfeeds { }

Monday 25 November 2013

Homemade Christmas Gifts - Sloe Cordial

Sloe Gin is very popular, but I've made it in the past and it just lurks in my drinks cabinet and ends up getting thrown out.  So this year I decided to make Sloe Cordial a non-alcoholic cordial that can be topped up either with alcohol i.e. Gin, Vodka, Prosecco, dry white wine or with non-alcholic mixers like tonic water, soda water or lemonade.

I froze my sloes after picking, mainly because I didn't have time to make the cordial, but the freezing also helps break down the sloes and mimics the frost you are supposed to have had before picking them.  I was rather pleased that I had because I was contacted by Pattesons Glass with the offer of some jars or bottles to review.  I decided to go for the bottles and make some gifts for Christmas.

Pattesons have a fantastic range of glass bottles and jars which are ideal for those of us obsessed with keen on preserving in all it's forms, they are also great for styling in food photography and I'm sure you will be seeing more of these bottles in future posts.   Jars are not too difficult to get hold of, but a great range of interesting bottles like the ones in the photograph above are much less widely available.   I have plans for some flavoured vinegar for the larger bottles.  The only drawback with these bottles is that they are only available in fairly large quantities.  You can order a sample set of three different bottles or jars for Ā£10.  If you want to order bottles, then you may wish to get together with a group of friends and share the bottles between you, as 50 is the minimum order.  Pattesons also sell Le Parfait jars in smaller quantities which are ideal for preserving.

Sloe Cordial

1kg Sloes
1 litre water
Juice of 1 lemon
Granulated Sugar (80g per 100ml liquid)

1. Bring the sloes, water and lemon juice to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Break up the cooked sloes with a wooden spoon or potato masher, don't bother about the stones as they will be sieved out later.
3. Simmer for a further 10 minutes.
4. Pour the mixture through a sieve.  If you want your cordial to be clear you should line your sieve with a muslin and don't push the pulp through.  I didn't do that and although the cordial is perfectly fine it isn't clear.
5. Clean the pan and pour the juice back in, add the sugar and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
6. Bring to the boil an simmer for another 10 minutes.  Cool and bottle in sterilised bottles.

To drink, add 10 parts water to one part cordial. 

 I received a range of glass bottles from Patteson's Glass, I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

10 Comments:

At 25 November 2013 at 20:47 , Blogger Cakeyboi said...

Love the idea of Sloe cordial Janice. As a fan of sloe gin, this would be delicious I'm sure!

 
At 25 November 2013 at 21:02 , Blogger Susan said...

Lovely idea and recipe too Janice I shall look forward very much to Santa bringing me a bottle, cheers!

 
At 25 November 2013 at 21:31 , Anonymous Deena Kakaya said...

What a wonderful idea, gorgeous colour too! I'm sure we would guzzle lots of it down too x

 
At 27 November 2013 at 11:26 , Anonymous Dan said...

Lovely gift idea. I'll give it a try.

 
At 28 November 2013 at 13:08 , Anonymous Camilla @FabFood4All said...

What a lovely idea for a gift and such pretty bottles:-)

 
At 29 November 2013 at 15:54 , Blogger Choclette said...

Your bottles look so pretty Janice and the colour of the sloe syrup is wonderful. Such a good idea to make this. Sadly I didn't get to pick any this year, so no sloe gin or even syrup for me.

 
At 13 February 2015 at 12:26 , Blogger steffi,jc said...

This is a must have!!! I made the cordial last night from sloes picked and frozen last autumn, and from a kilo I had a little over one litre of gorgeously deep coloured very fruity and strong cordial.

Thank you Janice for sharing this receipe.

 
At 13 February 2015 at 18:42 , Blogger Janice said...

That's so good to hear steffi, enjoy

 
At 8 May 2015 at 16:15 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Must try this can you substitute honey for the sugar, and how long will the sloe cordial keep?

 
At 10 May 2015 at 17:38 , Blogger Janice said...

I'm not sure about with honey, but the batch I made was still good after a year, kept in a dark cupboard.

 

Post a Comment

I love to read your comments and try to reply when I can. I have had to enable comment moderation due to high levels of spam, so it may take a little time before your comment is visible. Please let me know if you make one of my recipes or if you have any questions I will try to answer them. Janice

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home