Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Recipe Book Recipe Reviews => Topic started by: I Love Bimby! on December 15, 2009, 01:57:59 am
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Recipe Name: Berry Cordial
Book Name: Everyday Cookbook (Aust)
Tweaking details:
I trippled the quanity of the recipe to make just under 2L of cordial for hampers. Using this volume I cooked the first stage for 10 minutes and then the second stage for 12 minutes (double the amount of time that is specified for the single volume) and this worked quiet well.
I would recommend at least 1 perhaps 2 lemons per standard quantity to balance out the flavours. The EDC doesn't indicate how much to use at all.
On the second batch (yes I made nearly 4 litres) I changed the ratio slightly and increased the amount of fruit and decreased the amount of water for a stronger fruitier flavour, which worked well.
Review: This passed Miss 3s taste test with a big "Yummy"and quiet impressed that her mother made it ;D ;D When diluting it I found I need to use slightly more than a commercial cordial, but much nicer and healthier!
Score: (out of 5*) 5
Can't believe that its taken me this long to find this recipe :-)) Won't buy any fruit syrups again!
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Thanks for doing this ILB. Sometimes I find it takes others to review a recipe to make me interested in making it.
I think this would be great for our warmer weather. Is on my 'to do' list now for the coming week. ;D
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Thanks ILB :-* :-* :-* as JO says - you need someone to point out the good recipes in the EDC too :-* :-* :-*
Congrats on the new avatar too
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ILB, you have been busy. It really helps when people post reviews.
I love the new avatar too.
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Credit actually goes to Nay Nay for posting about it under the Christmas Hampers - which is what inspired me.
Thanks re the avatar - the other one was nearly 2 years old :o :-))! Thought it was time for an update :D ;)
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I made a single batch of this today, so easy to make and not that expensive either. It was a little too sweet for me but DH thought it was great.
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I decided to fix the batch by making another lot but then added NO sugar to it whatsoever. I then mixed that into the first lot of syrup and voila, a perfect cordial - to my taste anyway and I'm sure the kids don't need that much sugar either.
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Good save Judy ;D
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Thanks JulieO - I'm wrapped with it now.
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Good job Judy!!! :-* :-* :-*
This cordial also goes really nicely with mineral water as "Pink Lemonade" - Miss 3 was wrapped and claimed half of mine too! :-))
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Must be good :o
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I made a single batch last night and used only half sugar to weighed fruit and it was plenty sweet for us. I like the idea of having it with sparkling water too. ;D
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I made this when I first got my TMX and my DH commented that it was like drinking jam (it was terribly sweet). I think I will try it again soon using half of the sugar and all raspberries instead of a mix of berries. :)
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I found the amount of sugar fine because if you don't like it as sweet you just need to dilute it further with water or soda. If you halve the sugar you will use it up alot quicker. ???
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Nay-nay I found I used the same amount of cordial whether it was the full on sugar version or the 1/2 sugar one - I still want it to taste like raspberries and if it is diluted too much surely you would lose some of the fruitiness. Tested it on the grandchildren & their mother today and they loved it.
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I made this the other day and MacKenzie (DD) just loves it, I also mixed it with mineral water and got the thumbs up.
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It is lovely. This batch I just used half of the sugar recommended in the EDC and it is delicious. :)
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I made another double batch today with 1/2 sugar. The first lot was supposed to be for son-in-law but we drank it all ourselves :-)) :-)) :-))
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That's a good recommendation !!!
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My family love this recipe. I might try ILBs suggestion and double the fruit to give it a bit more flavour. We definately won't be buying more syrup or cordial. We've a birthday party this week-end and I'm going to make a punch with this, soda water, juice, sliced oranges, lemons and lots of ice. I've only ever made it with a bought syrup so this year it should be an even bigger hit, and healthier.
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My hubby wanted to have slurpies last night using a recipe my consultant sent me, but we had no cordial as I have refused to buy it on the basis that I was going to make this one. Soooo, I pulled my finger out and made it last night. It is great! I only had 240g sugar so that is all I used (the fruit weighed about 380g) and the juice of a good sized lemon (maybe a third to a half cup?) and it was a great combination.
We will definitely be making it again.
Kerryn
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So with adjustments,
double the berries, so 260gms, less 130gms water, so 170 gms of water.
And then whatever the end weight is half that of sugar?
Am I on the right lines? :D
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Also, is anyone using frozen fruit?
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I always use frozen berries. Wait til they are on special and stock up then. Also wait til strawberries are really cheap and freeze punnets. ;)
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Awesome, thanks Nay Nay!
I live 2 minutes from a massive organic strawberry farm, so strawberries are always from there :D
I can't bear to use my fresh raspberries for cordial though, it seems like such sacrilege! (after fighting the flies and the heat to pick them myself)
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LeeJ, when I do a double batch I use 260g raspberries, 600g water. Once the liquid is strained and weighed back into the bowl, use half the amount of sugar of the total weight instead of equal amounts as the recipe says. As ILB suggested, use the juice of 1 lemon for each single batch of this cordial.
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I always use fozen berries as well. Last batch was blueberries, though I do think my favourite is raspberry! :P
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I made a syrup this year, recipe about the same as, in which I drastically reduced the sugar, I used Mulberries as I have a tree and it was wonderful.
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made this as is first go and it was lovely and has no extras in it!! used fresh raspberries and this summer will definatley be using fresh fruit from the garden and neighbours..will try next time upping the fruit content and reducing the sugar and water to see how it goes but also never buying cordial again...! :) :)
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This is delicious, especially in soda water and lots of ice blocks. I used half the sugar and next time I'll reduce the sugar a bit more.
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I made it the other day with cherries and 1/2 the amount of sugar. Lovely. Kids so impressed. (I was surprised they knew what cordial was, lol, though dd2 said she'd had some at a friends house). dd1 said so it's just like juice then, lol.
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I made this for the party with double frozen raspberries and 1/2 the sugar. Then for serving just added the soda water, extra lemon juice and a lemon slice. I still think it's a bit sweet. The kids loved it though. Delicious on a tropical day.
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im a bit confused as to why some are saying its so sweet...cordial is concentrated so if you want it less sweet you just add alot more water or soda water etc to the glass, bowl or other when consuming and use less cordial?? am i missing something??...obviously lemonade isnt the best solution but only soda water or normal water???? ???
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Frozzie, for me I wanted more fruit flavour than sugar sweetness.
We still use the same amount of cordial in the glass as before but the berry flavour comes through a lot more now.
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Spot on ILB. :-* :-*
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Frozzie, as ILB said it's the fruit flavour I was after rather than the sugar flavour. If I dilute it too much then I lose the fruit flavour as well. Make sense?
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yes thanks..ILB, JD and sue_h.. i never had that problem ie the berry flavour was quite present but maybe the variety is different and the flavour stronger here...i will however try less sugar and more fruit to try it out..after all..less sugar is always better :)
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Less is certainly best Frozzie ;)
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I bought a kilo of frozen raspberries (Nanna's brand) at Woolies for $7.99 this morning. More cordial coming up.
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Has anyone tried apple and raspberry together?
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No, but it does sound nice Azar. Welcome to the forum by the way.
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After reading through this thread, I wanted to kind of double thre recipe button have it too sweet. Following the suggestions of others, my final quantities were as follows:
270g frozen raspberries (thawed)
600g water
Blitz 20 seconds, speed 4
Then 5 mins at 90degrees, speed 2
Strained in to a separate jug, then weighed the strained liquid back in to the *: (this made 760g)
I then added just under half that amount of sugar into the *: (so I added 340g sugar)
Then, heat for 6 minutes, 90degrees, speed 2
Then I added 60g fresh squeezed lemon juice, and mixed speed 2 for another 10 seconds or so to ensure it was combined.
Poured into sterilised jars - made over 1 litre.
Very happy with final flavour - to me it tastes mostly like raspberries, not sugar.
Next time, I would skim the foam off the top at the end before bottling - it has risen to top in the biggest bottle I used, but not sure if this is just cosmetic or will affect the texture as I haven't used that bottle yet.
Definitely happy with this! Thank you all for the advice and tweaks :)
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I've just done another batch of this. Each time I make it I have been reducing the sugar even more. Now I put half the sugar and take another 50-60 g less as well. So if you need 340g sugar, I only put 280-290 g in. It is still sweet enough. I will try to get it down even more if I can without harming the flavour.