This is what real lemons look like off a tree. They came from Nola from work, who kindly gave them to me from her tree. Fragrant and really really juicy, perfect for making cordial.
It frustrates me when I'm out and about and see beautiful citrus, laden on peoples' trees untouched. Lemons, grapefruits and tangelos. I unfortunately have a struggling lemon tree that has only produced 2 lemons. On the other hand I have a kaffir lime tree that produces no fruit but does have beautiful glossy kaffir lime leaves, that was my inspiration for this cordial.
I adapted the recipe from the book, 'The Cooks Companion' by Stephanie Alexander
You will need (I halved the original recipe, 2kg of sugar was just too much for me)
- 1kg of sugar or castor sugar
- 500 mls water
- 15g citric acid
- 15g tartaric acid
- juice of 3 lemons, strained
- finely grated zest of 2 lemons
- I used 8 kaffir lime leaves, but next time I would double that, as the lemon easily overpowers it
Dissolve the sugar in water over heat in a big pot, along with the kaffir lime leaves that you have scrunched up and bruised to release as much flavour as possible. Add the acids and stir until completely dissolved. Cool. Stir in juice and zest and bottle into clean, dry bottles.
Dilute with soda water or mineral. A touch of gin would be perfect for a summer cocktail.
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