Elderberry Cordial, Mint Cordial and wines

I had a busy weekend, working on several on-going wine and cordial projects. Two wines, a Chardonnay and Viognier, have been racked, and a Shiraz has been fined and is now settling out.

I've been experimenting with mint cordials over the last few years, since we grow cinnamon mint in the garden. I've found that filling the jar as full as possible with mint, then filling the jar as full as possible to eliminate air space helps preserver the light green color. If there is more air in the jar as it steeps, the color becomes much darker.

Since I love elderberries, the elderberry cordial is one of my favorites. Beautiful aroma and color, and the flavor is incredible. This batch will probably need to be racked one more time before I do a final bottling.

Limoncello & Mandrinetto

A few years back my husband was traveling to Europe fairly regularly. On some of his trips he brought home Limoncello, a lemon cordial, and Mandrinetto, a tangerine cordial. Both are very good. My husband's boss learned I make cordials and sent me the below recipe. He has a lemon tree, and had tried it and liked it.

"This is the one I used but I have immersed the lemon zest for a much longer period to get a fuller flavour!

From JB, who kindly posted this to the BBS: - Here is a Limoncello recipe from the food section of the San Francisco Chronicle of several months ago.

INGREDIENTS:
• 15 thick-skinned lemons (Eureka, Lisbon or Citron)
• 2 bottles (750 ml each) of the best 100 proof Vodka
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 cups water

INSTRUCTIONS:
Wash the lemons in hot water before you start. Remove the peel with a vegetable peeler, removing all white pith on the back of the peel by scraping with a knife, and put the peels in a 4-quart Mason jar. Add 1 bottle of Vodka and stir. Cover the jar, date it, and put it to rest in a dark cabinet at room temperature.

After 40 days, take out the lemon-Vodka mixture. Ina sauce pan set over high heat, stir the sugar and water together and boil for 5 minutes. Let the sugar syrup cool completely in the pan, about 10 minutes. Add the sugar syrup to the lemon-Vodka mixture along with the second bottle of Vodka.

Stir well to combine. Replace the cover on the jar and note the finish date. Return it to the dark cabinet and store for 40 more days.

At day 80, remove the limoncello from the cabinet. Strain the mixture and discard the lemon peel.

Pour into clean, unused bottles with caps or decorative corked bottles. Store the bottles in the pantry, but put one bottle at a time in the freezer until ready to use. "

I tried the recipe, too, and it sure came out well.

Last November, when the Clementines showed fresh in my local market we got a nice flat of them and decided to try the Limoncello recipe on them, hoping that would make Mandrinetto. Clementines have very thin skin, so we ended up just grating it off, as it didn't come off well with a peeler. It turned a lovely orange color, and seemed to be working up quite fine.

After straining a thin layer of rind from the grating came to the top in addition to the expected small bits that settled to the bottom. I didn't think it was going to be possible to rack the clear liquid from between them, so I used a coffee filter in a funnel and strained it all. Came out wonderfully clear, and it's got lovely flavor. It's not as dark in color as commercial Mandrinetto, which appears to have been colored orange, but the aroma and taste are fantastic!

Mocha Delight - Coffee Cordial

I sometimes enjoy a cup of milk, cocoa or coffee with some coffee cordial in it. A couple of years ago, when I started making cordials at home, I tried the recipe my book had for coffee cordial, hoping to be able to make my own version of 'Kahlua' or something like. I'd done taste testing years before, trying various coffee liqueurs side-by-side, and found Kahlua and Kamora to be the best. Kamora was quite a bit cheaper, so I rarely got Kahlua.

My new book had a recipe for coffee cordial, so I tried it. And didn't like it much. So I put the idea of making my own out of my head as I had plenty of other things to try! Then one day my husband asked me why I hadn't been making my own coffee liqueur. We decided to see if other recipes were better, and did a lot of searching on the internet, as well as going through my now slightly larger library of such books.

We found a lot of recipes, many similar, and next thing I knew, my husband was cooking up recipes! He rarely drinks, but he's an awesome cook, and I very much appreciate his interest. We did a bunch of trials, mixing up tiny batches of likely-looking recipes, and tried them. We then made some recipe adjustments based on taste preferences, and made some more. A few rounds of this and we ended up with the below recipe, which I call Mocha Delight. It can be cut or multiplied. These instructions make about a gallon.

Mocha Delight

In a large sauce pan put:
2 quarts water
1/2 cup instant coffee (I use decaf)
2 Tbsp chocolate syrup (or to taste, I often squirt in a bit more)
4 cups, which is 2 1-lb packages, of dark brown sugar
2 cups sugar

Bring to boil, then boil for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave
until cool. I generally do this right before bed, then leave it to
cool overnight.

If your pan will hold a gallon you can just add the last 2 ingredients
to it, otherwise get a container that will hold a gallon and put into
it:
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
4 cups 80-proof vodka (I generally use Schmirnof's red label)

Add the coffee mixture. Stir to blend well, then put in clean bottles.

This can be used immediately, and will last well without need of refrigeration. I do not recommend using higher proof Vodka, as it will give a harsh taste.

Elderberry Cordial

Over the 4th of July my mother and I started some Elderberry Cordial using the recipe in "Cordials from Your Kitchen". I've made this before, and it's wonderful! The berries were some Mom had picked last year and frozen. We put the frozen berries straight into the mix. Per instructions I've shaken the containes (quart and other such jars) every few days.

Yesterday was the day to strain the cordial. It sure is lovely. Dark, rich purple, and the smell is heavenly. A week of settling then I'll rack it and put it into nice bottles.

Elderberries

In the part of the country where I live the elderberries are blooming. From the time I was a child I've always watched to see where the elderberry plants are during the blooming season so I'll know where to find the berries when they are ready.

These days I'm lucky enough to have elderberries growing in our garden. I've been tending them closely and have learned some things that I hadn't known before. Elderberries seem to live 2 years. They will flower both years, but then seem to die off. They spread by sending runners underground, so a new shoot will pop up out of the ground some distance from the base of the main plant. Over time a thicket can grow up, spreading each year.

To keep things tidy I've been removing the dead branches/stalks every year. New shoots come up and the plants are doing well.

This year I'm hoping that I'll get enough berries to make some things. I also plan to talk to a neighbor who has a lot of elderberries in the fence line if I can pick them.

My family doesn't eat much jam or jelly, so I won't make any of that. We will eat a pie once in a while, and I love elderberry pie! There are two other things that I made from elderberries two summers ago that I'm hoping to make more of: wine and cordial. Both of these came out extremely well, and I sure hope I get enough to make more.

One very nice thing about elderberries is that they freeze wonderfully. Whatever I don't get put up I'll be freezing for later use.