Cornelian Cherry Cordial
This Cornelian Cherry Cordial recipe is a simple way to preserve your autumn harvest. Sweet, tangy, and ruby red, it makes refreshing drinks and a nice addition to winter teas.
Sweet, tangy, and beautifully ruby red, this Cornelian Cherry Cordial recipe is the perfect way to capture the flavour of the late-summer fruit. With nothing more than fresh cornelian cherries, sugar, and a splash of lemon, it turns into a vibrant homemade syrup that’s at once refreshing, slightly sour, and, thanks to their extremely high levels of vitamin C, the cordial can help keep you healthy throughout the winter!
We try to make all of our own syrups — elderflower in the spring, orange in the summer — and every September we suddenly find ourselves with literally tens of kilos of cornel cherries. So naturally, alongside jams, jellies, and desserts, we make bottles and bottles of cornelian cherry cordial. There’s always more than enough to share a few bottles with friends, and still plenty left to last us until the next September harvest.
Ingredients Breakdown
Cornelian Cherries
Cornelian cherries (aka Cornel Cherry, or Dogwood Cherry) make for the perfect syrup. They are a vivid, ruby red, and they have a sharpness and flavour that is something like a cross between sour cherries and redcurrents.
If you prefer less sharp, choose the ripest ones possible. Easily identifiable as they are a deep red in colour and start splitting the skin on the tree. If you like sharp and sour, you can take a mixture of the very ripest ones, and the less ripe, bright red ones.
Sugar
Caster sugar is what we are looking for here. Sugar is needed to balance the tartness of the cherries, but it also plays a key role as a preservative. The ideal amount is 600-700g per litre of juice, but you can play around with this depending on taste. You could use a sugar free alternative such as xylitol, but it won’t act as a preservative and you will need to store the syrups in the fridge and drink it quickly.
Lemon Juice
A dash of lemon juice will brighten the flavor and help maintain that bright red colour. The citric acid also lowers the pH a little, aiding the long-term preservation. You could simple replace with pure citric acid if you wanted. Just don’t skip the acidity.
Water
Nothing more to add here…
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Prepare the fruit
Wash the cornelian cherries thoroughly. Here you can choose to go through them and remove any leaves or stems, but I personally don’t bother. We will be straining it all through a cloth anyway, so that will capture anything we don’t want.
If you have a large amount of cornel cherries and are processing them in different ways, pick though them and take the ripest ones for the syrup. The less ripe they are, the more pectin they contain, making them better for jams and jellies.
2. Simmer with water
Place the cherries in a large pan with the water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer for about 20 minutes until the fruit is soft and the skins have split.
3. Mash lightly
Use a potato masher to mash up the cherries. This will help get the juice from inside the ones that didn’t yet break open.
4. Strain the juice
Pour the mixture through a jelly bag or muslin-lined sieve into a clean bowl. For a clear cordial, let it drip overnight without squeezing. If you prefer more yield, gently press the pulp — the cordial will be cloudier but just as tasty.
5. Measure and sweeten
Measure the strained juice and return it to a clean pan. If you are happy with the intensity of the flavour, then add the sugar and lemon juice, stirring over a low heat until it has dissolved.
If you prefer a more intense flavour, you can simmer and reduce the liquid to your desired taste. Remeasure the juice after, and then add the sugar.
6. Heat through
Bring the sweetened juice just to the boil, then remove from the heat immediately. This ensures the cordial is hot enough to bottle safely without overcooking and losing freshness.
7. Bottle and seal
Pour the hot cordial into sterilised bottles using a funnel, leaving about 2 cm headspace. Seal straight away while still hot for a proper vacuum seal.
8. Store and serve
Keep sealed bottles in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Once opened, refrigerate and use within 2–3 weeks.
I usually dilute this mix about 1:8 with water, but you could go down to 1:5 before it starts to become too intensely sweet.
Cornelian Cherry Cordial
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg ripe cornelian cherries washed, left whole
- 1.1 litres water
- 900 g sugar final quantity will adjust based on volume of juice and taste
- 1 whole lemon juiced
Instructions
- Wash and prepare the cornelian cherries
- Place the cherries in a large pot with the water. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 20 minutes until soft and skins split.
- Mash lightly with a potato masher to release more juice.
- Strain through a jelly bag or muslin-lined sieve. For clear cordial, leave overnight without pressing; for more yield, gently press.
- Measure the strained juice and return it to a clean pan. Add 600–700 g sugar per litre of juice, along with the lemon juice.
- Stir gently over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring just to the boil.
- Pour hot cordial into sterilised bottles, leaving 2 cm headspace. Seal immediately.
- Store sealed bottles in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Once opened, refrigerate and use within 2–3 weeks.
Notes
Notes & Variations
- Flavour twists – Replace part of the water with apple juice for natural sweetness, or infuse with cinnamon, cloves, star anise, or even vanilla for a spiced winter version.
- Reduced-sugar option – Use honey, stevia, or xylitol instead of sugar, but note the cordial won’t be shelf-stable. In this case, freeze in ice cube trays and store in freezer bags.
- Storage tips – Properly bottled with sugar, the cordial will last up to a year in a cool, dark place. Once opened, refrigerate and enjoy within 2–3 weeks.
