Mandarin Cordial

Something I have been unable to find over here in Texas is cordial.  I know, it’s not the healthiest choice, but we like it.  There are many different brands of “water enhancers” over here, most full of artificial colours, flavours, and preservatives.  We have tried one and weren’t overly impressed with the flavour.

As we have an abundance of mandarins in the fruit bowl, I decided to make some mandarin cordial to satisfy our thirst.  Yes, it is 50% added sugar but there are only 3 ingredients as opposed to 14  in the water enhancer.

I based the recipe on the berry cordial from the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook.  You could just as easily make this cordial without a Thermomix, both methods are below, the non Thermomix version is in italics.

Ingredients

170 grams mandarin, peeled (about 3 small)

300 grams water

390 grams sugar (adjust at step 4)

Method

1. Place mandarins and water in Thermomix bowl and mix for 20 seconds, speed 4.

Place mandarins and water in a small saucepan, blend together with a stick blender for approximately 30 seconds.

2. Cook for 5 minutes, 90°C, speed 2.

Simmer for approximately 5 minutes, stirring slowly.

3. Strain liquid through a fine sieve, make sure to press firmly to release all of the juice.

4. Weigh the liquid back into the Thermomix bowl, add the same amount of sugar as the liquid (mine was 390 grams).

Weigh the liquid and pop back in the saucepan, add the same amount of sugar as the liquid (mine was 390 grams).

5. Cook for 6 minutes, 90°C, speed 2.

Simmer for 6 minutes, gently stirring.

6. Put cordial into a jug/bottle and store in the fridge.

7. Mix with water/sparkling water to you liking 🙂

Left: diluted
Right: concentrate