Our lemon tree, laden with fruit at the moment 
The Lemon Cordial syrup, simmering away on the stoveThe lemon tree in our garden is heavy with fruit at the moment. Each time I spy it out of my kitchen window, it beckons to me “Come ! Pick my ripe fruit and make something delicious to eat !” I kept ignoring it. Until yesterday, that is. I went out, brandishing a broom stick with an excited child at my feet (along with several dogs) and whacked as many lemons off the tree as I could ! The dogs ran around excitedly, picking them up in their mouths and my daughter shrieked in delight, trying to pick up as many as she could in her chubby toddler’s hands.
So, now I have a huge bowl of lemons sitting on my kitchen counter and their fragrance is intoxicating … enticing me …. teasing me ….. what on earth am I going to do with them ? A few things spring to mind …. lemon marmalade, lemon pickle, lemon meringue pie, lemon curd, lemon sorbet, lemon pudding, lemon biscuits, lemon cake, lemon loaf ….. but I wanted something quick and easy – and immediately thought of my Mum’s Lemon Cordial recipe.
It’s one which she made us as children growing up in Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe) and South Africa, and it is one that her mother made her and my Uncle as kids growing up in Northern Rhodesia (present day Zambia). I have now made it for my daughter to enjoy here in Tanzania …. so I guess you could say that this is a real “African Lemon” recipe !
My Mum says that she remembers times as a child, when if unexpected visitors ever arrived on a hot summer’s day and there was not much to drink in the house, my Grandmother would send the kids out to pick some lemons off the tree so that she could quickly whip this recipe up -:
Lemon Cordial Recipe
8 medium sized Lemons
500 gm’s white Sugar (I used brown, as we cannot get white sugar here easily)
1 cup cold Water
Squeeze the juice from the lemons and set aside. Keep the peels of 2 of the lemons, and place in a pot along with the sugar and water. (Try to ensure that there is not much of the white ‘pith’ on the inside of the lemon peels, as this can make the cordial bitter). Bring to the boil, stirring constantly and then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes – just stirring now and again.
Remove from heat, add the reserved lemon juice and bring back to the boil briefly, whilst stirring. Allow to cool and then strain into a bottle or jug (to remove the peel and any other bits like pips etc) and store in the fridge (it will keep for weeks) and add a little to some iced water whenever you feel like a nice, cool drink.
“Cheers !”
So, now I have a huge bowl of lemons sitting on my kitchen counter and their fragrance is intoxicating … enticing me …. teasing me ….. what on earth am I going to do with them ? A few things spring to mind …. lemon marmalade, lemon pickle, lemon meringue pie, lemon curd, lemon sorbet, lemon pudding, lemon biscuits, lemon cake, lemon loaf ….. but I wanted something quick and easy – and immediately thought of my Mum’s Lemon Cordial recipe.
It’s one which she made us as children growing up in Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe) and South Africa, and it is one that her mother made her and my Uncle as kids growing up in Northern Rhodesia (present day Zambia). I have now made it for my daughter to enjoy here in Tanzania …. so I guess you could say that this is a real “African Lemon” recipe !
My Mum says that she remembers times as a child, when if unexpected visitors ever arrived on a hot summer’s day and there was not much to drink in the house, my Grandmother would send the kids out to pick some lemons off the tree so that she could quickly whip this recipe up -:
Lemon Cordial Recipe
8 medium sized Lemons
500 gm’s white Sugar (I used brown, as we cannot get white sugar here easily)
1 cup cold Water
Squeeze the juice from the lemons and set aside. Keep the peels of 2 of the lemons, and place in a pot along with the sugar and water. (Try to ensure that there is not much of the white ‘pith’ on the inside of the lemon peels, as this can make the cordial bitter). Bring to the boil, stirring constantly and then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes – just stirring now and again.
Remove from heat, add the reserved lemon juice and bring back to the boil briefly, whilst stirring. Allow to cool and then strain into a bottle or jug (to remove the peel and any other bits like pips etc) and store in the fridge (it will keep for weeks) and add a little to some iced water whenever you feel like a nice, cool drink.
“Cheers !”
