Grape Squash (Grape Cordial)

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Homemade Grape Squash (Grape Cordial) is a wonderful way to preserve the fruit when you have grapes aplenty and enjoy it at any time.

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♦Prep time:10 min ♦Cook time:10min ♦Cooling time:20 min ♦Yield: 1 litre concentrated syrup

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Ingredients:

Method:

1. Pick the grapes off the stems and discard any bad ones.
2. Weigh after picking. You need 1 kg.
3. Rinse in a colander thoroughly under running water, scrubbing with your hands, and leave to drain.
4. Add the grapes to a large saucepan and mash up as much as you can. I do this with my hands!
5. Do not add water. Bring the grapes and their juice to a boil.
6. Simmer for 10 minutes, mashing the grapes occasionally to extract as much juice as possible.
7. Line a colander with a muslin cloth and place over a bowl. Pour the cooked grapes into this cloth. Allow the juice to be collected in the bowl below.
8. Leave the cooked grapes to cool off in the cloth.
9. Meanwhile, in the same saucepan used to cook the grapes, add the sugar and water.
10. Heat just till the sugar is completely dissolved. ( Add the citric acid now also if using in place of lime juice). Allow to cool.
11. When the pulp left in the muslin cloth is completely cool, Twist and squeeze the grape pulp to extract all the juice from the remaining grapes. You should have 500 ml of pure juice extract now.
12. Add the lime juice to the cooled water and sugar syrup now if you didn’t use citric acid earlier. Make sure to taste after adding half the amount first; as you don’t want the juice to be sour.
13. Strain the sugar syrup through the same cloth used to squeeze the grape pulp.
14. Now combine the pure fruit juice extract with the sugar syrup.
15. If you would like to use a preservative to keep the squash for longer. Dissolve  ½ tsp sodium benzoate in a spoon of warm water well. Add this to the concentrated syrup. I  have used this in the past but prefer to keep my squash preservative-free.
16. Strain the entire syrup 1-2 times thoroughly.
17. Pour into sterilized bottles.
18. If using the preservative, you can store it at room temperature, unopened. If opened I like to store them in the fridge.
19. To serve: add a quarter part of the syrup to a glass and add iced water or soda water. Serve chilled.

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Grape Squash (Grape Cordial)

Notes:

• For good color, use Deep Colored Grapes. I have not used any artificial coloring here. You could also use a combination of darker and lighter grapes.
• If your grapes have seeds, mash gently. Never grind in a mixer or your squash will turn bitter.
• Grape Essence is sometimes used to enhance the flavor further. I do not use it.
• It’s a good idea to adjust the sugar according to the sweetness of the grapes. If the grapes are already very sweet, you can reduce the sugar used to make the syrup a little bit. You can always add sugar while preparing the cordials/ squash  – later.
• To sterilize the bottles, first wash them with mild dish soap and water. Rinse well. Place the bottle/s in a basin of Hot, boiled water till the water for 5 minutes. Remove from the water and place on a wooden plank/chopping board. Fill again with hot boiled water. Pour out before adding the fruit concentrate. Make sure the juice has cooled completely before closing.

Key Ingredients: Grapes, Sugar, Water, Citric acid.

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