Strawberry Cordial

Strawberry cordial is one of those recipes which is mentioned in basically every book in the Redwall series. Cordial, technically, contains alcohol. I would say that this should be an alcohol-free recipe because children in the series drink it regularly, but the high rate of alcoholism in the series makes me wonder if the dibbuns are actually drinking alcohol. Still, I decided to make this recipe non-alcoholic. I also didn't make it too sweet so it can be enjoyed straight (without mix-ins), but it is sweet enough that you probably don't want to drink too much at once. If you want to change that, just add a splash of vodka before drinking. I made a fairly small batch, but this would be easy to scale up.

PLEASE NOTE: Yet again, this is a recipe which needs to be started the day before you want it. Be prepared.

Strawberry Cordial

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cool time: 24 hours
Total time: 24 hours, 15 minutes

Yield: 24 ounces (Three glasses)

Ingredients

• 24 ounces water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups strawberries (I used frozen, thawed strawberries that I bought and froze at the peak of strawberry season) (I have also successfully tried this with raspberries, but ot have not yet tried any other fruit)

Directions

1. Place fresh or thawed strawberries into a large, heat-proof bowl.
2. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan.
3. Heat water to a low boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
4. Pour hot water over strawberries and allow to sit until cooled to room temperature (about 90 minutes).
   
   
   
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for the rest of the 24 hour cool time.
6. Remove bowl from refrigerator and use a slotted spoon to remove the strawberries (Keep these -- they are great smushed onto toast or added to a smoothie). The water should now be a bright, jewel red.
   
7. Use a ladle to pour liquid into glasses or funnel into bottles for later.