On our merry way back from the sea side we stopped along the dusty road side to buy some fruit from an old farmer dangling his long gangly legs out the back of a truck. Taking a break in the shade, he leaned out and gave us a large nearly toothless smile, then proceeded to convinced my husband to buy not two but three baskets of small plums. Seeing his large hardened hands, extremely gnarled with age, tilted the scales. He looked somewhere between 70 and 200.
So with plums on the mind I came up with this summer drink.
Plum Cordial
500 grams ripe plums
1 cup sugar
juice from half a lemon and half a orange
Wash and place the plums in a cooking pot, fill with water just an inch above the plums and let boil for a good 15 min. Pour through a sieve and set aside the boiled plums, place the remaining liquid back in the pot, add the sugar and boil for 10 min, turn off the burner and add the juice of half a lemon and half a orange. Let cool and decant into a glass bottle.
Once cool, serve over a glass of ice (an inch is what I use but pour to taste) fill the rest of the glass with sparkling water and add a slice of lime.
* With the left over plums press through a fine strainer and use this slightly compote a top some good quality vanilla yogurt or heated over ice cream. If you like it sweeter add in a few tablespoons of the cordial.
* I have not tried yet but I can imagine this to be equally refreshing with Gin or Vodka added.
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