Homemade Lime Cordial Recipes

Steps:

• Wash limes in a sinkful of warm water, scrubbing with your hands or a vegetable brush, and let them dry them on a dish towel. Peel them with a vegetable peeler, removing as little of the underlying white pith as possible. To begin each, it's helpful to cut the polar ends off, where the stem attaches and opposite. This should produce about 140 grams of peels.
• Cut limes in half and juice them. This should produce about 2 1/2 cups of juice.
• In a non-reactive, coverable container, add sugar to juice and stir until fully dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Crush peels up in handfuls to release the oils as you add them into the juice mix. Stir a bit to initiate extraction of the oils. (If you're making a ginger version, wash the ginger, then shred it in a blender or food processor (no need to peel it), employing some of the lime juice to allow it to liquefy, and add it into the lime mixture, stirring well.) Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. When ready, strain the cordial off from the peels in a fine mesh strainer or chinoise. Funnel cordial into covered container or cappable bottle and return to refrigerator for another day, to cure, before using. Makes roughly 1 liter.

Steps:

• Heat water and sugar in a 2-quart saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, then cool to room temperature.
• Stir in lime juice and chill, covered, until cold, about 3 1/2 hours.
• Pour about 3/4 cup lime cordial in a tall glass filled with ice and top off with beer or club soda.

Steps:

• Measurements are just approximate, read all instructions first to determine what you might need.
• Wash the limes VERY thoroughly, then remove zest from ten of them using a vegetable peeler. Avoid the white, bitter pith. Set aside.
• Squeeze enough limes to make 16 oz. (2 cups) juice. Place in a saucepan.
• Bring the lime juice to a boil, reduce heat to medium and reduce the juice by half. Have a heatproof measuring cup on hand. When it looks close to half its former volume, pour into the cup and check. Return to the boil if necessary. Reducing it too much is better than not enough.
• Once it's reduced by half, measure the lime juice reduction again and add an equal amount of cane sugar, by volume (ie: using the same cup to measure). That is, if it's 8 FL oz of juice, add 8 FL oz sugar. Stir to dissolve.
• Stir in the zest and allow to steep for 15 minutes, then strain.
• OPTIONAL: Add a very small drop of BLUE food coloring and mix well! It is supposed to turn a pale green, but I've never been successful at this. Mine always turns a bright turquoise blue. YUCK! The food color is purely for aesthetic purposes but does not affect the taste. The "real" Rose's Lime Juice uses the food coloring.
• Pour into a sealable glass bottle and store in the refrigerator. Will keep indefinitely.
• Note: you can make a grapefruit cordial the same way. Looks wonderful (red grapefruit), but the color vanishes in a cocktail. It tastes great by itself, or try a Paloma (tequila, grapefruit cordial, fresh lime and soda). Bottoms up....