Raspberry Cordial from Anne of Green Gables

Fans of Anne of Green Gables will love recreating this Raspberry Cordial. This non-alcoholic pink drink is a summery blend of fresh raspberry juice and a hint of lemon. Serve it with dainty cucumber sandwiches and the fanciest linens you own in the company of kindred spirits. It’s the way Anne would want it to be.

glass of raspberry cordial

Oh, Anne Shirley: the adventurous red-headed dreamer with a heart of gold and a penchant for trouble. She’s as much a part of my childhood as Barbie dolls and slumber parties.

If you’re unfamiliar with Anne of Green Gables, first of all, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE? and second of all, you should still make Raspberry Cordial.

This sweet, refreshing drink really hits the spot on a hot summer day. The kids and I both loved it. In fact, when my oldest spotted me editing the photos, he said, “Please, can we have that pink drink again, Mommy?”

bright pink raspberry cordial with a striped lemon straw

Anne Shirley’s Infamous Raspberry Cordial Mishap

Before we dive in to the recipe, a little backstory: One of the iconic moments in Anne of Green Gables involves a much-anticipated tea party between a pre-teen Anne and her best friend Diana. Anne is positively beside herself with glee when her adoptive mother, Marilla, agrees to let Diana come to Green Gables for an unsupervised afternoon tea. 

She carefully picks out the tea set, the cherry preserves, and the fruit cake and cookies. Best of all, Marilla gives her permission to serve her famous homemade Raspberry Cordial.

When Diana arrives, Anne goes out of her way to make her guest feel at home, starting with a goblet and the bottle of cordial. While Anne jabbers on in the kitchen, Diana manages to down two full glasses.

“That’s awfully nice raspberry cordial, Anne,” she said. “I didn’t know raspberry cordial was so nice.” 

Ever the generous host, Anne offers her a third glassful. By this time, Diana’s beginning to feel ill, and she leaves in an unsteady haste, hiccuping and tripping all the way home.

Of course, the reader knows Diana is drunk as a skunk, but poor Anne doesn’t realize her folly until several days later, when she and Marilla discover it wasn’t raspberry cordial she served her friend, but Marilla’s famous currant wine.

two glasses of pink raspberry cordial with lemon slices

What is Raspberry Cordial?

Of course, this story begs the question: what is the drink Diana was supposed to get that day? 

While most cordials are alcoholic, the Raspberry Cordial of Prince Edward Island was a child friendly drink combining fresh raspberries, sugar, and a hint of lemon juice.

It is sweet, a tad tangy, and absolutely bursting with berry flavor–like a grown up, natural Kool-Aid.

raspberry and sugar in a sauce pan

Raspberry Syrup for Cordial

Raspberry cordial starts with a raspberry simple syrup.

  1. To make the syrup, combine the following in a sauce pan:
    • 6 4 ounce packages of fresh raspberries or 2 340 gram frozen packages of berries
    • 1 ¼ cup sugar
  2. Cook the mixture over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and berries start to break down, about 6-7 minutes. Cook an additional few minutes, using a berry smasher to break up the remaining whole berries.
  3. Pour the berries and juices through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl. Use the berry smasher to press all the remaining juices out of the berries. From here, you can discard the berries or eat them with a spoon. It tastes like jam!
  4. At this point, you’ll have a rich, sweet, concentrated raspberry syrup. The concentrate can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks and diluted as needed, or you can dilute all of it right away and store it in a large pitcher.
berry smasher smashing raspberries
raspberry syrup being strained through a strainer

How to Make Raspberry Cordial

Add ½ cup of lemon juice and 6 cups of water to the simple syrup and stir well.

To mix individual glasses, add about ¼ cup of syrup to 1 cup of water and a squeeze of lemon juice.

 How to Use Raspberry Syrup:

Want to take things in a different direction?

You can also use the raspberry syrup in lattes, cocktails, and sodas like these:

You can also mix raspberry simple syrup into other summer favorites like Lemonade Shake Ups and Mint Sweet Tea.

fancy glass of raspberry cordial

Can you make raspberry cordial ahead of time?

Yes! The syrup can be made up to two weeks ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an airtight container. Just add water and lemon juice before serving!

You can also add the water and lemon juice right away and store the prepared cordial in the fridge for up to 3 days.

What to Serve with Raspberry Cordial

If you’d like to serve a tea just like Anne of Green Gables, pair your raspberry cordial with orange buttermilk biscuits and homemade cherry preserves, a fruit cake like peach bundt cake, apple crumb cake, or rhubarb upside down cake, and some pretty butter or shortbread cookies like canestrelli or lemon rosemary butter cookies.

Add some homemade tea lattes and cucumber tea sandwiches for a complete meal!

bright pink raspberry cordial with a striped lemon straw

Raspberry Cordial Recipe

Yield: 8 cups
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

This Raspberry Cordial is a remake of the infamous cordial from Anne of Green Gables. It's a refreshing summer dessert that's bursting with raspberry flavor and beloved by kids and adults alike.

Ingredients

  • 2 (340 gram) bags frozen raspberries (or 4 6 oz. packages of fresh raspberries)
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • ½ cup lemon juice (juice of 2 lemons)
  • 6 cups water

Instructions

  1. In a medium sized sauce pan, combine raspberries and sugar. Cook over medium low heat until raspberries have broken down and sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Use a berry masher or two forks to mash berries completely.
  2. In another small bowl, squeeze out the juice of two lemons.
  3. Meanwhile, boil 6 cups of water.
  4. Set a strainer over a large bowl. Pour the raspberry mixture through the strainer, pressing on it with a spoon to get all the juices out. Discard what's left in the strainer or eat it with a spoon like I did because it's SO GOOD.
  5. Pour the lemon juice and boiling water into the raspberry mixture and stir to combine. Chill for several hours before serving. Serve with lemon wedges.
  6. I imagine this would be fantastic with a little champagne or sparkling white wine mixed in. Or if you really need something strong, vodka. 🙂

Notes

If you prefer, you can stop at step 4 and store the concentrated raspberry simple syrup in the fridge for up to two weeks. Dilute it when ready to serve or add to cocktails, lattes, and other beverages.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 140Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 11mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 2gSugar: 33gProtein: 0g

Please note nutritional information for my recipes is calculated by a third party service and provided as a courtesy to my readers. For the most accurate calculation, I always recommend running the numbers yourself with the specific products you use.

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62 Comments

  1. My beautiful young neighbor just came to the door and said I made you this Raspberry cordial. She couldn’t come in. I decided to look it up! Oh how this brought me to tears, I had never heard of Anne of Green Gables. The special meaning it brought to each of you in movie and books. I’m 63, sheltered life, but I can’t wait for summer to arrive to have Violet and her Mom over for a tea. Please Lord give me the strength. A memory I’d like to create with such awesome neighbors.

  2. Such a perfect article. Love the photo of you as Anne! It’s looks so delicious and refreshing. Thanks for sharing your information.

  3. I remember the exact moment that I was flipping channels, landed on PBS and caught the very beginning of the movie. I was 17-18, my parents were away for the weekend and I was home alone for the first time. I came upon the movie (never having heard of the book) and INSTANTLY fell in love with Anne, Gilbert and the whole cast! They showed both movies that day back to back…I literally was on the couch, spellbound for almost 8 hours! I can NO wait for the day I can sit there again with my daughter and bring her into Anne’s world (she turned 10 last week…maybe in 3 years). What a fun post!! To this day I am a Megan Follows fan – she was so spectacular in those movies that I love supporting any show she is in (actually she is wonderful in the CW show Reign) And how cool that you went to PEI! Looks like you too found your soulmate! Love it!! As for the cordial – gorgeous and I’d love to add in some Kettle One!

    1. This makes me so happy. I love meeting kindred spirits. 🙂 I have such fond memories of watching these movies with my mom when I was little. I’m sure it will be so special for your daughter too! Now I need to go check out Reign!

  4. I have a confession. I cannot watch this movie without bawling like a little baby. But the bit with the raspberry cordial? Probably one of my favorite parts! So glad you recreated these. They make me think of my mom and how we used to watch the movie together. Thanks for sharing these!

  5. Anne of Green Gables were the first books I bought in the US 25 years ago when I was an au pair and I still have them.

  6. Oh my heavens – when I read your recipe Anne Shirley jumped into my mind before I even saw what movie you were inspired by! I LOVED watching this mini-series when I was a kid (I forget who made it) and oh my goodness, I imagined myself to be Anne, with her red hair 🙂 LOL What a great pick, and what a great treat!

  7. OMG that picture of you as Anne is too cute!! I never saw the movie for Anne of Green Gables but I did read the book! I love how refreshing and apropos this drink is!

  8. Omg I remember that moment! I love these books and the movie. Your cordial is beautiful. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  9. What a fun post! And wow, pretty rare to see a Diana as a charachter… I will have to check this out! Not sure why I’ve never seen this or read the book, but I’m sure now I will love it! Thanks for sharing these and your fun photos and recipe!

  10. Please forgive me that I haven’t seen the movie or read the book. However, I really should after reading about it. And your cordial sounds like a lovely summer drink too.

  11. Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious – I need to find a copy! I remember Anne of Green Gables…and I think I’ve watched some before…but honestly, I don’t remember (for shame, for shame). I can see an afternoon in my future full of Anne and raspberry cordials, though!

  12. My mom, granny, and aunt all loved Anne of Green Gables and made me watch it all the time when I was a kid. I never much cared for it, but this post made me smile thinking about the good old days! My aunt also went to PEI and did all the associated activities.

      1. I have just tried red grapefruit and pineapple, so far. Will put this on my list. You might check the blogger at Lanier’s Books. She just did a post on how much Lucy Maud Montgomery’s books mean to her. I haven’t read them for years, and gave the whole series to my niece a few years ago, but have fond memories.

        You look very cute in the “wayback machine.” 🙂

  13. I’ve never seen the movie, but I remember reading the Anne of Green Gables book. Looks like your Mr. is a keeper 🙂

  14. I love that you got into character. This raspberry cordial looks so refreshing and tasty!

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