Elderflower Time!

I do love this time of the year with the feeling of growth and abundance all around including the hedgerows. One of the sure signs of early summer with a promise of warm summer days to come is the billowing of the elderflowers in our hedgerows.  Down here in Otago our hedgerows are blowsy with elderflower and hawthorn. We are lucky that we still have these very old hedgerows, remnants of early European settlers and a precious source of shelter and fodder for insects, birds and animals – and us humans!  

I look at elderflower and think…mmm… elderflower champagne and cordial followed in autumn by berry wine and nutritious cordials.  In fact, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas now without enjoying a delicious glass of delicate bubbly elderflower summer delight.  And now is the time to pick a basketful and get making.

This year I am going to make a few extra bottles of cordial as we will be travelling this Christmas and might not have room for bottles of bubbly.  But you can still use the cordial as a concentrate and mix with soda water to make instant sparkle.  Iceblocks made with the cordial and frozen along with a few sprigs of flowers is another way to make a special seasonal treat even more memorable.

Here are a couple of easy recipes for Elderflower Champagne and Cordial.

 Getting Prepared.

As a wise person once said, begin with the end in mind. Make sure you have enough of the right sort of bottles for your bubbly or cordial. I usually end up recycling plastic 1.5l soda bottles for mine which don’t look very glamourous but do the trick.  If using glass, make sure it is designed for sparkling fermented liquid as a lot pressure can build and you don’t want any accidents!  I recycle the small piccolo size sparkling wine bottles for individual servings. 

For the cordial it’s not so important and so if you have pretty glass bottles, still wine bottles with screw lids, small sauce bottles for example, , that should work.  They can make lovely gifts as well.

You will need a clean bucket, preferably food grade although a very clean plastic one will be fine for occasional use.  Check the recipe before you start to make sure you have what you need.

Picking Elderflowers.

Like all herbs, gather the flowers on a warm dry day and go for the ones with a mix of some open and some buds.  It would be hard to pick them all but make sure you leave some for the next round of delicious harvesting – the berries in Autumn.  Mine usually come with little black insects. Shake them off. I also leave them on the outside table on a piece of newspaper for a while and any insects left can be seen doing a runner off that.  We will be straining the juice as well.

Sparkling Elderflower

Ingredients.

15-25 Elderflower heads.

500 g  sugar

4.5 litres water total

2 Tablespoons white vinegar or cider vinegar

Juice and zest/peel of 2 lemons.

Method.

Dissolve the sugar in 2 litres of hot water in your bucket. Stir until dissolved.

Add vinegar and lemon.

Add flower and give a couple of stirs to combine everything.

Cover with clean teatowel and leave to infuse for 24 hrs.

 After the 24 hours is up, strain through a muslin cloth and bottle.

Leave in a cool dark place for a minimum of 6 weeks.  

Chill before serving. Enjoy.

Elderflower Cordial Recipe 1.

900g sugar

3 litres boiling water

Heaped teaspoon of citric Acid.

2 Lemons

25 rinsed Elderflower heads.

Method.

Put the 3 litres of water in your preserving pan or big pot and bring to the boil.  (or use boiling water from the kettle)

Stir in sugar and dissolve.

Leave to cool until it is hot but not boiling.

Add citric acid.

2 slice lemons

Elderflowers.

Cover with teatowel and leave for 24 hours

Strain through muslin and store in sterilized glass bottles.

Modified from the Original Source – English Country Living  June 2010.

Elderflower Cordial Recipe 2.

This one has 2 steps to it.

About 25 elderflower heads

A couple of lemons and an orange– finely grate zest and squeeze juice

5 cups sugar

1 heaped tsp of citric acid.

Put the flowers and citrus zest in a clean plastic bucket or a large bowl and mix together. Pour over 6.5 cups  of boiling water.

Cover and leave to infuse overnight.

The next day, strain through muslin bag or jelly cloth and into a saucepan.

Stir in the sugar, the juice, and the citric acid.  Heat gently to dissolve the sugar then bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for a few minutes.

Carefully pour into sterilized glass bottles.

Or – leave to cool down and pour into plastic bottles.

You don’t need the citric acid but it helps to keep it longer. You can also pour into smaller plastic bottles and freeze.  Try freezing in iceblock trays to add to drinks etc. Would look gorgeous with some elderflower added – or blue borage.

Modified from the Original Source. The River Cottage Preserves Handbook

Storing.

The cordial will only last a couple of weeks in a cool place and once opened will need to go in the fridge.