Ever since we moved in I’ve been cutting back the Elderflower bush under our kitchen window. I didn’t actually realise it was elderflower for a while, I just knew that it grows at an amazing rate and has a bad habit of blocking out the light.
Since I began suspecting it might be Elderflower I have been wanting to use the blooms in something. I love Elderflower cordial, especially when it’s mixed with apple juice and lemonade, so I decided to have a go at making some. Last night I collected some of the flowers and had potter around the internet for recipes. I already knew it would need lemons and sugar, I had forgotten the option of citric acid as a preservative. After reading several variations on a theme I decided to do the following.
Ingredients:
20 Elderflower heads 1kg Castor sugar
3 Unwaxed lemons
1 heaped tsp Citric Acid (available from most chemists)
Method:
- Shake the Elderflower heads to remove any insects – I chose to rinse mine as it felt wrong not to but none of the recipes I read included this and I wonder if it will remove some of the flavour?
- One recipe recommended using a fork to remove the flowers from the stems, preventing a bitter taste, I tried this with about half my flower heads but felt it left too many flowers behind so the rest stayed on their stalks.
- Boil 1.5L of water then add to the sugar in a large pan.
- Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Zest the 3 lemons and add this to the pan, then slice the lemons thickly.
- Allow the mixture to cool a little before adding the lemons.
- Add the citric acid
- Finally add the Elderflowers and cover the solution with a cloth.
- Leave to infuse for at least 24hrs
- Strain the mixture through a fine muslin cloth.
- Place in sterilised bottles leaving an inch or so room at the top.
I am recycling old Pasata bottles and using them straight from the dishwasher.
Once made the cordial should keep (unopened) for a good few months if stored in cool dark conditions. Alternatively you could always freeze it. To drink dilute to taste with water / lemonade / apple juice or similar using at least a 5:1 ratio.
Hi just found your blog through Britmums. Glad I found this post we are going to attempt this, that’s if I can correctly identify the elderflower and not pick the wrong thing. Eek x
Good luck 🙂 mine was definately elderflower but I think next time I will leave it for about 48 hours as after 24 it was still quite mild.
Your very own dedication to providing this information became wonderfully informative!
That was clever. I’ll be stopping back soon.