A refreshing change from gardening.

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Another thing I did this weekend is to go and collect elderflowers to make elderflower cordial. It’s fabulous stuff, very easy to make and very refreshing. Here’s my recipe …

20 good heads of elderflowers (about a kilo in weight)
1 kg of sugar
2 lemons, quartered
4 litres boiling water

Shake the heads of elderflowers to remove a lot of the pollen and old flowers, and leave open to the air for an hour or so to let the insects escape and leave. If you don’t shake the pollen off then the finished cordial can get a bit cloudy but it doesn’t affect the taste.
Place all the ingredients in a large clean bucket or pan, stir well, dissolve the sugar and cover.
Leave for 24-48 hours stirring occasionally.
Strain off the liquid through muslin. If you don’t have a steady hand, then do this over the sink, outside or in the bath as if you drip or spill this on the floor in the kitchen it is very sticky.
Bottle the cordial in sterilised jars (use of crushed camden tablets works well here).
As long as it doesn’t ferment this can last for a few years.

Also, don’t take all the flowers, leave some for the insects and some for berries in the autumn. I have another recipe for elderberry cordial that is wonderful and contains lots of vitamin c. I’ll leave that till then.

The benefits of the cordial is that you can then use it in gooseberry and elderflower deserts or preserves. And it is very refreshing with sparkling water, like a taste of spring all year round.

Of course if you live around belvior in Leicestershire you may have a problem getting elderflowers as they tend to be cropped for their own cordial. They always used to pay people for the quantity of elderflowers they brought in, whether or not they still do I don’t know.

Anyway if you make your own cordial then have fun.

Things to do, so more later.

• 21 Jun, 2009
• 4 likes

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