Cycling down the lanes in Gloucestershire over the last few weeks, the air has been heavy with the scent of elderflowers. We have the Bottle Green factory in our corner of the Stroud Valleys and in days gone by the elderflowers were picked locally from the hedgerows.
I am lucky to have a couple of self-seeded elder trees in the garden so I didn’t have to go far to find a stash of lovely flowers to make delicious cordial and pressé.
ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL
I’m sharing a recipe based on Sarah Raven’s elderflower cordial recipe which I make every year from her fabulous and much-used book “Sarah Ravens Garden Cookbook”; a must-have book for anyone who grows their own. This is the recipe I go back to because it is not too sweet and is really easy.
You need:
Flowers from 15-20 elderflower heads (I tend to trim off as much stalk as possible.)
1.35kg granulate sugar
juice of 1 orange and 1 sliced orange
juice of 1 lemon and 1 sliced lemon
juice of 1 lime
30g of citric acid.
METHOD
Add 1.2L water with the sugar to a large saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.
Bring to the boil, add the flowers and remove from the heat immediately.
Add the juices, the sliced fruit and the peel of squeezed fruit to a very large bowl and pour over the syrup and flowers. Stir well, add the citric acid, stir again and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Leave it to sit for 24 hours.
Strain through a fine sieve and pour into sterilised bottles. It will keep for a couple of months in the fridge. You can also freeze it in ice cube trays.
When frozen, tip the cubes into a labelled ziplock bag and defrost as needed. (I say ‘labelled’ because I once froze egg whites in ice cube trays and thought it was elderflower cordial - it did not make a good dinner party cocktail!)
ELDERFLOWER PRESSE
I like to make fizzy elderflower, though it is a bit of a kitchen experiment and I have blown a couple of bottles when it was super fizzy and fermented, so do be careful and burp your bottles if you do this! I’ve also successfully made a rhubarb and ginger version of this presse using the same method.
You need:
8 large elderflower heads
pared zest and juice of an unwaxed lemon
465g caster sugar
2 tbs white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
METHOD
Give the freshly picked elderflower heads a shake, then inspect and remove any insects.
Put the elderflowers in a large bowl, add the lemon juice and toss with the pared zest, sugar and vinegar.
Gently pour over 3 litres tepid water and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Put in a cool dark place, loosely covered with a tea towel for 24 - 48 hours to infuse. You want the natural yeasts in the air to get in and start it fermenting, so don’t cover it with anything like clingfilm!
Strain the mixture into a jug through a sieve, then pour into either plastic bottles or flip-top bottles using the funnel. Leave a generous gap of about 5cm at the top of each bottle and seal tightly.
Leave to ferment in a cool dark place for 2 weeks, checking on it regularly and ‘burping’ the bottles if necessary, then transfer to the fridge.
Serve chilled. It will be around 1.5% ABV (alcohol by volume).
Don’t leave it hanging around too long or it will explode which is fun for kids but not so much for anyone cleaning it off the ceiling!
ELDERFLOWER VINEGAR
I’ve also tried making elderflower vinegar this year, inspired by Rosie Birkett’s book “ The Joyful Home Cook”.
You basically just fill a sterilised jar with lots of heads of elderflowers picked off their stalk and then top up with good quality white wine vinegar and leave to infuse.
Strain it into bottles and use in your regular salad dressing. Unfortunately, I haven’t tasted it yet so, I can’t tell you whether it is lovely or not!!
I hope you are inspired to have a forage in the hedgerows this weekend!!
