It’s our first recipe post and, while it’s not for baked goods, we think you are going to love it! We’ve included two recipes for elderflowers that keep for a long time.
Because elderflower is such a delicate flavour we use raw cane sugar for these recipes. Other unrefined sugars and syrups impart their own flavour. If you prefer you can use refined sugar for these recipes.
Before you forage for elderflower, do a quick google search and make sure you are familiar with what the flowers look like. Some people have confused queen anne’s lace with elderflower; you really don’t want this to happen. Queen anne’s lace is bitter and are toxic to humans.
When you get your elderflower home, give them a good shake and inspect each elderflower head for bugs
Elderflower Fizz Recipe
Pick the elderflower heads in full bloom, try and aim for flowers that have lots of pollen.
- 15-20 elderflower heads, cleaned
- 1 organic lemon
- 600g raw cane sugar (you can use refined cane sugar for this, if you prefer)
- 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 8 pints (4.6 litres) of cold water
Give the elderflower heads a good shake and check for bugs before beginning. Most recipes, ask you to gently “fork” the elderflower heads, to remove the flowers from the stalks, but you won’t need to do that in this recipe.
Zest and juice the lemon, and add all of the ingredients into a large bowl. Cover with a cloth and leave to sit for 24 hours, then strain the mixture and siphon into strong screw-top bottles that taper at the neck (elderflower has a reputation for exploding bottles, when selecting bottles make sure they are strong and have a strong seal; exploding bottles are loud and unnerving!)
Lay the elderflower bottles on their sides, in a cool place and leave for two weeks.
Use to drink over ice, make soda floats or to add a little sparkle to your buttercream.
Elderflower Cordial (also known as elderflower syrup) Recipe
If you keep elderflower cordial refrigerated, it will keep for up to a year. To serve, dilute with water, sparkling water or wine, if you prefer.
- 10-15 elderflower heads, cleaned
- 600g raw cane sugar (you can increase this amount up to 900g depending on how sweet you would like your cordial)
- 1 organic lemon, finely zested and juiced (or cut into slices)
- 50g citric acid (optional) or substitute with the juice of 2 lemons.
Bring 600ml (1 pint) of water to the boil in a stainless steel saucepan. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. When all of the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Stirring in between, add the elderflowers, lemon zest, lemon juice and citric acid (if using) or additional lemon juice. Cover and leave overnight.
Strain the syrup through a fine sieve and pour into clean screw-top bottles and store in the fridge or a cool place. The syrup can be used in elderflower eton mess, as cordial, or to make elderflower buttercream.
If you used slices of lemon, remove them from the sieve and freeze, wrapped in silicone baking parchment and stored in plastic boxes. They are perfect with a cup of water, lemonade or in tea.
Enjoy!
