Elderflower Cordial Recipe

The short season of elderflower has begun and this year, I’ve actual picked some of the flowers from the tree in the garden to turn into cordial. The tree {which was cut back about a couple of years ago, quite drastically} has grown so much, it’s actually grown over part of my veg patch!

Elderflower is so pretty and when the flowers are fresh, it smells like summer – once the flowers have gone past their prime, it smells like cat wee. YUM.

You’ll see elderflower everywhere at the moment – hedgerows, gardens, roadside, woodlands – and whilst it’s short-lived, it’s a gorgeous sight to behold, signalling that summer is on its merry way. It doesn’t take long for the flowers to die back and then they’ll produce beautiful dark purple elderberries {usually by the end of summer}, ready to be turned into jam. Or vodka.

I’ve made elderflower cordial before and let’s just say it wasn’t good, which is why I’ve given it a wide birth these past couple of years. However, I kept looking at the flowers growing and covering the tree in the garden, which spurred me on to try again and luckily it was a success.

Where I had gone wrong, was that I hadn’t removed enough of the stalk and if you leave this in, you get this horrible, bitter taste, which ruins the cordial.

To make the cordial, you’ll need to leave it to infuse overnight and the most time-consuming part is in the prep, but it is really simple to do.

Remember, the only edible part of the elder is the flower so don’t be tempted to use the leaves.

What you’ll need:
– Muslin cloth
– Large pan
– Large bowl
– 20-25 elderflower heads (I used 20 as the heads I used were huge!)
– 1kg of granulated sugar
– 2 unwaxed lemons
– 1 orange

1. Grab yourself a big bowl, get yourself by the sink and put all of your elderflower heads in the bowl. The flowers might be overflowing and not all fit in, but fill the bowl with water and gently push down on the flower heads to get them all in. If you’re struggling, you could do this in two parts. Now, you know I mentioned this being the time-consuming part? This is it. You’re going to need to rinse the elderflower heads about 20 times – no, I’m not kidding. The elderflower is not only attractive to us, but to lots of little insects and as you’re rinsing and gently moving the elderflower around, you’ll see the little bugs rising to the surface. You might be lucky and it might take you less time, but you want to get rid of all those bugs.
   
2. Once you’re happy that your elderflowers are bug free, grab your pan and peel the zest of the unwaxed lemons and the orange. Squeeze all the juice into the pot, pips and all. I also add the squashed lemons and orange to make sure I get all their lovely flavours.
   
3. Grab your rinsed elderflower and as you begin adding it to the pan, remove as much of the stalk as possible. By leaving some of the stalk in the pan, it will add a horrible taste to the cordial, making it undrinkable. Trust me, I know.
   
4. Once you’ve removed all the stalks and added the elderflower to the pan, add 1.5 litres of water and bring to the boil. Once it has reached boiling point, turn the heat off and leave to infuse overnight.
   
5. The next day, grab your large bowl, line it with a muslin cloth and carefully pour in the infused liquid. Tie the muslin bag up, give it a good squeeze and then empty the bowl of liquid back into the pan.
   
6. Add 1kg of sugar and gently bring to a rolling simmer for a few minutes. Make sure that you stir in constantly, so that the sugar dissolves.
   
7. Once it’s cooled slightly, scoop any of the white froth from the top (this will make the cordial cloudy), decant into sterilised bottles and enjoy!
   

A x