To my wonderful surprise I found a big Elderberry tree in the paddock and we moved into our cottage just in time to see the tree coming into flower. I have made elder flower cordial in the past and followed a recipe given to me by a friend.
The recipe is very common; the elder flowers are steeped in sugar water with lemon and citric acid for 24 hours.
This recipe works well, but I find the sugar water with the elder flowers a bit sticky to pour through the muslin cloth, so I have changed the recipe to make the process less 'sticky', but with the same result.
Two big bottles of elder flower cordial |
After picking about 10 to 15 elder flower heads I soak the flowers in water and rinse well to get rid of little insects.
Next I leave the elder flowers to steepe in a bowl with 1 liter of water, one sliced lemon and 25 grams of citric acid for 24 hours.
I buy the citric acid in the supermarket and this is to preserve the cordial.
Elder flowers on the tree |
Basket full of elder flowers |
washing the flowers |
The elder flowers steeping with lemon |
Adding sugar |
I pour the hot elder flower cordial into the sterilized bottles and screw the lids on tight.
This cordial is not over sweet, but very refreshing with soda water or can be used in baking.
My elder flower tree in the paddock |