Elderflower Cordial!

Our gorgeous Elderflower Cordial ready to leave for 48 hrs!

My girls watch out each year for the Elderflower to spring into bloom along the river. They get excited about going picking as they know the result is a delicious summer drink that they love.

Yesterday I prepared the sugar syrup and allowed it to cool and today was the day to go down and pick the flowers.

The best time of the day to pick your Elderflowers is when the sun is shining, this is supposed to be when it is at its best for flavour.  Sadly today was the only day we have been able to go and storm clouds gathered so we made a dash to the river to quickly pick what we needed.  My youngest was first to the door with a pair of scissors ready to pick. We use scissors so as to cause as little damage to the flower head as possible, cutting just below where the flowers fork out from the flower stem.  You want as little stem as possible as the stems may alter the flavour.

An Elderflower Head

We managed to get more than we needed and made a run for it as the clouds burst upon us. My daughter made an interesting little comment as we gathered the flower heads by saying her hands were sticky..... this is exactly what happens as if you look really closely at each flower it has a nice little dollop of nectar sitting on top. This of course gets on your hands as you are picking.

On return to the kitchen my daughter went to pick 4 big fat juicy lemons off our tree and continued to grate the rind off each lemon gently. We then cut up all of the lemons into wedges and popped them into the sugar syrup along with the rind.  This was followed by the citric acid and the Elderflowers.

Then a good stir, cover the pot and leave for 48 hours.  You can stir from time to time of course and check to see how it is going.

She loves to pick!

Here is our recipe, super simple and super delicious!

Elderflower Cordial

30-40 Small Elderflower Heads (or 20-30 large)
1.3 kg white sugar
2 litres of water
60 grams Citric Acid
3 lemons

Day 1: Place your 1.3 kg sugar in a pot or glass bowl and cover with 2 litres of boiling water: Stir and dissolve all of the sugar - allow to cool.

Day 2: Grate the rind of 5 lemons and cut the remainder of the lemons into wedges, popping both into the sugary syrup: Stir.  Add the citric acid and then the Elderflowers: Stir again. Cover your creation with a cloth and stir from time to time over the next 48 hours.

Day 4: Strain your liquid through a muslin cloth into cold STERLIZED jars or bottles.  Seal the bottles and drink your cordial within 3 months, best kept refrigerated. Great for a Christmas gift!

Added extra: WE made ours with added Rose Water to see what it will taste like... we simmered fragrant rose petals in water from our garden the day before and strained the liquid out from the petals.  The result was a "tea-stained" looking water but smelled divine.  Will keep you posted on what the end result it!

Some people prefer to pop their flowers in the hot sugar syrup but I have done some research and the cordial ends up a very dark colour and not as pretty as the light coloured cordial we are all used to drinking.  Might be worth a try though to see what the flavour is like, it may be more intense?

My wee cherub super happy with her picking!