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Elderflower Cordial
Summary
| Yield | |
|---|---|
| Source | This is partly my MIL, and partly Jeremy Lee |
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Recipes | Drinks |
Description
Ingredients
- 15 large elderflower umbels (the flower heads)
- 900 g caster sugar
- 1 lemon, sliced thin
- 40 g tartaric acid (in the UK you can buy this at most chemists)
- 500 ml water
- 15 large elderflower umbels (the flower heads)
- 900 g caster sugar
- 1 lemon, sliced thin
- 40 g tartaric acid (in the UK you can buy this at most chemists)
- 500 ml water
Instructions
Thoroughly wash up a saucepan to boil the water in, a wooden spoon and a large bowl (preferably not metal).
Bring the water to the boil.
Place the elderflowers in a large bowl, checking for any wildlife along the way. Don't wash them, or you'll loose the flavour. Add the lemon, sugar and tartaric acid.
As soon as the water boils, pour it over the flowers etc. and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Cover and place in a cool, dark place for four days.
Strain the cordial through a muslin lined sieve and pour into clean bottles. Drink at once mixed with lemonade if you've got a sweet tooth, or a mixture of lemonade and sparkling mineral water, or just the water. It will keep for a while (it never does with us!).
Notes
This makes good long drink with vodka.
For maximum flavour the elderflower umbels should be picked first thing in the morning on a still day, but don't be too fussy about it!
Comments
tartaric acid
I found some online US sources for it by googling, so Americans can make this too.
Which kind of elderberry,
and does it matter?
Black elderberry is native to Europe and Red elderberry is native to the Americas. Does it matter which you use? Anyone try this with American elderberries?
______
"If you want your children to be bright, read them fairytales-- if you want them to be brilliant, read them even more fairytales" Albert Einstein
The Red and the Black
Hmmmm. Not sure about this. I did a bit of googling (well, I have to have some distractions from writing about the complexities of the administration of eighteenth-century Birmingham!) and I can't really find a good answer. I guess you could smell the flowers, if they smell good make cordial, if they don't, don't? BTW, it seems that the berries, bark and leaves are toxic, so don't eat bark or leaves and berries must be cooked before being eaten.
Anyone got any more useful information?
Zillah
elderberries
Elderberries are extremely high in vitamin C and A, and syrup made from them is a traditional winter tonic to ward off and heal colds and flu. An extremely useful plant; it's one of the freebie fruit trees I got on Earth Day this year and was a sign to me that this year was going to be a good one (so far, true). No significant difference culinarily or medicinally between the European and American varieties. Toxicity is very mild so it's not a plant to keep out of the garden just because. It's a plant to cultivate!
Lynn Siprelle, Editor
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