NOW, is the time to pick your elder flowers before it’s to late. They call it the ‘free harvest of the year’. The hedgerows are bursting with blossoms at the moment and the elder flowers will soon be at their best when the sun shines, but their picking time is limited.
A classic recipe for Elderflower Cordial is
Ingredients
900g/2lbs granulated sugar
50g/2oz citric acid
2 lemons, sliced
25 (around) large elderflower heads
Method
Place sugar into a large mixing bowl and pour over 3 litres of boiling water
Stir to dissolve the sugar and leave to cool
Add the citric acid and lemons
Shake the flower heads gently (for any bugs)
Rinse them gently with water
Add to the mixing bowl and stir them in gently
Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 24 hrs
Sieve through a muslin
Pour into your sterilised glass bottles
The cordial can be diluted to taste
Keep in the fridge for best results and for no longer than six months
Is that the elderberry bush? They make wine from the elderberries.
That’s the one hutt and yes, they make the wine from it as well. Do you have it in New Zealand?