Elderflower Cordial
If you’re raising readers of Brian Jacques ‘Redwall’ books, Elderflower Cordial is an essential summer beverage.
It’s refreshing, summery and non-alcoholic. Elderflower Cordial is also a useful ingredient to have in the freezer.
Place 1.5kg/3lb 5oz of granulated sugar into a saucepan. It’s a lot. Hold your nerve. Pour on 1.5 litres/2½ pints of cold water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Stir gently until the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave to cool while you go off foraging.
The elderflowers were late this year, but I start looking in early May. Usually they are past their best by the end of June, but there are still plenty to find at the moment. This isn’t hard urban foraging. In fact, I manage to do it in heels…!
The only thing you could possibly confuse it with is cow parsley. If what you are picking is growing directly out of the ground you’re picking the wrong thing. This won’t hurt you as another ‘common’ name for cow parsley is ‘wild chervil‘. It’s perfectly edible, but I don’t like it.
Although the elderflower is a bush they can grow very large and look very tree-like.
Elderflower leaves have serrated edges and tend to grow in fives – like this. Cow parsley, just so you know, has no leaves near the flowers.
Look for a spray of flowers. Elderflowers grow in florets.
Before they open they have tight buds which open to form creamy white flowers. The pollen is very visible.
A froth of creamy white and they smell of summer. Or should. Bushes vary. Pick from a bush where the flowers are fragrant. If they smell musty, move on.
I read once that elderflowers smell like muscat grapes. Unfortunately my experience of muscat grapes is limited. I do dream of one day standing in a vineyard and remarking how the grapes smell of elderflowers but … it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe you have a different life experience??!
This identifier is a bit revolting. Once they’ve flowered they are attractive to black fly. I avoid those! You could pick them off but I feel it’s a step too far.
And this is what they look like when they’ve ‘gone over’. Avoid picking any elderflowers with any brown as fragrance equals taste.
Never pick on a wet day. If you’ll excuse me for saying, elderflowers tend to smell like cat’s pee when rained on. Whilst muscat grapes are beyond my experience, I do actually have direct knowledge of cat’s pee. My childhood cat, imaginatively called ‘Kitty’, had a .. problem in old age. (I was an imaginative child when it came to naming my pets.)
An English spring is a variable thing – weather-wise. Since a sunny morning and available time to make cordial is a rare combination, the good news is you can freeze the heads. Place them in a zip-lock freezer bag and place directly in your freezer. Aside from picking off any bugs don’t do anything to them. When you want to make your cordial, don’t let them defrost or they’ll turn a revolting brown. Just add them to the sugar syrup and lemon slices.
Pick about 25 heads. It seems to be a fact of life that the best blooms are the ones you can’t quite reach. Go for the ones that don’t drop all their blossom when you shake off any wildlife and pick away from the road. Look for creamy coloured flower heads in preference to brilliant white.
Like all foraging, don’t take more than you need. Leave some to become elderberries in the autumn …!
Once home, I don’t wash my flower heads. (It’s the cat’s wee thing.) If you leave them on a tray in a warm kitchen you’ll find tiny insects will wander off. Depending on your temperament you can return the wildlife to the big outside … or not. Just give the flowers a quick check over.
Finely slice two unwaxed lemons.
The elderflowers and lemon slices, including the pips, go into a big bowl. Pour over the sugar water.
The only other ingredient you need is ‘citric acid’ which is a weak organic acid and a natural preservative. You buy it from the chemist. They’ll ask you what you want it for … in case you have a heroin habit. Apparently it’s useful. I’ve found asking for it in May and June has never been a problem.
I don’t keep my cordial in a bottle for longer than a month, but if I’m making it to give as a gift I add a couple of campden tablets. I buy them from my local brewers shop but you can also get them online. They kill bacteria and inhibit the growth of most wild yeast. Since this is ‘just for us’, and I’m going to store it in the freezer, it’s just the citric acid.
Pour in the 50g packet and give everything a stir.
Cover with a clean tea towel and leave it to infuse for 24 hours. Somewhere dark and cool is best. My writing desk is north facing and I put mine on there overnight.
I can’t make this look photogenic.
I can’t make this look photogenic either. I let my cordial drip through a jelly bag. The alternative would be a nylon sieve lined with muslin or a new J-cloth. Whatever you use, scald in boiling water first.
Either put your bottle through the dishwasher or wash in soapy water, rinse and dry in a warm oven for 30 minutes or so.
Then you can fill the hot bottle with the elderflower cordial. I even managed to do it left-handed and take a photo! Store in the fridge and it’ll keep for a month – if you can stop people drinking it.
In the freezer it’ll keep for 3 months – which is the summer. By the time we get to October I’m ready to move on. I store mine in 500ml portions in Soup n’ Sauce freezer bags.
Dilute to a ratio of 1 part cordial to 10 parts cold water. Fizzy or still. As cold as you can get it.
Ice cubes. A slice of lemon.
Drink.
Elderflower Cordial
Makes 2 litres/3½ pints
- 20-25 heads of creamy white elderflowers
- 1.5kg/3lb 5oz granulated sugar
- 1.5 litres/2½ pints water
- 2 unwaxed lemons
- 50g/2oz citric acid
- 2 campden tablets, optional
Place the sugar in a saucepan and add the water. Over a medium heat, bring to a boil and gently stir to dissolve the sugar. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave to cool.
Collect your elderflowers. Check for insect life and place in a large bowl.
Thinly slice the unwaxed lemons and add it to the bowl.
Pour over the sugar water and add the citric acid and campden tablets, if using.
Give everything a stir and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a cool, dark place to steep for 24 hours.
Strain the cordial through a scalded jelly bag – or a nylon sieve lined with scalded muslin or a new scalded j-cloth. Pour into sterilised bottles. For longer storage, freeze.
Dilute 1:10 cordial to water. Serve as cold as you can get it.
Drink.