Elderflower Cordial Recipe

It's that time of year again - late spring/early summer - and the Elder bushes are in bud here, half way up the west coast of Ireland.  This means I have to make sure that I have all the ingredients I need to make my Elderflower cordial, ready and waiting for when the flowers finally open.

sambucus nigra flowers

Elder bushes, or sambucus nigra, are more like a large shrub, or a small bushy tree, and when the flowers finally open it is for such a short time.  This is a real shame because the blooms are truly beautiful, and so elegant.  The colour of perfect pale cream wedding dresses.

sambucus nigra bush in flower

Wiki page link for sambucus_nigra




The Elder bush has many very well documented medicinal and food uses, which I will write about in my next couple of blog posts.  But for today I wanted to share one of the recipes I use to make Elderflower Cordial, as just maybe you already have the flowers blooming in your area.

Elderflower cordial is simply divine diluted with water, but sparkling water will at that extra special zip !  And for a really heavenly treat, add it neat to vermouth and a slice of lemon.

If you fancy vanilla ice cream, then try it with undiluted Elderflower cordial drizzled over it...

I have several recipes for this cordial, and to be honest this one is probably my favourite.  I'm not sure why, but it keeps well and, for me, that is very important.

If you want to make sure the cordial lasts a long time, pour it into small plastic bottles (small Fanta or Coke bottles are perfect) and freeze it.  Remember to leave at least an inch gap at the top, to allow for the cordial to expand when it freezes.  Take out a bottle at a time to use, and keep it in the fridge once defrosted.

Elderflower Cordial Recipe

(taken from the BBC Good Food website - I adapted this from the original recipe by Jane Hornby)

Ingredients

Elderflower heads - 20 complete heads

White sugar - 5lbs 5ozs (2.5kg)

Organic lemons - 2 (if not organic, then at least unwaxed)

Citric acid - 3ozs (85g)

Water - 2.75 pints (1.5 litres) (preferably with no fluoride or chlorine)

Instructions

1       Remove most of the zest from the 2 lemons, being careful not to include any of the white pith.  Then slice the lemons.  Put all this to one side for a minute.

2       Trim the flower head stalks, leaving just enough to hold the heads together.  Swish them around gently in a large bowl of cold water.  This is to remove any small wildlife, dust and other unwanted debris.

3        Put the water and sugar together into a large stainless steel saucepan. Simmer gently without boiling, until the sugar has all dissolved and you have a clear sugar syrup.  Stir to prevent bottom sticking and to help the dissolving.

4       Bring the sugar syrup to boiling point now, and once boiling, take it completely off the heat.

5        Put the flower heads, citric acid, lemon zest and sliced lemons into the hot sugar syrup, stirring them well.

6        Cover the saucepan, making sure no insects or dust can get in.  Leave to infuse for 24 to 36 hours.

7        Strain the cold mixture.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to take a large colander and a clean tea towel.  Line the colander with the tea towel, and place the colander over a very clean bowl.  Pour or ladle the now cold mixture into the colander to drain through into the bowl.  Do NOT press or squeeze the solids to try and get more liquid/cordial out, as this will simply make the cordial cloudy and may also make it slightly bitter.

8        Pour the strained cordial into sterilised bottles; glass if being stored on a shelf or in the fridge, plastic if being stored in a freezer.

Notes

* You could also freeze the cordial in ice cube trays.  Once frozen, pop them out and store in bags, taking out only what is required each time.

* It is very important that all utensils and pans etc be properly sterilised.  Failure to do this will result in fungus and other growth inside the bottles, and the cordial will be unusable.

* Storage - in the fridge about 6 weeks, frozen up to 1 year, on a cool shelf maybe 2-4 weeks.

* Alternative flavouring - why not add a vanilla pod to a bottle or two, for  a slightly different flavour.

The Magic of Elderberries

How to Get Rid of the Flu, or Better Still Avoid it Altogether
 
Elderberry & Clove Cordial Recipe click here



It's not just some old wives tale your Granny used to waffle on about.  Nor some kind of witchy cleverness.  Elderberries are in fact an easily accessible, locally growing Superfood!

Well local if you live, like me, in Ireland.  They are also prolific in the UK, and grow across North America and Europe.  I don't know if Elder grows in Australia or anywhere else in the world not mentioned.  And there are hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties.

Many people years ago took a glass of Elderberry & Clove Cordial/Syrup, that they had gathered and made themselves, every day.  This kept colds and flu at bay, and if you did contract something like this, it would only last a couple of days and be less severe.

Quote:
"In 1992, a team of Israeli scientists studied the effect of elderberry on flu patients. During a flu epidemic, half of their patients were given an elderberry syrup, the other half a placebo. The results: within 24 hours, 20% of the patients receiving elderberry had gotten significantly better. Within two days, 75% of the elderberry group were much improved; within 3 days 90% were completely cured.
Among the placebo group, only 8% of patients improved within 24 hours and it was a full 6 days before 90% of the patients were cured."
and
"Studies have even shown that elderberry worked better than prescription remedies such as Tamiflu and Relenza.  Take that, Big Pharma!"

Both the above quotes are from a blog 'TennZen' Elderberry Natural Flu Fighter

Raspberry Lemonade

My great friend D was sorting through her collection of newspapers and newspaper cuttings, when I happened to visit yesterday.

She poured me my usual cup of peppermint tea, offered me some toast and we settled down for a few minutes gossip and chat.

I was browsing through the old newspapers on her table, and found a page that she had cut out for some reason. It was from the Galway Advertiser maybe, but I can't be sure. Anyway, it had a few recipes for Christmas drinks. It was dated October 29th ! Nothing like being prepared.

One of the recipes caught my eye and D promptly said that the cutting was now mine...

So here it is...

Raspberry Lemonade

3/4 cup fresh Raspberries (or defrosted frozen ones)
9 cups Water
2 cups freshly squeezed Lemon Juice (about 12 lemons)
2 cups Castor Sugar

1. Puree the raspberries in a blender - or with a hand blender.

2. Strain the pureed raspberry through a fine sieve, into a large jug. Throw what's left in the sieve into the compost bin.

3. Add all the other ingredients to the jug of raspberry puree.

4. Whisk them together until the sugar is dissolved completely.

You can serve this over crushed or whole ice if you like...

Damson or Blackberry Gin

Well hic this is for all those people who hic are 'free food' addicts (ok with the addition of the odd bottle of gin...), hic and who love a wee tipple of something extra hic special...

Hic

Damsons are small dark purple plums hic, which when eaten raw hic aren't terribly sweet like the bigger plums, and are at their best when hic stewed with some demerera sugar mmm hic mmm.

I don't have a damson tree hic yet, nor do I know anyone who has one... which is very sad.

I am going to hic have to try and buy some damsons in order to make Damson hic Gin this year I am afraid. Unless you have some spare ? !! Hic

The joy of this recipe, as well hic as any Sloe Gin recipe, is that it doesn't really require that you use expensive hic gin. Aldi or Lidl cheapo gin works great... and hic saves big time on the pennies...

You can also use this recipe to make Blackberry Gin, which is one very special drink... Instead of pricking the fruit as with the damsons, just gently squash the Blackberries in a bowl with a potato masher, just enough to release the juice. Carefully put the blackberries, and any squashed juice, into jars as in step 2, and continue as for the Damson Gin from there.

I will post my recipe for hic Sloe Gin tomorrow, as it is slightly different...

Damson Gin (or Blackberry)

1 lb Damsons
4.5 ozs white Sugar
A bottle of Gin

1. Wash the damsons and dry them carefully.

2. Prick/slice them all over with a sharp knife and pop them straight into a large glass jar (to which you have a lid that seals). Don't fill each jar to more than half way with the damsons. It would be great if you had one massive jar and they all went into 1. However, several jars is ok.

3. Add the sugar to the jar. If more than one jar, be careful to add the sugar in the near enough correct same proportions as the fruit, to ensure an even sweetness and taste.

4. Fill the jar of Damsons to about 1 inch from the top with gin. Put the lid on the jar (jars).

5. Shake the jar vigorously for a bit, then stand in a cool place, and not in direct sunlight.

6. Shake the jar well every day for the next month. Then shake every few days for 2 months after that (3 months in all).

7. After 3 months strain the Damson Gin through muslin (or a very fine sieve) into a clean sterilised bottle. Seal with a good lid.

8. Leave to mature for at least 6 months, 2 years if you want something really special.

Elderberry Wine

I am a great believer in making the most of what is available for free in our hedgerows and fields. And at this time of year nature has an incredible abundance - it isn't known as harvest time for nothing.

Elderberries seem to be almost finishing where I live, so I am picking like mad to get as many as I can before they dry and drop from the branches.

I mostly make elderberry & clove cordial with them (see menu on the right under Elderberries or Cordials), but I also make a gallon or so of elderberry wine. I personally like a slightly sweeter elderberry wine than usual and the following is the recipe I use.

(Please remember all measurements are imperial as used in Britain and Ireland, as opposed to the US lbs etc. I will be adding a universal conversion chart to the blog soon.)

Elderberry Wine (Sweet)

3 lbs (1.5 kg) fresh Elderberries
3.5 lbs (1.7 kg) white Sugar
2 Lemons (organic as they do not have wax coatings on the skin and you don't want that in your wine!). Alternatively you can use 1 teaspoon of Citric Acid which is the same thing
1 gallon (4.5 litres) Water
Wine Yeast & Nutrient

1. Take the berries off of the stalks. This is fairly easy using a fork. Then weigh them to ensure that you have 3 lbs.

2. Crush the berries in a bowl.

3. Pour over the boiling water, stir, and then let it cool to about 21C (70F).

4. When at 21C put the crushed berries, the sliced lemons (or the citric acid), the yeast and yeast nutrient into a large food grade plastic bucket. I use one sachet of wine yeast for a gallon as I usually only make a gallon of a kind at a time. I believe 1 sachet of wine yeast is enough for up to 5 gallons though. Cover the bucket.

5. Leave this for 3 days, stirring it once a day then recovering the bucket.

6. After 3 days strain the mixture through a fine sieve (or muslin) onto the sugar. Mix the sugar into the liquid.

7. Put the liquid into a glass demijohn (preferably a dark one to preserve the colour). Do not fill the demijohn to the top as it will need room to ferment, instead put the excess liquid into sterilised wine bottles and put plenty of cotton wool (acts as an airlock) in the bottle necks. You will need this extra to top up the demijohn once fermentation stops and you 'rack off' the liquid from the remaining sediment.

8. Fit an airlock to the demijohn (and don't forget the bit of water in it).

9. Leave the demijohn and the bottles until fermentation is complete. Remember to label them with the flavour and the date ! Fermentation may take a while.

10. Once fermentation stops completely (no more bubbles rising at all), rack off the liquid from the sediment. This essentially means siphon it off into a clean, sterilised demijohn for further storage. This is where you can use the extra wine bottles with the cotton wool to top up.

11. Store the wine like this for about 6 months, and then bottle. Preferably into dark bottles to preserve the colour.

The wine can be drunk from about 9 months, but it is still very new then and will be far better if left at least a year, preferably more.

This particular recipe is adapted from one in 'First Steps in Winemaking', a book by the great C.J.J. Berry.

Blackberry Ice Cubes

I just had to post this very neat idea that just came to me.

These would be perfect in lemonade, or even maybe in vodka or Bacardi. Or how about putting one in your gin and tonic !

Blackberry Ice Cubes

Fresh Blackberries

1. Rinse the blackberries very quickly under the tap to wash off any unwanted wildlife.

2. Pack them into ice cube holes in an ice cube tray. Squish them down a bit to fill them well, but not too much.

3. Freeze the filled ice cube trays in the freezer.

4. When well frozen, remove the blackberry cubes from the trays and pack quickly into freezer bags or Tupperware containers (whilst still very hard and frozen).

5. Return straight back to the freezer to store.

Blackberry Sangria !

I have been nursing a very sick kitten all evening and so haven't had much time to write my blog today...

Whilst hugging said kitten on my tummy, I was surfing the web for innovative things to do with blackberries and found this really fun recipe ! It reminded me of a good friend from North Carolina and I just had to share it, if only for her sake...

That's my excuse...

Blackberry Sangria

10 glasses of a spicy red wine
10 ozs of dark strong rum (Captain Morgans or Navy Rum is perfect)
50 Blackberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Use a large jug or bowl.

2. Put all the ingredients into the jug or bowl and refrigerate until nice and cold.

3. If you are using frozen blackberries, it is ok to put them in frozen. This will be like blackberry ice cubes.

4. Stir and drink !