Monday 12 June 2017

Refreshment from the Hedgerow

The hedges are full of elderflower blooms at the moment so this is the time to be making your elderflower cordial. It is a while since I have made some so I collected some flower heads while I was out walking last week. My recipe requires 20 heads but as I had only collected 11 heads I decided to make half a batch.


The ingredients for my recipe are as follows:-
20 large elderflower heads
2 lemons chopped
2 oranges chopped
2.5 lbs sugar 
3 pints water
2 oz citric acid (usually obtainable from a chemist)


To make the cordial:-
1. Dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat. 
2. Pour into a deep bowl and add the citric acid stirring until it dissolves.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
4. Cover with a cloth and leave in a cool place for 4 days stirring twice a day.
5. Strain and bottle into sterilised bottles.


I completely forgot to take a photo of the finished product but I can assure you that it tastes good. I use clean, sterilised small plastic bottles . I sterilise them with Milton and rinse them with cooled boiled water. I then freeze the cordial until I want them.
My sister in law freezes the heads and then makes one or two bottles as she wants them. I believe she uses a different recipe. She has been busy collecting flower heads to make cordial for the forthcoming wedding. Quite a task to undertake!



4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe. Not sure if I have ever tasted elderberry cordial. Isn't this the drink that Anne of Green Gables gets a bit tipsy on? Need to look that up.

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  2. I learn something every day from reading blogs, and here's today's lesson. I've never thought that you could make a cordial from the blossoms of the elderflower, though I have heard of elderberries.

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    1. I hadn't realised elderflower cordial hadn't crossed the pond. It's a lovely refreshing drink. I also use it in fruit salad and even have an elderflower cheesecake recipe. I will have to do a post on that!

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    2. I have been looking for elderflower here in the US and it is possible to buy the cordial - at a price. I still haven't discovered though whether elderflower grows here. I suspect the cordial is imported.

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