There's one thing I absolutely can't get enough of in British summertime, and it's elderflower. Before elderflower, I never felt a conspicuous absence in my life or anything. I didn't feel like I was missing out on something enormous. But then, when I moved to England, it hit me! The only reason I didn't notice how much I'd been missing out on elderflower over the years was that elderflower is more subtle than that.
It's light, floral, and not at all in your face. So of course, I had no idea what I was missing.
Living next to the Heath, I have easy access to some of the nicest, fume-free elderflowers. This year, they started to come in around early May, but they will last another few weeks I expect. I picked these in a brief foraging frenzy along the top of Parliament Hill - but anywhere you are (in the UK, Scandinavia, etc...) you're likely to find some. Be sure to pick from trees that aren't next to busy roads, and pick heads with open, fresh-looking flowers.
With just a handful of flower heads, I made up a batch of cordial and a couple of bottles of champagne in about an hour - from tree to steeping. Both need a good day's steeping to get the flavours going, but the cordial will be ready immediately after sieving. The champagne is still tucked away under the kitchen table, hopefully fermenting - but I'll keep you posted on that!
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Elderflower Cordial
10 heads of elderflower, shaken off well and picked over for bugs
800 grams sugar
1 litre water
1 1/2 lemons
1. Peel your lemon rind and slice the fruit, popping them in a large bowl with your elderflowers. 2. In a pot, mix together your sugar and water and bring to a boil. Once your sugar has dissolved, pour your syrup over the flowers and lemons. Cover with a plate or lid and leave to steep for 24 hours. 3. Once ready (it will smell strongly of elderflower), sieve through a muslin-lined strainer and decant into clean bottles or jars. Keeps for a few weeks, but can also be frozen in plastic vessels.
Elderflower Champagne
Ensure your tools are sterilised when making this!
2 heads of elderflower, shaken off well and picked over for bugs
500 grams sugar
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
5 litres cold water
1. Put your elderflower in a large (at least 5 litre) container like a bucket or large pot. Add the peel of the lemon and the juice. Toss in your sugar and vinegar. 2. Pour over your cold water, cover, and leave to steep for 24 hours. 3. Remove the larger debris from your liquid, and then strain through a muslin-lined sieve. 4. Decant into sterile bottles (glass screw tops or plastic pop bottles work well) and seal up tight. 5. Leave somewhere out of the way for at least two weeks, longer for a better flavour.
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