Refreshing Elderflower Cordial

by - 13:39

 

On a sunny afternoon, we found ourselves casually strolling through a local park and wood. Scattered throughout the hedgerows and bushes was an abundance of sweetly scented white flowers, elderflowers. That is when I had a brilliant idea of trying my hand at Elderflower cordial which has many uses in everyday baking and beverages. We gathered about 20 heads and scuttled home with the hope of making something sweet and delicious to last all summer long. This is my first time and a step-by-step guide on how to make Elderflower cordial.


On doing my research it quite an easy recipe to follow it takes half an hour to prepare and cook. Then you leave it to sit for twenty-four hours before straining and bottling, so the elderflower can steep into the cordial. This recipe makes around four litres of cordial and would be a perfect homemade gift to take to a BBQ or a dinner party.

Ingredients:
2 ½ Kg white sugar
-          Granulated or Caster
 2 Unwaxed Lemons
20 heads of freshly picked Elderflower
-          Have a good pick through at home to remove any bugs or brown flowers. Trim the stems of as much as possible as they can leave a bitter flavour.
85g Citric Acid
-          You can find this in your local chemist or Wilko’s


Step One – Place the sugar into the largest saucepan you own and add 1.5 Litres of water. Gently heat this mixture and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Whilst this sugar mixture is simmering zest your lemons with a potato peeler and cut lemons into slices, place to one side.



Step Two – Once the Sugar has completely dissolved bring the syrup to a boil and turn off the heat. Add in the flowers along with the lemon zest, slices and citric acid. Stir the mixture well and cover the pan to rest for twenty-four hours so the mixture can steep.


Step Three -  After twenty-four hours, line a colander with a clean tea towel or muslin cloth and sit over a large bowl or pan. Pour in the mixture with a ladle and let it drip though slowly. Once it has all dripped through the cloth throw away the bits left behind. Then use a funnel to pour into sterilised glass bottles. You can sterilise the bottles in a hot oven or with boiling soapy water. The cordial is ready to drink straight away, best chilled and will keep for up to 6 weeks. You can also freeze it into ice cubes, ice lolly’s or in an airtight container to defrost as needed.


Step Four – Enjoy by adding into water for a squash like drink or add in to sparkling wine or gin for an alcoholic beverage. It can also be used as a flavouring in cakes and pastry’s. I will be testing out an Elderflower and Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe shortly so please look out for a recipe post coming shortly.


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10 comments

  1. Wow! That's pretty cool! I had no idea it could be so easy! Thanks!

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  2. Very useful tips, Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I've always wanted to make this as I love elderflower cordial. I shall be saving this to give it a try.

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  4. I think I have had edelflower once. Such a wonderful and essy to follow recipe. I wonder if I can try this with hibiscus flowers.

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  5. I think I have had edelflower once. Such a wonderful and essy to follow recipe. I wonder if I can try this with hibiscus flowers.

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  6. Informative and usefull tips. Many thanks. I will.give this a try

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  7. Informative and usefull tips. Many thanks. I will.give this a try

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  8. Awesome idea! Am curious for the taste :)

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  9. I really like this idea! Thank you so much for sharing. You have a lovely blog. :)

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  10. That looks very refreshing. Such a different idea.

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