My very best recipe for making elderflower cordial
At this time of year, the hedgerows are full of sweet smelling elderflowers.
You can make the most delicious tasting cordial with a few ingredients, ready to use within 24hrs and will keep for a few weeks.
You will need:
- 20 Elderflower heads.
Be sure to pick when the flowers are in full bloom and you can visibly see the yellow pollen. If the flowers have started to go over or are full of bugs, then don’t pick them!
- 2 lemons. grated zest and sliced
- 85g citric acid. I purchased mine on Amazon (food grade)
- 1.5 litres of water
- 1kg sugar
Some recipes advise a lot more sugar, up to 2.5kg, but that seems excessive and this cordial is sweet enough.
Method
- Place a pan on the boil with 1.5 litres of water.
- Add the sugar and dissolve.
- Before the mixture boils, take off the heat and add the lemon zest, lemon slices and mix in the citric acid.
- Allow to cool slightly and rest the elderflower heads in the mixtures
- Cover with a lid and allow to infuse for 24hrs
- After 24hrs, strain the mixture through a fine size or muslin to discard any petals and lemon.
- Crumble 1 campden tablet (bought from Amazon) to help preserve.
- Decant mixture into a plastic bottle or container
- Use a small amount of cordial 1/6 to a glass of lemonade, tonic or sparkling water
- Enjoy with ice
