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Finished bottle Elderflower Cordial - Elderflowers - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
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Elderflower Cordial

This lovely recipe is great for sipping in the sunshine, listening to the birdsong. Its a highly refreshing sweet coridal perfect for those long summer days.
Course Drinks
Cuisine British
Keyword British, Cordial, Elderflower, Perserve, Perserving, Spring, Summer
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 25 minutes
Steeping time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 2 Liters
Cost £2.50

Equipment

  • Large saucepan
  • Muslin or tea town
  • 2.5 liters of sterilised bottles.

Ingredients

  • 1 Carrier Bags Worth Elderflower Heads
  • 2.5 kg Sugar White beyond this it doesn’t really matter
  • 1.5 litres Water
  • 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 2 Tbsp Citric Acid Can be brought from a chemist, or online.

Instructions

  • First pick a large bag or basket of elderflowers. You’ll want at least 25 heads, though these vary in size so much I’ve always found this a silly measurement. A standard sized carrier bag is about the right volume – though you don’t have to use one to collect them in. Please forage respectfully of other foragers and the wildlife that relies on the trees. You can check our blog about foraging and the law here. It is also well worth doing a sniff test of your elderflowers before you pick off a new tree. Some smell divine, others are much closer to cats wee. If they are the catty variety, remember their location and come back for those ones once the berries are ripe.
    Picking Elderflowers - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • Leave the umbrels of flowers out in the shade for some of the creatures to escape.
    Picked Elderflowers - dog - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • Then cut off as much stem as your patience allows. The stem contains trace elements of cyanade so it’s best to remove as much as possible, but it’s also frustratingly time consuming.
    Removing the stems - Elderflowers - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • Measure out the sugar (I’ve always used white, but it doesn’t matter beyond that. I think a dark sugar would affect the taste of the cordial and potentially overpower the elderflowers)and put this in a large pan.
    Weighing the Sugar - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • Add the water then heat gently whilst stirring till all the sugar is dissolved.
    Add Water and heat till sugar dissolved - Elderflower - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • Take off the heat.
  • Then add the lemon juice and citric acid.
  • Add all the elderflowers and stir well.
    Elderflowers - Elderflower - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • I have found placing a plate on top at this stage will help sink the elderflowers into the sugar syrup.
  • Cover the pan, a lid, muslin or tea towel, it doesn’t matter.
    Cover with a tea towel or muslin - Elderflower - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • Leave covered in a cool space for 24 hours for the elderflowers to infuse the water.
  • Strain through a muslin or tea towel.
    Strain through a muslin - Elderflower - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey
  • Bottle into sterilised bottles and it will store in the fridge for a week or two.
    Bottle - Elderflower - Foraging Courses - Preserving Courses - Preserving Courses South London - Preserving Courses East Surrey

Notes

If you want to store this for longer I’d recommend bringing it up to the boil after straining and before bottling, this will kill anything in the cordial and allow you to store it in the cupboard until you open it. The sugar is preventing the growth of pathogens rather than necessarily killing them.