Try at home recipe… Elderflower Cordial

It’s that warm, sunny time of year when you see those huge white flowers in the hedgerows and smell that gorgeous fragrance. It’s elderflower time! It’s one of our favourite foraging treats at Wild Tots, the possibilities are endless with these flowers. We especially love elderflower fritters. Here’s our easy to make recipe for cordial, it can be used to make ice lollies too. Be quick to find some, they don’t hang around long, turning into berries within a couple of weeks.

Ingredients

• About 25 elderflower heads
• Finely grated zest of 3 unwaxed lemons and 1 orange, plus their juice (about 150ml in total)
• 1kg sugar
• 1 heaped tsp citric acid (optional)

Method

Inspect the elderflower heads carefully and remove any insects. Place the flower heads in a large bowl together with the orange and lemon zest.

Bring 1.5 litres water to the boil and pour over the elderflowers and citrus zest. Cover and leave overnight to infuse.

Strain the liquid through a scalded jelly bag or piece of muslin and pour into a saucepan. Add the sugar, the lemon and orange juice and the citric acid (if using).

Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes.

Use a funnel to pour the hot syrup into sterilised bottles. Seal the bottles with swing-top lids, sterilised screw-tops or corks.

ENJOY!