This morning I had a wonderful present when I arrived at church - the churchwarden had got me a big bag of elderflowers.
I LOVE elderflower cordial but I am fussy about the source of my elderflowers. I won't have them from the roadside because of pollution from passing vehicles and I won't have them from hedges near fields which have been sprayed. I find that the best place to get them is from churchyards.
As soon as I got home I dragged out the stockpot (my largest stainless steel vessel) and tipped in the elderflower heads, 2 ounces of citric acid, two sliced lemons, two pounds of sugar and three pints of boiling water. And now the whole lot is meditating and will do so for the next five days before I bottle it.
I shall freeze some so that in the depths of winter I shall be able to drink bottled summer. Sheer luxury!
I want to be able to make cordials next year, I have far too much on this year, can you make a lower sugar one? Hubby has been an insulin diabetic for 35 years ;0(
ReplyDeleteA very interesting question and I have to say that I've never tried. However, a quick google revealed this article written by Sarah Raven which is about various low sugar cordials. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardenprojects/10911045/How-to-make-low-sugar-summer-cordials.html
ReplyDeleteI also found this one on youtube.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_wtPZby1S
I have never heard of this but it sounds like something that would have been popular in the American south, like mint juleps. It sounds delightful!
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa, mint goes into mint tea in this house! Elderflowers grow on trees and get pulled out of gardens pronto. The trees can be found in hedgerows and they flower prolifically and provide a red berry about the size of currants in the autumn. The cordial is very sweet and very fragrant.
DeleteI wish you had some of my mint here. I planted one small sprig in a pot one summer and it died. However, the next year there was mint in the flower bed, the grass, the cracks in the concrete! I don't use it because of chemicals in the yard by our gardeners but it does smell nice when stepped on or mowed. I think your cordial sounds wonderful -- not sure we have elderflowers or not here -- will have to research.
ReplyDeleteThey grow on elder trees Elder (Sambucus nigra) and are often considered to be more or less a weed. The berries are eaten by wild animals and birds and the seeds excreted and they take root very easily. They grow in hedges and on the edge of woodland as well as in churchyards.
DeleteI've got a very vigorous mint in my garden but it is growing in a pot, thank goodness.