Before the last of the elderflowers disappear, we have just managed to squeeze in a final batch of elderflower cordial. I thought I would share the recipe and a few pics in case anyone else fancied giving this delicious seasonal delight a go.
Millie-Grace picking the elderflowers..... it seems like we have had a bumper crop this year.
The girls with 10 elderflower heads ready to go. Amazingly Molly joined in with the picking whilst wearing roller blades!
The ingredients are such wonderful colours with the yellow of the lemons and the white of the flowers. The smell is heavenly too!
Chop 3/4 lemons and peel the zest (I added in a lime as I found it lurking in the fruit bowl). Squeeze the lemon pieces as you put them into the pan and add the zest too.
Then in goes 1.5 lbs of sugar....
and 1.5 pints of boiling water.
Give it all a stir, put the lid on and leave it somewhere cool to steep for 48 hours. Next sterilise your glass bottles ready for the cordial. The easiest way to sterilise the bottles is to put them in the dishwasher.......but make sure you time it right to put the cordial into the bottles whilst they are still warm/hot.
To preserve the cordial I added 1oz of citric acid, which I purchased from our local brewing shop in Barnstaple called 'Brewing at Home'.
After 48 hours sieve the mixture through some muslin into a jug and then pour it into the sterilised bottles. Here is our finished product....yum!! We like to mix it with sparkling water as it makes such a wonderfully refreshing drink.....however it never lasts long in our house as it is far too scrummy. Enjoy!