I have wanted to make Elderflower cordial for the longest time. I absolutely love it and due to the high price of the commercially produced stuff it's something of an infrequent treat when I've got pennies to spare. Come to think of it, I've absolutely no idea why it's taken me so long to get round to making it? One of life's mysteries, but most likely connected to my incredible Lazy Gene and uber-strong Procrastination Tendencies. I very often have Big Thoughts about doing all sorts of productive, creative things, but the following through with action just doesn't always happen. Oh, and the other thing is that I am quite allergic to elderflowers, or rather the vast amount of dusty pollen they contain. Cath Kidston tissues at the ready for this venture.
This year I noticed a real abundance of elderberry trees/bushes in my neighbourhood throughout June, they seemed to be everywhere I looked and were smothered in flowers. A few weeks ago I had been chatting to a friend about wanting to make elderflower cordial, and she gave me a brief run down of the recipe as she remembered it. Twenty Five flower heads she said. Plus lots of sugar and some lemons. Sounded simple enough, and I figured that twenty five flowers would be fairly easy to harvest.
Not sure what prompted me finally to go forth and Make It Happen, maybe I wanted to do something so very Summery to combat the un-summery weather. Maybe I was just plain bored one damp, overcast Sunday morning. Bored and thirsty perhaps?
Despite the ridiculously unseasonal weather, I really enjoyed my early morning picking trip to the park. I find elderflowers incredibly pretty, they really are beautiful when you study them in close-up.
As anticipated, I had soon gathered twenty five pollen-filled flower heads into my basket. It didn't take long at all and I wished that it had lasted longer. It was definitely the bestest bit of the whole Cordial-making experience (although consuming the finished product is pretty darn good). I felt so pleased with my efforts as I tramped back up the soggy hill with my hedgerow booty swinging in my basket. How wholesome and productive to venture out and gather natures harvest to do fantabulous homemade things with!
Ahhh, long summer grasses, swaying gently in the breeze......you would never believe from this photo how cold it actually was on that first day of July). Freeeeeeeeezing it was.
Just had to share these roses with you, I pass them on my short walks to and from the park and have fallen in love with them over and over again this summer. I so wish that they were mine! Need to purchase and plant roses at number 24. It's a Must-do. Is rose-planting an Autumn pursuit? Any rose-lovers/growers out there, please do pass me some rosy-growing info!
Right then, pull my thoughts away from gorgeous, delightful, fragrant, smoochy pink roses and back to the sneezy, creamy white elderflowers. I loved the look of them inside my strawberry oilcloth lined basket. So pretty.
If you read any recipe for making elderflower cordial, it will always tell you to wash the flowers in water first to get rid of any critters. I didn't actually do this (plain forgot), but I did give the flowers a good shake and an inspection as I pulled them one by one out of the basket. I was completely mesmerized by this spider that crawled out, it is the exact colour of the alchemilla that's frothing away in my front garden. It's the first time I have ever encountered a lime green spider, it was a lovely little critter indeed.
I have to tell you that there are a gazillion-bobillion recipes in the world for elderflower cordial and they seem to vary wildly. Although the main ingredients (flowers, sugar, water, citrus fruit) are pretty much the same in each recipe, the quantities and proportions were staggeringly different. I flicked through about a dozen variations on the internet and perused a few in my books, eventually settling on this one by Sarah Raven.
Sarah's recipe has rather more citrus in than other recipes (2 lemons, 2 oranges and 2 limes, although I left out the limes cos of not having any in at the time). I love citrus flavours though, and I also loved her no-nonsense method.
One other ingredient she also uses (that I miraculously did have in) was citric acid. From what I know of this ingredient, it's a natural product that's mainly used in wine making to act as a preservative. It might possibly also give a little extra fizz-kick to cordials, although that's just a guess. It's perfectly possible to make elderflower cordial without it, but I think it does make it taste better. You can buy it easily online, even Amazon
So this is Sarah's easy-peasy method :: water and sugar in pan, bring to boil. Add in flowers, bring back to boil. Remove from heat, throw in sliced fruit, stir and leave for a few days. Easy or what?
I left my concoction to infuse for 3 days for maximum flavour to develop. Then I strained it through a muslin bag into a big jug and poured it into two empty 1 litre soda bottles.
The Little People were suitably impressed with my efforts and couldn't wait to sample it. The cordial is quite strong and needs to be diluted with water :: we made it first with normal tap water, then later with some bubbly soda water.
It really is delicious. Delicate, refreshing and oh-so-summery. I just wish I'd made more of it now, but there's always next year.
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Loved reading this post Lucy. The roses are gorgeous. We have bush roses in our garden and cut them back every autumn so the next year they come back stronger and bloom better too. They tend to look after themselves, just cut the deadheads and then they will keep blooming. The only thing I will say is the rain ruins the heads. We feed them when we water the garden.
Posted by: Louise | July 12, 2012 at 09:36 PM
Dear Lucy,
as you can see on the link below in Slovenia we prepare this sirup almost one month ago.
So we don't have them anymore.
I enjoy reading your blog, you are workoholik with crochet. And in goog way.
http://zivljenje-s-konceptom.blogspot.com/2012/06/bezgov-sirup.html
Posted by: irena | July 12, 2012 at 09:51 PM
Bet it tastes lovely added to a lil G&T!!! *ONLY* way to drink elderflower cordial!!
Posted by: lucy | July 12, 2012 at 09:51 PM
Beautiful pictures, the cordial looks lovely. I have a question though, umm, what exactly IS cordial? Ok two questions: do you have any ideal where I might find such vibrant yarn colors in the US?
Kim
Posted by: Kim Watson | July 12, 2012 at 09:52 PM
It looks so elegant and special! Thank you for sharing with us!
Posted by: Pom Pom | July 12, 2012 at 10:04 PM
Yum, my fav summertime drink, funny to see elderflower still on the hedgerows, its usually gone by now.
Yours looks so good...enjoy :)
Karen x
Posted by: Karen | July 12, 2012 at 10:08 PM
Ooh, yummy. I made some too, but ours is all drunk already - every year I think I should make more, but never do!
Doesn't it just make your fridge smell delicious while it's stewing away?
Posted by: Emma | July 12, 2012 at 10:10 PM
Sounds de-lish!Wish we could swap weather for a while,we're roasting and it's soo dry.The rose is beautiful,with your mild climate I'd say you could plant one now and it'd do fine,be sure to keep it watered.Teasing us with your ripple again I see ;)Looking forward to the TA-DaH!Wishing you sunny days :)
Posted by: angela-southern USA | July 12, 2012 at 10:20 PM
Beautiful colors, beatiful flowers, beautiful and unusual spider. Thanks Lucy, i wish a sunny summer for you and rain for me :)
Posted by: Carmen García González | July 12, 2012 at 10:30 PM
I love love love Elderflower Cordial - we had Sparkling Elderflower as the Toast at our wedding. I love making it too - we still have some left from last year!
Claire
Posted by: Claire | July 12, 2012 at 10:34 PM
Homemade is far nicer than shop bought- I've got last drop in my fridge of a batch Mum made. She collects plastic bottles - small sized water/coke - and freezes it really to give out to family and friends. Thus year's was the best batch ever, I wonder if the flavour was due to the early sun and then hideous amounts of rain this year?
Posted by: Rachell | July 12, 2012 at 10:36 PM
I love this post! I love homemade...and I am laughing a bit thinking of Anne of Green Gables and her experience with cordial...haha Thank you!
Posted by: Barbara in Alaska | July 12, 2012 at 10:45 PM
I tend to think of a cordial as a drink with alcohol, but this doesn't seem like it. It sounds quite good!
You can plant roses in the fall, especially in your milder climate (milder than New England, I mean). Not too late. And try to get a hardier rose, rather than a hybrid tea or something. The people at the nursery could advise you. Good luck! Roses like lots of sun and lots of water, but once they're established they can put up with a bit of deprivation.
Posted by: Lisa G. | July 12, 2012 at 10:59 PM
I really want to make some cordial now! the spider is a cucumber spider by the way,I love the name!
Posted by: Claire | July 12, 2012 at 11:03 PM
How delicious. Definitely on my to do list. Am I too late though?
Love mr lime spider too. He's a beauty.
Posted by: Sarah | July 12, 2012 at 11:10 PM
Not sure about England, but here in California, planting bare root roses is in winter time (like January). Might be different in Yorkshire since you are so much colder.
Posted by: Amy | July 12, 2012 at 11:59 PM
That spider was SO cute and I usually don't say that about spiders but he/she was cute! You took a great picture of it too because I could even see it's little tiny eyes. I have never seen a spider that color before. Do you think you could have uncovered a new species henceforth unknown to the world? Wouldn't that be something!
Your cordial looks delightfully refreshing and what a thrill to go out in nature, gather something you didn't have to plant or care for and come home and make something scrumptious from it! You go Girl!
I don't think we have elderflowers in AR but I will ask. If we do I will be out there gathering very soon!
Posted by: Sandra Licher | July 13, 2012 at 01:03 AM
Over here in Australia it's best to plant roses in Winter when they are dormant (less shock to them).
Bonus is they are also cheaper to buy then as you can get them bare rooted - this means they wrap the roots up in plastic filled with bark/moss stuff (not sure what this is but it's not soil) and you get a couple of short sticks of growth sticking out(just sticks not leaves of course as it's winter). They are about a third of the price of buying in pots.
Lovely inspirational blog BTW. I read often but comment rarely.
Posted by: Little White Dove | July 13, 2012 at 01:33 AM
What a beautiful looking flower Lucy, the cordial sounds lovely.I haven't seen that here in N.Z. although I believe we have it.My pommy husband knows it well!! Roses, here in N.Z.we plant them in June which is our winter (actually still can do it now) prune when frosts have finished (August) feed, spray and wait for lovely blooms.Enjoying your posts. Would love to go to Provence. France has long been on my bucket list. You always sound so happy. Kind Regards Shirley
Posted by: Shirley Flavell | July 13, 2012 at 01:58 AM
Beautiful post. I had heard of elderflower, but didn't know what they were or looked like. Sounds just as yummy as the pictures. Beautiful blog.
Posted by: ann | July 13, 2012 at 02:34 AM
Hi Lucy: What a pretty blog you have. I'm from Ontario Canada and found you through Madelief. I'm your new follower. Deb
Posted by: Just Cats | July 13, 2012 at 03:27 AM
Dear Lucy,
This has to taste good,it looks so good!
Posted by: Kay G. | July 13, 2012 at 03:30 AM
Your blog is always an education! First Pimms, now elderflower cordial. Thanks for the beauty and the good information;)
Posted by: Angela | July 13, 2012 at 03:41 AM
Lucy...
My husband did this once...he took a 12 inch cut from a rose plant, placed it in the ground (in the Fall). Placed it inches into the ground, covered it with a jar and then covered it with leaves and made sure it stayed cover in leaves. In the spring the cut had taken root. Tada! A rose plant was born...
A rose plant can be planted in the Spring months, but a rose cut should be started in the Fall.
XOXO
Anita from Missouri, USA
Posted by: Anita Koller | July 13, 2012 at 05:55 AM
I'm sorry...I meant to say he placed it 6inches into the ground. Also...my husband said that a rooted rose plant should be planted very early spring or in the fall...:)
Posted by: Anita Koller | July 13, 2012 at 05:59 AM