Elder Flower & Lemon Cordial
Ingredients
- 10 large elder flower heads
- 2 large lemons
- 1 litre boiling water
- 1/3 cup local spring honey
Instructions
- Wash the elder flowers to remove any little bugs lurking and place in a large bowl. Peel the zest from the lemon in long strips, and add along with the juice of the lemons to the bowl. Pour over the boiling water, cover with a cheesecloth and leave to steep overnight.
- In the morning strain the flowers and lemon through a cheesecloth lined sieve, gathering the cloth into a ball and squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Pour the liquid into a saucepan, add the honey and heat gently. Once the honey has completely dissolved pour into hot sterlised jars. Cool and store in the fridge. Consume within 2 weeks.
Notes
My goodness, is it already Summer? It only feels like a few months ago we had a pantry stacked full with freshly made summer preserves. Then again, I suppose it was just last week that we opened our last jar of plums. I am hoping this preserving season we can make it right through to next summer. Although with two little children and their friends making play out of collecting ‘green balls’ from the orchard this might be a challenge. It just goes to show how ‘in the moment’ children live, they can’t see ahead 4 months when those little green balls will be plump crimson orbs of omega plums.
The preserving season has already begun around here. I have been collecting elder flowers from our now rather large elderberry bush. Each year our harvest doubles in size so this year I have plenty to leave to ripen into berries as well. I am thinking an elderberry and blueberry jam might be in order if they are ripe at the same time. In the meantime if you have access to ripe elder flowers then try this simple honey-sweetened cordial. The heady fragrance of the steeping flowers will take over your house!
