Elderberry Cordial Recipes

Steps:

• Put the sugar and 1.5 litres/2¾ pints water into the largest saucepan you have. Gently heat, without boiling, until the sugar has dissolved. Give it a stir every now and again. Pare the zest from the lemons using a potato peeler, then slice the lemons into rounds.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the pan of syrup to the boil, then turn off the heat. Fill a washing up bowl with cold water. Give the flowers a gentle swish around to loosen any dirt or bugs. Lift flowers out, gently shake and transfer to the syrup along with the lemons, zest and citric acid, then stir well. Cover the pan and leave to infuse for 24 hrs.
• Line a colander with a clean tea towel, then sit it over a large bowl or pan. Ladle in the syrup - let it drip slowly through. Discard the bits left in the towel. Use a funnel and a ladle to fill sterilised bottles (run glass bottles through the dishwasher, or wash well with soapy water. Rinse, then leave to dry in a low oven). The cordial is ready to drink straight away and will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. Or freeze it in plastic containers or ice cube trays and defrost as needed.

Steps:

• Pick the heads of plump elderberries on a sunny day and use a fork to strip the berries from their stalks. Wash the berries if you like, but this isn't necessary as they are going to be strained.
• Tip the berries into a saucepan and cover with about 1cm water. Add any extras like ginger or cloves, if you like. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 15-20 mins until the berries have softened into a liquid. Leave to cool slightly.
• Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and measure how much liquid you have. For every 500ml of liquid, you'll need 400g of sugar. Tip the sugar and liquid back into the cleaned saucepan with the lemon juice. Bring up to a simmer and gently bubble for about 10 mins until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave the syrup to cool completely and bottle or freeze. Will keep for three months in the fridge or frozen for up to a year. It can be diluted with hot or cold water to drink, used in desserts or drizzled over ice cream.

Steps:

• Stem and wash berries.
• cover with water and cook until very soft; strain.
• Measure juice; for each quart, add 2 cups of sugar.
• Return to saucepan.
• Tie spices in bag and add to sugar/juice mixture.
• Cook until thick.
• Cool, remove spices and measure again.
• Add 1 pint liquor for each quart of syrup.
• Bottle and cork tightly.
• Let sit in cool dark place for at least three weeks.
• Improves with age.