June Means Elderflower Wine Time!

We love June! The promise of summer, long warm evenings (we hope) and time spent outside with family and friends.

If you are lucky enough to have Elder bushes/ trees growing in your garden or near you, make the most of the flowers to make a gorgeous cordial, ice cubes to add to a Gin & Tonic or even try to make some Elderflower 'Champagne'!

We have tried and tested this cordial recipe (adapted from BBC Good Food) for the past few years with great success. The recipe makes a large amount of cordial, so we love to share it with friends and family - it is always well received!

Basic Elderflower Cordial Recipe

Ingredients

• 2.5kg white granulated or caster sugar

• 2 unwaxed lemons

• 20 fresh elderflower heads, stalks removed

• 85g Citric Acid (get this from a chemist)

Method

• Add the sugar and 1.5l of water to a large saucepan

• Gently heat (do not let it boil) until the sugar dissolves

• Remove the zest from the lemons, slice and add to the pan

• Once the sugar has dissolved, bring pan to the boil

• Gently wash the flower heads, shake off excess water and add to the pan along with the lemon zest and citric acid

• Cover pan with a clean cloth and leave to infuse for 24 hours

• When ready, sieve the syrup, removing any lemon or flowers and add to sterilised bottles

• Your cordial is ready! It should last for approx. 6 weeks in the fridge

Kids love the cordial diluted with water, or try making Elderflower ice cubes (you will need to dilute it further) to add to a Gin & Tonic. Why not try prettying up your gin and tonic with some edible flowers such as Nasturtium's or Elderflower's - or try adding them to the ice cubes!

Elderflower 'Champagne'

We have been attempting to make Elderflower 'Champagne' for a few years now - but so far those pesky bubbles have been eluding us! This year we are trying a recipe from 'The Spruce' and plan on adding some yeast to it if those bubbles don't start forming.

We love to take plants that appear in our gardens or locally (with permission of course) and turn them into something simple and beautiful. We also love the idea of showing our children where food, drinks and ingredients come from rather than just plastic packaging from the supermarket. We have found they have been really enthusiastic about collecting the flowers and being involved with the process of turning the blooms into a drink. Nature at its best (plus busy kids = happy us)!

Have you tried making Elderflower 'Champagne' or cordial? Do you have any other recipes for Elderflower or other garden plants? We would love to hear about them and give them a go!

Hoping you are happy, healthy & safe,

lots of love,

Arianne & Keelly xxx