When I lived in England many, many years ago, the elderly lady who lived in the other side of the duplex cottage, Mrs. Meade (sounds like she could be a character in the game of Clue), invited me to help her pick elderflowers. She was going to make elderflower wine. It’s been so long that I can’t even remember if I ever sampled some of the finished product.
Elderflowers lead to elderberries. The elder plant doesn’t grow in my part of the world (Tucson, AZ), so that was the extent of my knowledge – until last week.
I was dining al fresco with other members of the Poznan International Ladies Club, when the woman next to me pointed out that our hostess had a large elder bush in bloom and that’s what you need to make elderflower cordial, something that she had grown up with in Denmark.
That led to some internet research on my part and the decision to do a little foraging on my bike ride today. There’s a wooded area near our lake, and I snipped just 20 flower stalks from a long row of plants. When I got home, I gave the flowers a shake to remove bugs, and there were plenty. I then rinsed them in a bowl of water. Some recipes I’ve read online specifically said not to wash the flowers, but I’m American, I can’t help it. I want to refrigerate everything too. The water drove off several more bugs that I hadn’t been able to see.
My friend, Rob, is a fellow food bloggerand the chef at the Curious Kumquat in Silver City, NM. He’s into slow food and cooking local in a big way. (If you’re in the Silver City area add this restaurant to your must do list. He’s crazy creative in the kitchen. I hope to take Ed went were home in December.) Rob includes foraged items on his menu, so I had to tell him about my outing. He mentioned that the flowers are also used in desserts – more internet research.
I decided to make an elderflower syrup that I can mix with sparking water or sparking wine and an elderflower liqueur that I can use in cocktails and to flavor desserts such as sabayon.
For the Elderflower Liqueur, I put 10 flower stalks in a small jar (8 to 10 ounces) and filled it with vodka. It will sit in the cupboard for a month, at which point I’ll strain it and add 1/4 cup sugar.
For the Elderflower Syrup, I put 2 cups sugar in a container and added 2 cups of boiling water, stirred until the sugar dissolves. Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon and 10 flower stalks. This will sit in the fridge for a few days before straining.
I’ll let you know how they turn out.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Melinda
I can’t wait for the report on your results, Lois. That sounds like such fun!
evil cake lady
This sounds like so much fun! I can’t wait for the report, either. I loved your comment about being American and needing to wash things–so true!
The first time I heard about elder-anything was in Monty Python’s The Search for the Holy Grail.
Rose Levy Beranbaum
i also fell in love with elderflower syrup when visiting a friend in france years ago. good news is that i’ve developed a recipe for elderberry pie which is so yummy my dad had to pause a moment when i gave him a choice between that and cherry pie for his upcoming birthday. next book…..
come fall, american spoon food has a limited supply of eldeberry jam. go for it–amazing!
Lois B
Melinda – we sampled the syrup yesterday. Yummy with a definite floral note.
ECL – Monty Python can be a real education, can’t it? My desire to refrigerate is about to be tested with Ajerknoiak, the egg liqueur.
Rose – I’m looking forward to trying the berries later this year (and to the next book!)
Anonymous
add zest of lemons and MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE STEMS they’re poisonous…. tiny ones don’t matter.
Lois B
At first I thought the post above might be spam, as are most anonymous comments these days, but my blogoshpere friend, Casey in Bulgaria, may have mentioned it. She just posted a similar recipe and mentioned this fact. Casey has been to culinary school since I began following her, so I’m saying she knows what she’s talking about.
Lois B
I’ll also add that we had no ill effects from the stems that were in this jar.