ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL

Never in my life time have I known the Elder trees to flower quite so late,even when I lived in the North of England , I would by now have picked enough fop several brews of both wine and cordial,picked from bushes growing in the sheltered valleys below my hill top home.

Today ,armed with a crook(for pulling the branches down to my level) and a large paper bag I set off down the lane on one of the years most pleasant chores. Hawthorn blossom,which makes wonderfully fragrant wine is already fading but their ,seeming to float among the greenery were the large saucer shapes of Elder flower sprays.

Now it mus be said that the rather pungent smell of Elder is not to every bodies taste, indeed it does in all honestly smell rather like cat's pee! Use in small quantities however it makes a lovely and very refreshing cordial at a fraction of the cost of the shop bought kind. I often add a few heads of elderflower tied up in a muslin bag to the gooseberries when I make jam,a very superior product results from this marriage and gives you the taste and smell of a summer morning all the year round.

Having picked my Elder flowers I returned to my kitchen and after much hunting about for the recipe(I could not remember the quantity of sugar required) I set about the first stage of the procedure, as the recipe takes twenty four hours to complete.

ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL

30 heads of elderflower

4 lemons

2 k granulated sugar

citric acid

Day one.

Pick over the Elder flowers and remove any insects, these may be tiny so you need to take your time. While you are bug hunting boil a litre and a half of water. Place the flowers in a large bowl and add the grated lemon rind. Pour the boiling water over the mixture,cover and leave to infuse for twenty four hours.

Wrap the rindless lemons in cling film and refrigerate until needed.

Day two.

Strain the Elderflower liquid though a piece of scalded muslin or a jelly bag if you have one, disguard the flowers. Add the juice of the four lemons to the remaining liquid then add the sugar and the citric acid. Heat gently until all the sugar has dissolved,then simmer for a couple of minutes.

Pour into heated sterilised bottles and cork. Or cool and pour in to cold sterilised screw topped bottles. The later will not keep as long as the former,in either case refrigerate after opening.