Making elderflower syrup could not be simpler, and it is very rewarding, especially when you want to cool down with a refreshing, non-alcoholic, low sugar drink during the hot summer months.

Just add to your Elderflower syrup cold tap or sparkling water, a few cubes of ice, a slice of lemon, and if you wish, a few leaves of fresh mint. This will really add extra flavour and freshness to any glass of water, and will for sure now make an ordinary glass of water a memorable part of any summer day.

Added to Prosecco or other fizzy wines will make a brilliant grown-up drink.

Elderflower syrup has many culinary uses and they are quite varied. You can add it to cake batter, biscuits and cookies mixture for extra flavour, drizzle over waffles, pancakes, ice cream or sorbet, (especially lemon sorbet), drizzle over fruit pavlova or over strawberries and cream. You can add elderflower syrup when making strawberry jam and put it into a yoghurt and fruit smoothies for an extra dimension of flavour.

It can be enjoyed all year round and makes a fantastic home made gift for your foodie family and friends.

My mother and my maternal grandparents were real nature lovers, and passed on to me their appreciation of the natural world. My long walks and hikes with them provided a wonderful opportunity to go foraging!

I learned how to simply stop, listen and observe what was all around me. They always pointed out to me different trees, plants, animals, birds... and even named them.

I got a real sense for the changing seasons, and what to go foraging for in different seasons, and so to eat what was in season and in this way live closer to nature.

I have very vivid memories of my grandad always carrying in his pocket a small, partially covered in rust foldable pocket knife. If I close my eyes, I have a very clear image of how the knife looked.

He was a very skillful and resourceful man, and if he found what seemed like an appropriate piece of wood, he would sit down on a rock, pulled out his knife, and make me, for example, a simple whistle ...

This will stay with me forever.

They also taught me to recognize the elderflower from other very similar looking plants, which would not make a very pleasant tasting drink.

When I was small and elderflower was in season my mum made quite few bottles of elderflower syrup. I will share with you in this recipe how she did it. The recipe uses citric acid that adds the extra zing but most of all it acts as a preservative so you can keep your syrup for longer.

First of all, you really want to make sure that you pick the elderflowers in areas away from roads and away from any other form of pollution.

Pick healthy looking, fully opened blossoms, place them gently in a basket, keeping them upright so you minimize to lose the pollen, which is the major source of vitamins and minerals, and that unique fragrance and flavour.

You will find elderflowers from late April to almost the end of July, depending on where you live.

Also, it is extremely important that you do not pick too many elderflower heads from the same bush. This is because the birds feed on the elderflower berries in early autumn.

This recipe will give about 3 litres of elderflower syrup.

Ingredients

about 30 big heads of elderflower (do not rinse them as you will loose a lot of flavour, remove bugs, insects, leaves etc.) remove the thick stems and trim off the smaller stems as much as you can
3kg of granulated sugar
3 lemons, preferably organic
3l water
70g citric acid (food-grade, looks a bit like caster sugar)

Method

In a large pot (containing about 5-6l) add water and bring to boil, then turn the heat off.

Add sugar and citric acid and stir continuously until all the sugar and citric acid have completely dissolved.

Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

Add elderflower heads, sliced lemons and gently stir, making sure the elderflowers are completely submerged.

Put the lid on and leave for 3-4 days but give it a gentle stir once a day so the flavour of the elderflower can diffuse into the syrup.

Strain the syrup into a bowl through a fine-meshed sieve previously lined with muslin cloth (you can use cheesecloth or simply kitchen paper towel). Preferably, the bowl should have a spout since it will be very useful and helpful when pouring the syrup into a funnel, at the later stage when you are bottling the syrup.

The syrup is now ready for bottling. Sterilize your bottles and lids or other closures for glass bottles with the method that you are most familiar with. I use the dishwasher method by placing the rinsed glass bottles upside down and set it to the highest setting (or the steam setting, if you have one) and put them through a cycle. Leave the bottles to cool slightly in the dishwasher and remove each one as you need it.

With the help of the funnel, pour the syrup into your sterilized bottles. Make sure you close the bottles tightly with lids or other closures for glass bottles.

No oxygen should enter the bottles, preventing the bacteria to feed and multiply on the oxygen.

It is the multiplying of the bacteria that will form CO2 which causes bottles to “burst, or explode” and the cordial to ferment, go fizzy, and become very slightly alcoholic.

It is a good idea to put the bottles in the fridge, where the syrup will last for months, at least until Christmas, when you will be ready for that Elderflower Prosecco cocktail.