Elderflowers

It's that time of the year again. As Spring seamlessly segues into Summer, the Elder trees are brightening the hedges with their jaunty ivory white floral clouds. At the Urbane Forager project Elderflowers are the first thing we pick in the year. Elder is followed closely by Cherries and then Plums.

We use these citrusy blooms to produce thirst quenching cordial, a perennial favourite with the children and effervescent Champagne which definitely excites the adult pallet.

Both recipes are simple, as long as you pay sufficient attention to two important points.

• Firstly, the blooms of the Elder smell of bright summer sun in the morning but tend to smell a bit like cat's wee in the evening, so pick them in the morning and process them while still fresh!
• Secondly, when making fizzy drinks, always use pressure safe bottles! Sparking wine is safely surrounded by 1 Kilogram of glass for a very good reason. We save and sterilize Cava bottles from Christmas and birthday celebrations. We then buy fresh corks and cages to secure our own brew, even then I have to keep a close eye on the proceedings to prevent pressure-washing the kitchen with a Champagne fountain.
  

Elderflower Cordial - an easy to make summer classic.

• 3 lemons, sliced 
• 10 Elderflower heads 
• 500g sugar 
• 3L water 
• 1 Large bowl or saucepan
• Filter paper or muslin 

1. Put the sugar in the container and pour over a pint of boiling water. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved. 
2. Then add the remaining 2 litres of cold water and a leave until cold. 
3. Add the sliced lemons, giving each a good squeeze and then add the elderflower heads. 
4. Leave for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Pour through the muslin or filter paper into bottles.

Refrigerated it will keep for a few weeks. Frozen (in plastic bottles) it will last a lot longer.

Delicious Elderflower Champagne (English Fizz for pedants)

• 2 lemons, sliced
• 7 Large Elderflower heads
• 500g sugar
• 6L water
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 Large container
• Filter paper or muslin (I use a sieve and jelly bag)

1. First fully dissolve the sugar in a pint of boiling water. 
2. Then pour the solution into your container and add 5 litres of cold water, followed by the lemon slices (squeezed as you go), Elderflower heads and vinegar.
3. Cover the mixture and leave for 48 hours, stirring occasionally. 
4. When ready, filter the mixture (I used a sieve, jelly bag & funnel) into strong bottles (plastic or glass, but able to withstand high pressure), close firmly, and leave.
5. It is a good idea to release some of the air occasionally to prevent explosions. 

The champagne will be ready in about two weeks. It is alleged to improve with time, but nobody has managed to leave it that long yet...

It's totally delicious!

Get Busy with the Fizzy

Last Saturday the weather was boiling, my son and I had an hour or two to spare, so we decided to get busy with the fizzy. We set about making Elderflower Champagne - Yum! Oh, and some sweet cordial for the kids too.

Folklore states, that if you stand beneath the Elder tree during midsummer, you might see fairies; this is much more likely if you have already been at the Elderflower champagne! With this in mind, we equipped ourselves with a large carrier bag and walked off down the road to pick a bag-full of blooms from these ubiquitous guardians of the hedgerows. 

The citrusy Elderflowers are one of the quintessential aromas of Summer, along with freshly mowed lawns and thundery rain on hot tarmac. A good friend of mine says that you should always pick your Elderflowers in the morning because they can smell more like cat’s wee in the evening (nice!) – so take heed.

It only took us about half an hour to pick 50 or so heads, then we headed back, buying the other ingredients on the way home. We saw bushes with at least 200 flowers on, so there's plenty left for Elderberry Port later in the year.

 

While I cleaned all the buckets, pans, sieves and recycled bottles my son was counting and stripping the flowerheads from the stalks and leaves, which should not be included.

In a fairly short time, everything was done, then we just had to wait two days, although my helpers always get a glassful before it’s properly ready. Needless to say, both buckets needed testing and both got the thumbs up from the kids. We made several pints of Cordial and about two gallons of Champagne (it was a big hit last year and we ran out too soon).

The champagne takes two weeks to ferment, till then the kids are making do, on a diet of delicious Wild Strawberries and the Elderflower cordial, which was ready in two days.

Wild Garlic, Bluebells and Ransoms

We had a lovely break in Devon during school half-term. All the plants and trees seem to be about a month late this year; due to the coldest Spring since before I was born. Now everything seems to be happening very intensely, as if to make up for lost time.

While we were there we saw enough Bluebells, Ransoms and Wild Garlic to last us a lifetime. You can actually smell them, before you see them, as you wander the sun dappled woodland glades.

My daughter came up with the inspired idea of creating home-made garlic bread, which she promptly did with the help of the Head Chef.

Basically it was hot toast spread with, butter mixed with ground ransom leaves. It seemed a suitable celebration of the return of warm weather and tasted quite delicious.

Even the Elderflowers are late this year but I have now finally seen some fully in bloom. So, it looks like it could soon be time to make some delicious drinks to slake our thirsts during summer Pickniks.

Elderberry Portal

During our recent Stonehenge walk, we noticed a lovely load of Elderberries hanging off a group of trees. Elder has a suitably ancient and mystical bent; it is occasionally known as the fairy tree.

The flowers arrive just in time to provide Summer drinks for picnics (or Pickniks). Later, around September, Elderberries ripen; they are poisonous raw but become very useful when processed.

A Positive Abundance of Elderberries but No Container!

Last year I made Elderberry Port and this has proved to be my best country wine to date. If I were a wine connoisseur I might describe it as eerily full bodied with a magical reminiscence of rubenesque berry fruits, a delightfully gay nose leaving a lingering unfathomable essence… It is proving very popular and I felt that it was high time to replenish our depleted wine cellar.

We decided to go to Southampton Common, to hunt for Elderberries. This is where we had gathered our Elder flowers earlier in the year but it seemed that the blackbirds had filled their boots before we arrived.

We fell back on picking Blackberries, which were very abundant and we were pleased to meet several other families doing the same thing. The Old Graveyard on the common seemed a specially popular spot too; we even discovered Raspberries there.

Butterflies seem to like Blackberries as much as Plums

I was beginning to think that we had left it too late for the Elderberries, but eventually had a fruitful forage in Hedge End during my lunch-hour. I ferried the berries home in my sandwich box each day and froze them in batches, until we had a sufficient amount.

We also picked a good amount on Danebury Iron Age hill fort (always a great spot for a picnic and run about).

Ready For Freezing

I'm now just waiting for my yeast to arrive in the post before going to work on this little hoard. Elderberries can also be used to make jam, syrup, wine, magical potions etc…