Fiona’s traditional elderflower cordial recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Cordials and Syrups | 181 comments
Photo: Elderflower blossoms in the sun - best picked for cordial
It’s elderflower cordial recipe season once again!
Yesterday afternoon I found myself up a tall ladder with a carrier bag, picking elderflower heads. I picked about fifty heads. They are best picked when the sun is on them. I climbed higher and higher to find exactly what I wanted. They had to be perfect with no trace of brown blossom. According to Joanna’s Food brown blossom can foul the cordial.
My sister brought a similar recipe back from France. Since I introduced Danny to elderflower and pink grapefruit cocktail, it seemed a good idea to make my own cordial tweaking the recipe to suit my taste.
There is a printable recipe card below the post!
There seem to be as many uses for elderflower cordial as recipes. Apart from adding a splash to fruit fools and pies, it can be added to a vinaigrette dressing, and apparently is delicious with chicken breasts. Determined to experiment I made double the quantity below. I poured my cordial into warm sterilised bottles and sealed them immediately with corks. They keep well in a cold area of the barn – we often are finishing the last bottle of cordial as the new flowers open on the trees. I also freeze some syrup, just in case.
Other elderflower recipes that my interest you:
Fiona’s Elderflower and Lemon cordial
Judy’s Elderflower and Lime Jellies
Fiona’s Elderflower and Raspberry Jellies
| Fiona’s traditional elderflower cordial recipe |
- 1.5 litres of boiling water
- 1 kilo of white granulated sugar
- 20 large elderflower heads (if they are small, pick more)
- 4 lemons
- 55g of citric acid
- In a Pyrex bowl (or deep saucepan) pour the boiling water onto the sugar and stir. Leave to cool, stirring every now and then to dissolve the sugar.
- When cool add the citric acid, the lemons (zested and sliced) and the elderflower heads.
- Leave to steep for 48 hours.
- Strain twice through sterilised muslin (how do I sterilise muslin? See Tips and tricks below)
- Using a jug and funnel carefully pour into hot sterilised bottles (how do I sterilise bottles? See Tips and tricks below)
Tips and tricks:
How do I sterilise a jelly bag or muslin square?
Both can be scalded with boiling water. If you are using a clean muslin bag or square you can iron them with a hot iron. This also works with tea cloths.
How do I sterilise bottles?
The sterilising method that we used is simple. Just before making the syrup, I quickly wash and rinse the bottles and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c (140c fan-assisted). When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The bottles will stay warm for quite a while. Sterilise the lids by boiling these for a few minutes in water.
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thanks to those of you who have responed to my question. i don’t know i didn’t think of marmalade as i do make my own jams and curds.
i’m enjoying this cordial loads and it’s great with just lemonade. fab stuff.
cheers guys
suzanne
Hi, I’m back making another batch of cordial and champagne this year. Last year I made both, and marmalade with the leftover lemons (which was fantastic, best marmalade I’ve ever tasted and really easy to make) – look further up the page for the recipe, somewhere in 2009 listings.
Some of the cordial and champagne has been stored in my dads garage since last summer and both have a bit of sediment on the bottom which wcould do with decanting. They look like they will be fine, I used campden tablets so they should be OK, the champagne was already alcoholic anyway and storedin plastic bottles so not ideal. I’m looking forward to trying it again next week. Hopefully the new stuff should be ready soon. I’m also interested in uses for dried elderflowers as I have rather a lot in my drier at the moment.
I have just picked two bags of elderflower and want to know how to preserve them until I have time to do something with them. Can they be frozen or should I put them in the fridge for a couple of days pending processing? Help I don’t want to waste them!
Thanks a million. I will no better next time. Might just get another batch done before the season is out. I feel I should really point out that the River Cottage Preserve book has been great for jams but I think Pam Corbin assumes the reader has experience that maybe not all of us have. It’s websites like this that are fantastic for novices like me. Well done.
Rosie
Hi Rosie, the flowers that have just opened are the ones to go for as they contain the musky flavour.
Hi Suzanne, I saw somewhere else that one lady used some leftover cordial and the lemons to make jam/jelly with. She added some flowers just before pouring into jars to make it look pretty. I will try and find that comment. Or you could make some marmalade with it maybe?
For the berries, cook berries and water to cover. When cooked -berries soft, strain through muslin. Measure equal amounts of liquid to sugar and reheat, add some cloves. Or when bottling add a couple of cloves to help preserve. This is excellent for colds/bronchial and lung conditions when diluted with hot water. Or cold water too.
Elderflower cordial with hot water and lemon juice is also good for colds.
Hi Rosie
I’ve just checked the River Cottage book and she doesn’t mention to discard any browning flowers 🙁
It’s essential to only use the freshest, white flowers.
I put in the heads stalks and all and mine tastes good.
Hi Suzanne
I haven’t tried freezing lemons. But if you dry the yellow part the peels and grind them in a coffee grinder you will get a lemon powder for use in cooking.
Hi, Just to say that i have just made the cordial for thew first time after wanting to for years. I have not done so before thinking it would be hard or fiddly to to do. Thankfully it was simple and the cordial tastes wonderful. I feel very chuffed with myself lol and shall be making more! I would like to do something else with the left over lemons though. Any ideas? could i freeze them?
Thanks
Suzanne
Hi,
Just made some Elderflower Cordial for the first time and it looks and tastes like the hedgerow it came from. I followed a recipe from River Cottage book. Is it because I included brownish flowers and stalks in the steeping? Do you pull off the flower part or leave in the stalks? It tastes ok just not as nice as I would have expected.
Your tips are all great by the way.
Many thanks,
Rosie
Pleased to say I finally managed to make elderflower cordial this year – I went with the hot-bottling method, just to make sure everything was sealed properly. Only problem is I didn’t have quite enough white sugar so I thought ‘I’ll just make it up with brown’. Don’t do this! Fortunately it tastes lovely but it is the most awful brown colour. Ho hum, will get it right next year!
Hi Wendy
At least it tastes good.
We use a lot of elderflower cordial in recipes (instead of fruity white wine – it works a treat).
I have a very red face today. I made my elderflower cordial and left it to steep yesterday. Today I bought some clip-top bottles from the hardware shop, brought them home and washed them before putting them into the oven at 140 degrees C to dry and sterilise. A phone call distracted me and I eventually returned to discover that the lids were plastic and had melted, making an unholy mess. I had to go shopping for more bottles after lunch, and removed the clip tops this time so the operation was successfully completed. I’m posting this so others can learn from my experience…. and beware!
George, you’ll want to wait for the berries to ripen to that lovely dark purple before ripening. Mmmmm, elderberry wine – lovely to drink and to casserole venison in. However, summer sipping elderflower cordial and gin on ice, first!
Hi Sukre
Our elderflower cordial is quite gassy after a while so I always use corks on the bottles, rather than metal closures. If the cordial starts to ferment the cork blows rather than the bottles. If you use clip top bottles store them out of potentially harms way in a thick cardboard or wooden box that will contain the shards if a bottle blows!
Gin and elderberry cordial sounds yummy. Thanks for the tip.