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.
Leave a reply
Hi Michelle
A ladder is a great father’s day present!
Hope that the elderflower cordial making went well.
Hi Anthea
Ours eventually went fizzy too. Had no idea that this means that it is alcoholic!
Hi Bob
Thanks so much for this elderflower cocktail recipe, sounds delicious.
I must try elderflower champagne this year!
Hi Lorraine
How disappointing that your cordial is too sweet. I can’t think how you could get around the problem apart from boiling it up with even more lemon juice.
Perhaps someone else has an effective remedy.
You can buy citric acid on most wine and beer making suppliers in the web.
Hi Pamela
Easily done!
oops! Got my acids mixed up, ascorbic acid is Vit C. This is obviously why I studied languages and not sciences!
Isn’t citric acid also known as vitamin C?
I’ve made some cordial this week,i’ts been steeping for 5 days and i’ve just srtained the mixture.However it tases too sweet for my liking.I used 30 elderflower heads,4lb sugar,2.5pts water and 4 lemons instesd of 2 because I couln’t get any citric acid{ chemists no longer sell it due to substance abuse!!!!!}
Do you have any ideas as to how I can alter the flavour?
Made some cordial on Friday, bottled it yesterday. Very tasty. Made a very nice summer drink last night for some guests. Three large measures of Gin, equal amount of cordial, lots of ice and top the jug up with sparkling spring water. Serve with slices of lemon and mint leaves.
With regard the Elderflower champagne, if you cannot find enough glass bottles to make it for keeping, some of the recipes I have found suggest using plastic pop bottles. As it is ready to drink after a few weeks, this should be OK if you drink these first.
Hi Soraya and All
I don’t think our cordial ever smelt ‘boozy’, it just got fizzier! I completed this years batch on Thursday. I have always offered it to guests who are driving as an alternative to alcohol. but don’t know if I dare now. Can anyone think of a way to test the alcoholic content??
Hi everyone who has contributed to this conversation. I was just about to go and climb the elder tree to collect the flowers to start the process but will wait until my boys have given their dad his Father’s day present- a ladder!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am really excited about making Elder flower cordial! Thanks everyone for the inspiration.
Hi Kim
I must have a go at making elderflower champagne!
Re the bottles. you could try the online wine and beer making suppliers but I reckon that they’d be expensive.
Someone that I know puts their bottle in cardboard boxes so if there is an explosion the glass is contained, a bit.
Hi Soraya
I don’t know when you can tell that cordial is off. We’ve not kept ours that long!
Our recipe is pretty straightforward to make. What a shame that yours went mouldy.
Hi Andrea
That sounds like a great idea for preserving the cordial. Thanks very much for the tip.
I made cordial in a slightly different way — steep flowers in water and citric acid in fridge for 48 hrs. Then strain and boil with sugar. You can then bottle hot and it should keep without the fermentation problems people are talking about. I suspect it won’t last long enough in my house to see though. Tastes great!
How do you know whent he cordial is off – will it just smell alcohol-y?
I’ve tried making elderflower cordial before – the recipe said to steep the heads for 3 days in a dark cool place…whenn I went to bottle it is had blue fur growing on it! So that was a bit annoying, you recipe doesnt sound like that is a risk though