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 there
Just made a batch of elderflower cordial and wondering how long i should wait before i drink it? Have had a few glasses already!! but should I wait longer???? Does anybody know about adding Vit C to it to make it more nutritional ???
Would appreciate any comments.
Thanks
Maria
can anybody help me, the bottles I used to put the elderflower cordial were not properly sterilized and now the bacteria is growing in it, there is anyway I can save the cordial I made, thanks
I still use lbs and pints. I reckon 1lb sugar to 1 pint water.then elder flowers 10-20, half a little box of citric acid, this keeps till the next season. I have added quarter camden tablet ,it does not flavour the cordial.With these proportions you will get neither mould nor explosions…………at least I havent.I have made it for about 10 years.
I have a bucket full of elderflower champagne fermenting (hopefully) in the kitchen right now and am planning to make some cordial as well. Has anybody tried using more lemons rather than the citric acid? If so, how many extra should I add? I’m thinking I may use an extra 2 but I don’t want the lemon to overpower the elderflower.
The other thing is that it was said that heat will kill the yeast but the recipe above suggests waiting for the water to cool before adding the elderflowers, which are the element that contain the yeast. Would it be best to add the flowers to boiling water or does this somehow affect the flavour?
Hello Matt
Don’t know about replacing the citric acid with lempns, Sorry.
The yeast is in the flowers. So let things cool a bit before you add them.
Just been out picking to brew up my first batch of elderflower cordial. Left it steepin in the kitchen an it smells lovely. With regards to the fermenting, apparently the flowers have a yeast that grows on them that is capable of breaking the sugar down into alcohol. The boiling and high sugar methods both kill the yeast and so there is no fermentation, but personally I’m looking forwards to a little tipple.
looked up recipe so thought i would read all comments. wow, really helpful and interesting. Am making first batch today bearing in mind all comments- will add little ginger, steralise bottles in microwave- it’s my niece’s wedding in summer and this will be a brilliant addition (my sister is on the ginger beer case !!)
thanks to everyone
Re: bottles
IKEA sell 1 litre sealable bottles – like Grolsch tops on them – about £1.50 each. Can you use them year after year.
Great year for elderflowers – mine are currently steeping in buckets.
As for how long the cordial lasts – last drop just gone from a friend of mine’s fridge after a whole year.
Sarah
Elderflowers are just coming out in this neck of the woods (N Lincolnshire), bought the lemons, sugar etc and now on the prowl for the sun! Thank you everyone for all your comments, cant wait to make.
hi there
made this cordial last week with elderflowers here in the sunny south of france;
I took it to a party with french friends and it went down a storm!!!
Thank you so much!
Hello Shelley
Thanks for dropping by.
Homemade cordials are far better than commercially produced ones, I reckon.
We only publish tried and trusted recipes on this site.
Hi Wendy
I couldn’t answer your question but luckily Rach (below) has the answer!
Hi Rach
Thanks so much for your advice. I rather like fizzy cordial but pasteurising is necessary if you are going to give it to children or people on the wagon so thanks for your tips!
Hello Brian
This is fascinating stuff.
Thank you so much for your tips. Can’t wait to try your method for tipsy elderflower cordial.
Hi Linda
This is great advice. Thank you.
Hello Alexandra
Great idea. Little bottles are best as the cordial doesn’t last long once opened. Thank you.
Hi Kate
Our recipe is pretty foolproof and a month away is too short a time for the cordial to ferment after it’s made. Look at Brian’s comments above. If you heat the cordial to above 70 degrees you kill the alcohol.
Never tried making or playing a flute fashioned from an elderflower branch. Would love to hear how you get on if you give it a go 🙂