When we were down in Christchurch the other day, it was so hot that we had the windows of the car down. Wafts of warm air kept coming into the car with a subtle floral scent… elderflowers!
What a beautiful smell… the epitomy of summer.
We pulled up on the side of the road, waded through the lush weeds in the ditch and picked a whole basket of bunches of the tiny delicate flowers in full bloom and brought them home to Coromandel so that we could make elderflower cordial.
You could also use honeysuckle flowers if you can’t find elderflower.
Elderflower Cordial
Ingredients
3 litres of boiling water
1½ kg sugar
30 heads of elderflowers
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
1 tbsp citric acid
Method
- In a large pot, dissolve the sugar to the water and bring to the boil, then add the elderflowers (you could give them a good shake to get rid of any bugs before you put them in) and the lemon juice and zest.
- Simmer the flower/water mixture for 15 minutes then turn off the heat. add the citric acid and leave to go cold for 2 hours or so.
- Strain the mixture into bottles and store in the fridge.
- Dilute 1-5 with water and serve with ice.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag #coromandelflavour – I love to see what you’ve been making and any feedback is really welcome.