Making Elderflower Cordial for Warm Days

An Early Summer Ritual

There is a fortnight or so each year when the hedgerows seem to fizz. Elder bushes, which have spent the spring looking decidedly ordinary, suddenly throw out great plate-sized heads of tiny cream flowers, and the whole lane smells of something between grape juice and warm honey. In the UK this usually runs from late May into mid-June, though it can stretch into July in the north and uplands. Miss it and you will have to wait another year, which is exactly why so many of us drop everything and get out with a basket and a pair of scissors.

Elderflower cordial is the simplest and most rewarding thing to make from the harvest. It takes perhaps half an hour of actual work, then a day of steeping, and it will keep you in summer drinks right through to autumn. Diluted with cold water and a few mint leaves, it is the taste of a hot afternoon in a glass.

Picking Elderflowers Well

You want the flowers, not the leaves or the stalks. Look for heads that are fully open and a fresh, creamy white, with a good scent when you lean in close. Anything dull, brown or dropping petals has gone over. Mid-morning on a dry, sunny day is ideal, once the dew has dried but before the heat draws off some of the aroma.

• Choose your spot carefully. Pick from quiet lanes, hedges and woodland edges well away from busy roads, and high enough to avoid the attentions of dogs and livestock.
• Snip, do not pull. Cut the whole head with scissors, leaving a short stalk. Take a basket or a shallow box rather than a plastic bag, which will crush the blooms and sweat them.
• Shake gently. A light tap sends most beetles and flies on their way. Try not to wash the flowers, as you lose both pollen and perfume.
• Leave plenty behind. Only take a few heads from each bush so there are berries for the birds later in the year, and never strip a tree bare.

What You Will Need

For a good first batch you are looking at roughly 25 to 30 large flower heads, which will make around two litres of cordial. Beyond the flowers themselves, gather the following:

• 1.5 litres of water and 1kg of granulated sugar — plain white sugar gives the cleanest flavour, though golden caster works pleasantly too.
• 2 unwaxed lemons, sliced, plus the grated zest of one if you have it. Waxed lemons should be scrubbed first, or simply peeled.
• 50g of citric acid, sold in pharmacies and homebrew shops. This is what keeps the cordial from fermenting and gives it a lovely sherbety bite. You can leave it out, but then treat the cordial as fresh and keep it in the fridge.
• Kit: a large bowl or a clean bucket, a big pan, a jelly bag or a double layer of muslin, a funnel, and bottles. Swing-top bottles look the part, but ordinary screw-cap bottles are perfectly fine.

The Cordial Method

The principle is simply to draw the flavour out of the flowers into sweetened, acidulated water. Too much heat and you lose the delicate top notes, so be patient.

• Bring the water to the boil, add the sugar and stir until it has completely dissolved, then take the pan off the heat.
• Add the citric acid and the sliced lemons, and let the syrup cool until it is just warm to the touch — no hotter than a bath you would happily sit in.
• Put the elderflower heads into your bowl, pour the warm syrup over them, and press the flowers down so they are all submerged. Cover with a clean cloth.
• Leave to steep somewhere cool for 24 hours, or up to 48 if you want a fuller flavour. Stir once or twice a day.
• Strain through a jelly bag or muslin-lined sieve, letting it drip slowly. Squeezing the bag gives you more cordial but a cloudier, slightly greener-tasting result.

Bottling and Keeping

Sterilise your bottles properly — washed, then dried in a low oven at about 140°C for fifteen minutes, or run through a hot dishwasher cycle — and fill them while the cordial is still warm but not boiling. Cap them straight away. Made with citric acid and kept somewhere dark and cool, the cordial will hold for several months, though the perfume fades over time, so it is best drunk within three or four months.

If you would rather not use citric acid, or if you have made an extra-large batch, freezing is your friend. Pour the cordial into ice cube trays or small tubs and freeze. A cube or two dropped into a glass of water or a jug of sparkling wine is a small miracle on a hot day.

Ways to Enjoy It

Dilute to taste — about one part cordial to five parts water is a good starting point — and serve over plenty of ice with mint, cucumber ribbons or a slice of lemon. It makes a beautiful base for a summer cup, and a spoonful stirred into a glass of prosecco or dry cider is the easiest drink imaginable to hand round at a barbecue. In the kitchen, try it drizzled over poached gooseberries, poured into a fruit salad, or whisked into cream with strawberries.

Once you have a batch on the shelf, the variations suggest themselves: a few sprigs of mint or lemon verbena steeped alongside the flowers, a knob of root ginger, or a handful of raspberries stirred through before bottling. Make one plain batch first, though, so you know exactly what good elderflower tastes like.