Elderflower Drinks

[lily]

Does anyone have a good recipe for elderflower cordial or presse type drink please?
I've made some in previous years but the recipes I've used always seem a bit sweet to me despite using less sugar. Mum used to make something but that used to explode in the pantry so won't ask her!

[Treehugger]

Tee hee! Have you been watching River Cottage Lily? I was mesmerised by how apparently easy it is to make Elderflower wine.

[buecherwurm]

Years ago my sister in law served a drink which was quite delicious. She then gave me the recipe and I made it. But can't really remember exactly how because I only copied down the ingredients.
30 elder blossoms (meaning 30 umbels/hope that is the correct word hadn't heard that before)
100 g citirc acid
3 litres water
Shake out the blossoms and rinse. Put the blossoms, the water, and the citric acid in a bowl and let sit for 24 hours. Strain; add 1 kg sugar and 2 litres of schnapps to the liquid. Fill in bottles. When you want to drink it, put a little of this in a glass and top with sparkling wine.
If somebody knows this method, let me know if I forgot something. Thanks
In my Time Life cookbook American Cooking The Eastern Heartland I found the following recipe for elderberry wine:
Combine in a crock 5 punds of elderberries, 2 1/2 quarts of water, 2 1/2 punds of sugar and 1 yeast cake. After 15 days strain, add another 2 pounds of sugar and pour into fermeting jugs. Fit with fermentation lock and let stand until fermentation has ceased (about 3 months). It is then ready to drink but since it makes such a beautiful deep red wine, try to save a bottle for next Christmas - it will be even better. An old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe from Betty Groff, Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.

[dragonfly]

Lily I have made loads of this for the last two years. I am hoping this year to make enough bottles to last me one a week until next year.
Elderberry Cordial

Elderberries (still on stalks)
Sugar or honey
Cloves

· Pick fruit on a dry day. (I froze mine in their natural state as I couldn’t make this up straight away.)
· Stew with the stalks in a large stainless steel saucepan with just enough water to cover the berries.
· Strain through a muslin or non-metal fine sieve (I used pair of tights) and squeeze berries until all the juice is obtained.
· Put back in pan and to each pint of juice, add 1 pint of sugar or honey (use set honey as liquid honey increases the amount of liquid) and 10 cloves.
· Boil for 10 minutes.
· Allow to cool and bottle in sterile jars, ensuring that the cloves are distributed evenly amongst them. (I put extra in each bottle) Cloves act as a preservative.

My Tips
· Wear old clothes as it can splash and stain – have plenty of paper towels handy
· Need a large measuring jug.
· Make sure you have enough time, takes a couple of hours
· Make sure you have enough bottles with caps.
· Only half fill pan with fruit or you won’t have enough room when adding honey or sugar and will spill over when boiling.

Can also make Elderberry Jam, wine, jelly & ice-cream

[keepersdaughter]

Buercherwurm and Dragonfly those look great recipes, I've had my eye on elderberry bushes in a forest area not far from here, but I think I've missed the blooms now. But I've saved both your recipes. Sorry if this sounds stupid, but what do you mean by set honey?. I've only seen the runny kind here, though I haven't looked at craft fairs etc. where you may find some straight from beekeepers.

[jazzactivist]

These both seem like lovely receipes. I have a very easy one for Elderflower Champagne that I have used several times, and isn't too sweet. It is from Roger Phillip's book "Wild Food", and I think is the same as the one shown on the H F-W programme.

Ingredients: makes a few small bottles, just double quantities to make more

4 - 8 elderflower heads in full bloom
4 and a half litres (1 gallon) of cold water
1 lemon
650g (1 and a half pounds) of sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Method:

Dissolve sugar in a little warm water and leave to cool. Squeeze the juice from the lemon, cut the rind in 4 and put in a large jug or basin with the elderflowers. Add the vinegar and the rest of the cold water. Stir and swish it all around together and leave to steep for 4 days, stirring occasionally. Strain it and bottle the liquid in screw-topped bottles so that you can release the pressure a bit if necessary (so that they don't explode!). It should be ready to drink in 6-10 days, but test after 6 days when it should be reasonably fizzy. If it isn't fizzing up leave the full 10 days. If it still isn't fizzing then there wasn't enough natural yeast on the flowers, as is sometimes the case in rainy weather. I find that it is best to pick the flowers on a sunny day and choose ones that are fresh and covered in pollen. Happy making.

[dragonfly]

Set honey is hard and not runny but I have tried both and I don't think it matters which you use Keepersdaughter. I have also tried different flavoured honeys. I prefer the cordial with all sugar as I like it sweet but tend to use half sugar and half honey to be more healthy.
Jazz the champagne sounds great, I am going to have a go if I can still find some flowers when it stops raining here.