It’s that time of year when the elderflower is looking, and smelling, fantastic but did you know it also tastes just as good? I’m not suggesting you simply go and pick the flowers and scoff them as they come obviously, but you can make a really simple elderflower pressé with no special ingredients at all.
Traditional elderflower cordial recipes require citric acid but this is becoming increasingly difficult to buy on the High Street thanks to bad people using it to make bad things. You may be lucky enough to have an independent chemist that stocks it but even they will probably have it hidden away under the counter, so you’ll have to ask for it. You might want to put your most innocuous face on though as they’ll refuse to sell it to you if they think you’re up to no good. Of course, as with everything now, it’s available online but you know what? You really don’t need it, the recipe below will give you a fantastically refreshing summer’s drink without it.
A quick note on picking your elderflowers, you’ll need about 10 heads to make a couple of litres of your elderflower infusion by the way:
– Don’t just attack your neighbour’s tree without permission;
– Avoid trees by the roadside: Essence of petroleum isn’t what we’re looking for;
– You only want white flowers, no brown bits;
– Be careful: Please don’t fall off anything, pull anything, or cut anything, apart from the tree!
Flowers picked? Great, than gather yourself 1 lemon, 250g of sugar and 2 litres of boiling water.
Dissolve the sugar in the water then juice half the lemon and slice the rest. Add the lemon into what is now very sweet hot water, including the bit that you squeezed for good measure. Add the elderflowers (you don’t want a load of stalks in there so trim the heads!). Cover with a clean teatowel and leave it for 24 hours.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is pretty much that. The next day, strain through muslin and bottle it. It’s best left a few days to settle but it you won’t do you any harm (I don’t think, insert disclaimer here) if you just can’t wait.
For a delicious pressé fill a glass with ice (oh, did I mention you can make awesome ice cubes with the infused water, perfect in a G & T) treat the infusion as you would cordial, and top up with sparkling or soda water.
Then head out into the garden, and relax. If you fancy a tipple instead, add a dash into your gin before topping up with tonic. Works best with a proper dry gin I think. Try it with Portobello Road, with or without tonic it’s pretty fab, even if I do say so myself!
Stay chilled x
Surrey Hills Chills 