Whenever I travel back to England, I so enjoy my evening glass of refreshing elderflower cordial. It has a delicate taste and marries beautifully with chilled sparkling water. It makes for a wonderfully healthy alternative to white wine or Champagne.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 quart water
- 4 cups sugar
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon citric acid
- 1 cup dried elderflowers or 2 cups fresh elderflowers (snipped off their stems).
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DIRECTIONS:
- Place the dried flowers in a large glass measuring jug.
- Zest the lemons and add it to the jug, then the citric acid and lemon juice.
- Bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve. Let the syrup cool enough so that you can stick your finger in it without getting burned; you can leave it to cool to room temperature, too.
- Pour the syrup over the flowers, lemons et al and stir to combine. Cover the jug or bucket with a towel and leave it for 2-4 days.
- When you are ready, strain it through a fine-meshed sieve lined with cheesecloth or a paper towel into a clean mason jar.
- Seal the jar and store in the fridge.
- To serve, pour 1-3 tablespoons of the syrup into a pint glass and add water or seltzer. Or you can add a tablespoon to a glass of sparkling wine, or to a couple shots of vodka or gin.
