A Simple Elderflower Cordial Recipe
I remember the day I first fell in love with the elderflower: it was a hot Glaswegian summer day. I was sitting on my favorite grassy knoll, in the shade of a big craggy old hawthorn bush, with a bounty.
All of my adventures involved a bounty of some kind, be it wood sorrel, wild blackberries, or, in this case, chocolate chip cookies and soda. My soda of choice was usually sparkling apple cider, but on that day they were out of stock: right next to that empty spot was sparkling elderflower—soda with a floral twist!
Sparkling elderflower soda sounded old: like something my grandparents would have drunk years ago on a sweltering hot August afternoon. So I bought the elderflower soda, placed it carefully in my backpack, and then jumped on my bike.
Few things in life are as carefree as summer holidays when you’re young: two infinite-seeming months that stretch into the orange sunset, where the days last until 11pm (in Scotland at least) and the sound of sprinklers unleashed on front lawns runs into the late evening. In the filing cabinet of my memories, between that yellow-orange glow and the smell of hot grass, is the KCHHHHH sound of opening a bottle of elder fizz on a grassy knoll with my bike resting on its side.
Homemade Elderflower Cordial
This elderflower cordial recipe offers an easy and delicious way to enjoy the soothing gifts of elderflower. Pair this cordial with sparkling water for a tasty mocktail.
Ingredients You’ll Need…
- 2 cups fresh elderflowers roughly removed from stems and de-bugged
- 6 cups sugar
- 5 cups water
- Juice of 3 lemons
- Bring the water and sugar to a boil and then remove from heat.
- Add the elderflowers and leave to cool.
- Heat up once more, adding the lemon juice, and allow to cool overnight, then strain out the flowers, squeezing to make sure you get all the syrup out.
- Pour into glass bottles and refrigerate. It’ll last months in the fridge.
Yield: Approximately 9 cups of elderflower cordial
Homemade Elderflower Fizz
An elderflower fizz combines soda water with lemon juice and elderflower cordial for a very refreshing herbal mocktail.
Ingredients You’ll Need…
- 1/4 cup elderflower cordial
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 large bottle of sparkling water
- To make elderflower fizz, put all the ingredients in a decanter or big jar of some sort, add some ice, stir gently, and serve.
- Enjoy!
Yield: Approximately 33 oz of elderflower fizz
Elderflower Magic
Elderflowers are fairy flowers. They dance on the edges of fields and woods and on the edges of worlds. Even their smell is somewhat lovely and somewhat pongy, at the edge of what’s normally considered “nice.” Glance through the shadows cast by those dancing false umbels, and if you’re not really paying attention you can hear laughter and singing. True story.
A day spent gathering elderflowers will cast you out of time somewhat. I like to think of this as a good thing. Not only that, but the tree in itself is a veritable pharmacy: the leaves and twigs make great blood moving salves, the flowers and berries are medicinal, and the berries are pretty much the best thing ever for flu season.
So gather a ton of flowers (making sure you leave enough to turn into berries too!), and bring them home in a paper bag. Set aside some especially pretty clusters to dry for a flu-season tea, and then turn the rest into cordial. Because most anything you need to do with elderflowers (except elderflower fritters) can be done with a cordial. Custards, drizzles, cocktails, meat glazes, fruit salads, popsicles, and fizzes all stem from this little workhorse. Then make yourself some fizz, kick your feet up, watch the light change, and let yourself be transported back to the edge of a dream, where you found the flowers in the first place.
Elderflower Benefits
There are many benefits of elderflowers. These beautiful blooms of the elder tree are antiviral, and drinking a hot elderflower tea can help ease a mild fever. Elderflower can also help reduce sinus congestion from allergies and colds. These dainty flowers modulate inflammation and can also make for a wonderfully soothing addition to your daily skincare routine: either in a face wash or cream.
Want to learn more about the gifts of elderflower? Check out the elder monograph on HerbMentor! This comprehensive monograph dives deep into the many benefits of elderberries and elderflowers and offers important information on contraindications, dosage, and more.
Here are some frequently asked questions about elderflower…
What else can I make with elderflowers?
There are so many delicious elderflower recipes! First, you could make elderflower fritters. You could also make an elderflower cocktail or mocktail with this cordial. Elderflower tea is another simple, soothing option that highlights the delicate flavor of this herb. Elderflower liqueur is another option: steeping the elderflowers in hard alcohol and adding honey to sweeten the liqueur. All of these elderflower drinks are simply delicious.
Why do you remove the elderflower stems in this recipe?
We use the individual flowers instead of the whole elderflower heads because the stems contain constituents that can cause intense digestive upset. So, while the whole beautiful flower heads are magical to look at, we avoid working with the whole clusters of elderflowers so as not to cause digestive distress.
Why is there so much sugar in this recipe?
The concentration of sugar in this recipe helps preserve your batch of elderflower cordial. If you’d prefer to use honey instead of sugar, you could use a 1:1 volume ratio of water to honey in the recipe—first, steep the elderflower and lemon juice in the hot water. Then strain out the elderflower and reheat the liquid until it's warm. Then add 5 cups of honey to the tea and stir until it is fully incorporated. Let the syrup cool before storing in the fridge; this fragrant syrup should last for several months in the fridge. This honey-based syrup will still capture the floral flavor and citrus hit from the fresh lemons, but the honey flavor may obscure some of the more delicate notes of elderflower.
When is it elderflower season?
Elderflowers tend to bloom from May to June, but this can vary depending on your climate. When harvesting elderflowers, make sure to leave enough flowers behind for the pollinators to feast–and for the birds to feast on the berries in the fall.
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