Elderflower & Lemon Cordial

The elderberry bush is popular in landscaping, so there’s no telling where you will find one of these. Elderflowers appear as modest white clusters of flowers in early spring. Despite their appearance, their scent is shamelessly sweet. Your nose may locate these before

Photo by Marla Aufmuth

your eyes do as the scent travels on the breeze through open windows. When visiting a friend or relative, look alongside their driveway or follow that fabulous smell, and at times you’ll encoun-ter entire hedgerows of them. Don’t take them all, as the bees and butterflies love them too!

Flowers with the strongest fragrances also tend to have the most flavor. So elderflowers are definitely a top contender. Their flowers are fragile, so you need to either use them right away or dry them for later use. Elderflowers are fine to eat without cooking, but noother part of the plant is edible raw, including the leaves, branches or berries. They won’t seriously injure you, but can cause stomach problems if you boil the berries first.

4 cups water

1 cup raw, organic sugar

I cup elderflower blossoms (10 -15 heads, picked from the stem and rinsed)

2 lemons, sliced

Simmer the ingredients in a saucepan and then turn off the stove, cover the pot and let it sit until morning. Then strain and keep in a jar for up to a month. You can also

put a fermentation top onto the jar and let it ferment into a sodo.

Add this to sparkling wine or tonic water for a refreshing spring beverage.