news from our Elderberry Evening

Well the thing is... the Elderberries weren't ripe so we couldn't make anything at that meeting. Anna and Jill brought lots of their stored potions and cordials for us to try and they were delicious (especially the ones with brandy) and full of variety depending on the recipe used. See below for some provided by Jill. I had prepared some rose hips to bring to the meeting because they were plentiful. I had destalked them, boiled them, crushed them, let simmer for 15 minutes and then sieved through muslin to produce a concentrate. We could have boiled them again with sugar to produce a syrup to keep away winter colds but Anna had heard of a novel recipe using the cordial, sugar and cornflower to make Rose Hip soup! So thats what we had and it was unusual and delicious.

Elderflower Recipes
Elderberry Cordial.

Ingredients: - Bucket of Elderberries, Granulated sugar, Cloves

1. Cut the Elderberries just below the stalks


2. Use a fork to remove the Elderberries from the stalks into a bowl.


3. Place the Elderberries in a saucepan with enough water to cover them.


4. Simmer for 20 minutes


5. Strain the Elderberry mixture through a muslin or straining bag, squeezing to make sure you get all the juice out.


6. For each pint of juice you get, add 1lb of granulated sugar and 12 cloves.


7. Boil the mixture for 10 minutes.


8. Allow the Elderberry mixture to cool and then bottle in sterilised glass bottles, making sure that the caps have a plastic seal.


9. Add an equal amount of the cloves to each bottle you make up.

The elderberry cordial syrup will last up to two years.

Elderberry Tincture

Elderberry tincture is easy. I buy cheap vodka. I fill a wine-making demijohn with elderberries stripped from their stalks, then top the whole thing up with vodka. I leave it for two, three or four months then strain it, throw the berries on the compost heap and bottle the liquid. At the first sign of a cough, cold or flue we take a teaspoonful diluted in water and do so four or five times a day over the next three days or so. Usually it will stop the cold from developing, but if it doesn't it cuts the duration and severity by a long way.