INGREDIENTS
Makes around 1.5 litres
- 1kg granulated sugar
- 500ml water
- 15 elderflower umbels, trimmed
- 1 lemon
- Optional: citric acid solution (recipe here)
METHOD
Make your sugar syrup:
Add 500ml of water to a large saucepan and heat the water gently over medium heat - don’t boil it. Once heated up, slowly add your sugar, stirring constantly until fully dissolved. Once the syrup is clear and all the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Let it cool, then transfer to a clean container, it must be cold before infusing the elderflower.
Infuse with elderflower:
First things first, pick your elderflower. It’s best to wait for a warm, dry day as the flavour comes from the pollen. It’s also good to pick flowers from trees that are away from the pollution of a road or a busy thoroughfare. Use secateurs or scissors and pick around 15 of the best umbels.
When you come to make the syrup, it’s good to give the flower heads a shake and leave them upside down in your basket or bag so that any debris or bugs fall to the bottom. Avoid excessively rinsing the heads as this will get rid of the pollen and subsequently the flavour.
Shake off the elderflower heads and trim as much stem as possible from them as the stems impart a bitter flavour. Peel your lemon using a vegetable peeler, then add this and the umbels into the cold sugar syrup to infuse overnight, preferably in the fridge.
Whilst the elderflower infuses the syrup, sterilise a bottle in the dishwasher (65°C or above) and leave it to cool. Once the syrup is infused, line a sieve with muslin cloth and strain it off. Taste it for sweetness and add some citric acid solution (or lemon juice) if it needs it, before decanting into your sterilised bottle. This will keep in the fridge for up to a month and can be used mixed with sparkling water or even prosecco for an elderflower bellini.
