Elderflower Cordial

One of the most refreshing drinks for the summer is an Elderflower Cordial. An Elderflower Cordial Recipe is quick and easy to make and a great excuse for a long walk collecting flowers.

The Elderflower season is short, late May to the latest, mid-July, if you live in the the north or Scotland. The heavily scented flowers make a wonderful, refreshing Elderflower Cordial which when stored in sterilised bottles will keep for months. If you are out collecting Elderflowers, a word of warning make sure you have permission to pick them and never pick flowers from trees on roadsides as they may be tainted with petrol fumes.

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Steeping of flowers: 48 hours

Total Time: 48 hours, 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1k sugar
1.5 liters boiling water
4 medium lemons, washed
30 large Elderflower heads, shake to remove any insects
55g citric acid

Method:

Place the sugar into a large saucepan/stockpot or a large Pyrex bowl. Pour the boiling water over and stir until all the sugar has dissolved and leave to cool.

Grate the rind of the lemons with a fine grater, add to the sugar water.

Slice the lemons into thick slices and add to the water. Add the citric acid and stir, then finally add the flower heads to the water and stir again.

Cover with a clean cloth and leave to steep for 48 hours.

Strain through clean fine muslin cloth into a clean bowl.

Using a funnel, fill sterilized bottles. Seal and store in a cool, dark place (not the refrigerator).

The cordial is delicious diluted with still or fizzy water or used as a flavoring in ice creams or in fruit fools.

Once a bottle is opened store in the refrigerator.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Jam

Makes about 1.6kg

Ingredients:

900g green gooseberries, topped and tailed
900g granulated sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
300ml elderflower cordial

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put the gooseberries in a preserving pan with 150ml water, then cook over a low heat until the gooseberries are very soft. Meanwhile, put the sugar in a large roasting pan and warm in the oven for 10 minutes.
Add the lemon juice, elderflower cordial and warmed sugar to the gooseberries, bring to the boil and simmer gently until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and bubble for 25-30 minutes or until the jam is set. Pour the hot preserve into warm sterilised jam jars, then cover and label.

Strawberry and Elderflower Cheesecake

If you are looking for a taste of summer, this is it! The combination of strawberries with elderflower is a seasonal classic - The strawberries ripen at the same time as the elderflowers come into bloom, making them nature's companions. To top it all, the flavours blend so well, I use them together often. Home-made elderflower cordial is the best to use, but there is one available made by Bottle Green, which I use when my personal stock is depleted. They also make a strawberry and elderflower cordial, which you could also use in this recipe.

Ingredients:
For the Base:
75g butter, melted - plus a little for greasing
300g ginger nut biscuits - or chocolate digestive biscuits

For the Strawberry Filling:
300g strawberries, thinly sliced
30ml elderflower cordial
30ml icing sugar

For the Cream Cheese Filling:
15ml gelatine (powdered)
250g smooth cream cheese (room temperature)
300ml double cream
5ml elderflower cordial
3 egg yolks
45g caster sugar

To Decorate:
150-200g strawberries, thinly sliced
A few sprigs of mint

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease the sides and base of a round springform tin, 8-9 inch diameter x 3-4 inch deep.

In a blender, pulse the biscuits to a rough crumb, not too fine. In a bowl, mix them with the melted butter. Lightly press into the base of the prepared pan, making the base as smooth as possible. I find using the flat base of a glass handy to compress the base smoothly. Bake for 10-15 minutes and leave to cool.

For the strawberry filling, mix the ingredients together gently and leave for the strawberries to absorb the flavours for 1-2 hours. Drain the strawberries, reserving all the juices.

For the cream cheese filling, place 50ml cold water into a small, wide bottomed heatproof bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine, making sure it is all wet. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water - not boiling water - and allow the gelatine to melt. It should not get too hot or the gelatine looses its setting ability.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese to make sure it is all smooth. In another bowl, lightly whip the cream and elderflower cordial. Using an electric mixer or whisk, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale, thick and double in volume. Carefully fold in the cream cheese, followed by the cream. Mix the reserved strawberry juices into the dissolved gelatine, sieve to remove any lumps. Fold a spoonful of the cream mixture into the gelatine mixture. When this is well blended, gently fold in the remaining cream mixture.

Spread the prepared strawberries over the middle of the biscuit base, leaving a small edge. Spoon the cream over the strawberries and level the surface, spreading the cream right to the edge. Put the pan in the fridge to set over night.

When you are ready to serve, dip a knife in hot water, release the spring on the pan and run the knife around the edge of the tin. Ease off the base with a warm palette knife and transfer the cheese cake to a serving dish. Decorate with the sliced strawberries and sprigs of mint.

Syllabub

The story told regarding the origin of this ancient dessert tells that it was created by milking a cow directly into a bowl of cider, or wine. Early recipes can be traced back to Tudor times, where thickened cream was served floating on sweet wine. Making syllabub involves dissolving sugar in lemon juice and sweet wine or brandy, adding a long curl of orange peel then leaving it to infuse overnight. The following day, double cream is introduced and beaten until thick. Infusing the sugar and alcohol with the citrus probably seems a bit mystical, but don’t leave out this bit: the flavour is smoother if you let the mixture steep overnight. The essential ingredients is not something you add to the mixture, but something you do to it; whether this dessert stands or falls, is all in the whipping of the mixture. Beat slowly with a large balloon whisk or electric mixer right to the bottom of the mixture. Watch the texture vigilantly, stopping as soon as you sense a heaviness on the whisk and the mixture sits in soft folds the mixture starts to feel heavy on the whisk, when it will creases in soft folds, like a warm fluffy blanket. The mixture will split if whipped too much.

Ingredients:
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1-2 curls of orange peel, cut with a vegetable peeler without going into the white pith
50ml caster sugar
60ml sweet wine
15ml brandy
300ml double cream

Method:

Dissolve the sugar in the lemon zest and juice, sweet wine and brandy. Add one or two curls of orange peel cut with a vegetable peeler without going into the white pith and leave the mixture to steep overnight.

In the morning, add the double cream and whip until the desired thickness is achieved.

Good as it is, the odd embellishment is no bad thing with this recipe. A drop of Eau de vie, perhaps Framboise or Kirsch adds a welcome kick, as does some crushed ginger in syrup, or even a spoon of ginger marmalade. I have had it with a hint of nutmeg, a little rhubarb and flavoured with lime juice and zest. For a particularly fragrant twist use Cointreau, orange flower water and rose water, to give it a Turkish feel.

Here’s a version based on the concept of syllabub with a British-South East Asian fusion twist. Without all the rigmarole of steeping over night, this syllabub can be made in a hurry.

Elderflower Lemon and Ginger Syllabub

Ingredients:
15ml bottle green ginger and lemon grass cordial
15ml bottle green elderflower cordial
30ml sweet sherry or sweet white wine
50ml sparkling water
4 lady finger biscuits
250ml double cream
60ml icing sugar
125ml lemon curd
30 ml chopped crystallised ginger
Sprigs of mint to garnish

Method:

Mix together the cordials, sherry and sparkling water.

Break up the biscuits in the base of each of 4 sundae glasses. Drizzle over 15ml of the cordial-sherry mixture into each glass.

Pour the cream into a bowl and add the icing sugar. Whisk the cream until soft peaks form.

Fold in the remaining cordial-sherry mixture.

Add the lemon curd and lightly fold through, leaving a marbled effect.

Spoon the cream mixture into each of the glasses. Top with the chopped crystallised ginger and a sprig of mint.

Serve chilled.