When the Elderflowers are Ready

There is currently a little ritual to my mornings. It starts every spring as the mornings grow lighter and warmer, and the world looks lush and green.

I get up as the sun starts peeking through, boil the jug, and have a little wander around my favourite pockets of the garden. The lavender beds, the white roses, the herb garden, and my two elder trees.

I grew both trees from cuttings I collected from one of our favourite foraging spots in Napier. At this time of year, their beautiful, fragrant flowers are just starting to bloom. Little white pillows of elderflower.

Every morning there are a few more, and soon there will be enough to make a favourite in our family, elderflower cordial.

I first started making elderflower cordial back in 2017, when I was writing my first blog, KidsPlay.

Back then we lived in Napier, and the place we went to forage elderflower was a really beautiful park that we visited at times a few days a week.  It felt safe and familiar, and somehow it had something to offer in every season.

In autumn there were walnuts to collect and quinces to find. Spring brought the elderflower. In summer there would be cricket being played through the holidays, and you could still smell the salt air coming in from the ocean. There were walking tracks running through the trees and over the two hills. One minute you were in an old forest, the next you were in an open field. There were tiny caves to look into and boulders to climb.

When we moved away, I took cuttings from some of the elder trees. Two of those cuttings are now the trees I walk past each morning in my own garden.

I can't remember when I first tasted elderflower cordial, or even exactly why I decided to make it. I think I was drawn to the idea of it as much as anything, one of those lovely homemade things that seemed to encompass that time in our lives.

It's funny looking back because we lived in the city, yet I remember feeling incredibly connected to the seasons there. Perhaps because nature wasn't simply around us all the time, we deliberately went looking for it.

I suspect I made my first batch because other people had told me how good it was. Whatever the reason, I made it once and it stuck, I have made it every year since.

My children know it's coming too. My daughter asked me the other day, “When are you making that really yummy cordial, Mum?”

I like that they know the time of year for it. Strawberries, Russian fudge, elderflower cordial. They have all somehow become part of our own particular springtime.

Elderflower Cordial

This is the recipe I first shared on KidsPlay back in 2017. Nearly ten years later, it's still the one I make.

You will need

• 1 kg sugar

• 6 cups boiling water

• 3 medium lemons, washed

• 30 large elderflower heads

• 55 g citric acid

• One large glass or ceramic bowl or jar

• Clean, sterilised bottles

To make the cordial

Place the sugar in a large bowl or jar. Pour over the boiling water and stir until the sugar has dissolved, then leave it to cool.

Peel the rind from the lemons and add it to the sugar water. Slice the lemons thickly and add those too, followed by the citric acid.

Remove the elderflowers from the larger stems and add the flowers to the mixture. Give everything a gentle stir.

Cover with a clean cloth and leave to steep for 48 hours in the refrigerator. I usually give it another gentle stir after the first 24 hours — and have a taste.

After 48 hours, remove the lemons and strain the cordial through a clean, fine muslin cloth into a clean bowl.

Pour into sterilised bottles using a funnel, seal and refrigerate. Freeze any cordial you won't use soon, leaving room for expansion in freezer-safe containers.

Serve diluted with still or sparkling water.

Make sure you've correctly identified edible elderflowers before picking, and avoid using the leaves and larger stems.

And if you make enough, put a bottle aside to give away.