Elderflower Cordial
A fragrant non-alcoholic syrup made with foraged elderflower heads, sugar, lemon, and citric acid. Perfect mixed into seltzer, lemonade, or summer cocktails. Ready in 24 hours.
Servings: 128 servings, makes about 8 cups
Equipment
Ingredients
- 25 large fresh elderflower heads or 1 cup dried elderflowers
- 6 cups sugar
- 6 cups water
- 2 tbsp citric acid
- 3 large lemons unwaxed, sliced thin (including zest)
Instructions
- Snip the individual elderflower blossoms off the stems into a large heatproof bowl or half-gallon mason jar. Discard the stems. You should have roughly 4 cups of loose blossoms.
- Combine sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar fully dissolves and the syrup is clear, then bring to a brief simmer and remove from heat.
- Let the syrup cool for about 15 minutes off the heat. You want it warm but not boiling when it hits the flowers.
- Add the sliced lemons and citric acid to the bowl with the elderflowers. Pour the warm syrup over and stir gently, pressing flowers and lemons down so everything is submerged.
- Cover loosely and steep at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for 24 hours. For stronger flavor, extend up to 48 hours, but no longer.
- Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing gently on the solids to extract every drop of syrup. For a clearer cordial, run a second pass through cheesecloth.
- Bottle in clean glass bottles and refrigerate. Use within 4 to 6 weeks.
Notes
Citric acid: The 2 tablespoons in this recipe gives the cordial its characteristic sharp tartness and pushes the refrigerator shelf life from about 2 weeks to a full 4 to 6 weeks. It also helps extract more flavor from the flowers during the steep. If you can't find citric acid, substitute the juice of 2 additional lemons (5 lemons total), but expect more lemon flavor and a shorter shelf life.
The 48-hour limit: Don't steep longer than 48 hours at room temperature. The high sugar content protects you for that window but stops being reliable past it; mold can develop on top. If you can't strain on time, move the whole jar to the fridge until you can.
Foraging safety: Only the elderflowers are edible raw; leaves, stems, bark, and unripe berries contain cyanogenic glycosides. When processing the heads, snip the individual blossoms off the stems and discard the green parts. Forage Sambucus canadensis or Sambucus nigra; do not use red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa). Forage from unsprayed plants well away from busy roads.
Picking: Pick on a sunny morning when the heads are creamy white, fully open, and visibly dusted with pollen. Don't wash; just shake gently to dislodge insects. Washing strips pollen, which carries most of the flavor.
Storage: Refrigerator only, 4 to 6 weeks with citric acid (1 to 2 weeks without). Not shelf stable. To keep longer, freeze in plastic bottles (with headspace for expansion) or in ice cube trays.
To use: Stir 1 to 2 tablespoons into a glass of seltzer for a quick spritz. Splash into lemonade, iced tea, sparkling wine, or cocktails wherever a floral simple syrup would help. Drizzle over fresh fruit, ice cream, or pound cake.