Making Elderflower Cordial from Spring Hedgerows

Why Elderflower Season Is the Highlight of the Late Spring Hedgerow

For a few short weeks between late May and mid-June, the British countryside is scented with one of its most distinctive fragrances. The elder (Sambucus nigra) throws out great flat plates of tiny cream-coloured blossoms, and along hedgerows, lane verges and field edges the air turns sweet and slightly musky. If you have never made elderflower cordial, this is the year to start. It takes an afternoon, costs very little, and produces a bottle of golden syrup that will keep you in summer drinks until the blackberries are ripe.

The trick is timing. Elderflowers are at their best for perhaps a fortnight in any given spot, and the difference between a fragrant cordial and a dull one is measured in days, not weeks. Get it right and you will understand why this recipe has been passed down in British kitchens for generations.

Where to Gather and What to Look For

Elder grows almost everywhere in the UK: hedgerows, railway embankments, waste ground, the edge of woods and the backs of old allotments. It is generous with its harvest, which is fortunate because you need a good number of flower heads — around twenty to thirty large umbels for a standard batch.

Choose your spot with care. Avoid bushes growing beside busy roads, where exhaust fumes settle on the blossoms, and give a wide berth to verges that look as though they have been sprayed or flailed. Pick above waist height where dogs may have been, and never strip a bush bare — take a head here and there, leaving plenty for the bees and for the berries that will feed the birds in autumn.

The flowers themselves should be flat, open and creamy-white, with a dusting of pollen. That pale yellow pollen is where much of the flavour lives, so do not be tempted to shake it off. If a head looks brown, curled or has already begun to set tiny green berries, leave it. Ideally, pick on a dry, sunny morning once the dew has lifted, when the scent is strongest and the blossoms are free of rain.

• Do not confuse elder with cow parsley or other white umbellifers — elder has woody stems with a distinctive pithy centre and a slightly unpleasant smell when the leaves are crushed.
• Pick into a basket or paper bag rather than a plastic bag, which sweats and bruises the flowers.
• Use them the same day if you can; a night in the fridge in a paper bag is acceptable, but no longer.

The Traditional Cordial Recipe

This makes roughly three litres of cordial, which dilutes to something in the region of eighteen to twenty litres of finished drink. You will need a large saucepan, a big bowl or bucket, a clean muslin or jelly bag, and a few sterilised bottles with screw caps.

• About 25 large elderflower heads
• 1.5 kg granulated sugar
• 1.5 litres water
• 2 unwaxed lemons, zest pared in strips and the rest sliced
• 50 g citric acid

Citric acid is the important one. It is not there for flavour alone: it sharpens the drink and, more crucially, acts as a preservative so the cordial keeps for months rather than days. It is sold in chemists, brewing shops and many larger supermarkets, usually as a white crystalline powder. Do not skip it, and do not substitute lemon juice, which is far weaker.

Bring the water and sugar slowly to the boil in a large pan, stirring until every grain has dissolved. Take it off the heat the moment it boils, because a long boil can give the syrup a faint caramel taste that fights the flowers. Add the lemon zest, the lemon slices and the citric acid, then tip in the elderflower heads. Push them under the liquid with a spoon — they will float, which is fine.

Cover the pan with a clean cloth and leave it somewhere cool for twenty-four hours, and no more than thirty-six. Stir once or twice if you remember. Any longer and the cordial begins to taste green and slightly cabbagey, which is a shame after all that effort.

Straining, Bottling and Keeping

Line a large sieve with muslin or use a jelly bag set over a big bowl, and pour the whole lot through. Do not squeeze the flowers to hurry it along; let gravity do the work, even if it takes an hour or two. Squeezing releases bitter compounds and clouds the syrup.

Pour the strained cordial into sterilised bottles through a funnel. To sterilise, wash the bottles in hot soapy water, rinse well, and either put them in a low oven at 140°C for fifteen minutes or run them through a hot dishwasher cycle. Fill them while both bottle and cordial are still warm, seal, and label with the date.

Kept in a cool, dark cupboard, an undiluted bottle will last six months or more; once opened, store it in the fridge. If you spot a little harmless sediment or a few grains of citric acid at the bottom, that is entirely normal — give the bottle a gentle turn before pouring.

How to Drink It, and a Few Twists

The classic serve is one part cordial to five or six parts chilled still or sparkling water, poured over plenty of ice with a sprig of mint and a slice of lemon. It is also excellent with soda water and a dash of gin, swirled into a glass of dry white wine, or drizzled neat over vanilla ice cream and a bowl of early strawberries.

Once you have mastered the basic method, small variations are worth trying. Swap one lemon for an orange, or add a thumb of grated fresh ginger to the warm syrup. A few heads of elderflower can also be steeped with gooseberries when making jam, or folded into a simple sponge. The season is short, so make a double batch while the hedgerow is in bloom — you will thank yourself in August when the bottle is the last one in the cupboard.