Its been such a fantastic day today that I just had to get making some
Elderflower Champagne with the kids. They had a great time, but it was hard
work keeping their sticky fingers out of the bag of sugar!

www.suburbangoodlife.com for the (very simple) recipe and pictures of the
9litre batch half way through production :-) Tomorrow looks to be a really
hot day too, so grab the flowers now before they are all gone!
Dave

On 2 Jun, 19:03, "Addadate" wrote:
Its been such a fantastic day today that I just had to get making some
Elderflower Champagne with the kids. They had a great time, but it was hard
work keeping their sticky fingers out of the bag of sugar!

www.suburbangoodlife.comfor the (very simple) recipe and pictures of the
9litre batch half way through production :-) Tomorrow looks to be a really
hot day too, so grab the flowers now before they are all gone!
Dave

What a fab idea. Thank you !!

On Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:54:46 -0700, La Puce
wrote:

On 2 Jun, 19:03, "Addadate" wrote:
Its been such a fantastic day today that I just had to get making some
Elderflower Champagne with the kids. They had a great time, but it was hard
work keeping their sticky fingers out of the bag of sugar!

www.suburbangoodlife.comfor the (very simple) recipe and pictures of the
9litre batch half way through production :-) Tomorrow looks to be a really
hot day too, so grab the flowers now before they are all gone!
Dave

What a fab idea. Thank you !!

Has anyone a simple recipe for elderflower CORDIAL?

Pam in Bristol

On Jun 4, 7:52 pm, Anne Jackson wrote:

Elderflower Cordial
by Sophie Grigson

Sophie Grigson captures the essence of warm English summers
with this refreshing and versatile elderflower cordial

Servings: Makes 1.5 litres
Level of difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 20 minutes, plus overnight infusing
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
20 heads of elderflower
1.8kg granulated sugar, or caster sugar
1.2 litres water
2 unwaxed lemon
75g citric acid

Method

1. Shake the elderflowers to expel any lingering insects, then
place in a large bowl.

2. Put the sugar into a pan with the water and bring up to the boil,
stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved.

3. While the sugar syrup is heating, pare the zest of the lemons off
in wide strips and toss into the bowl with the elderflowers. Slice the
lemons, discard the ends, and add the slices to the bowl. Pour over the
boiling syrup, and then stir in the citric acid. Cover with a cloth and
then leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

4. Next day, strain the cordial through a sieve lined with muslin (or
new j-cloth rinsed out in boiling water), and pour into thoroughly
cleaned glass or plastic bottles. Screw on the lids and pop into
the cupboard ready to use.

Cook's Notes: To serve Elderflower Cordial: Dilute the elderflower
cordial to taste with fizzy water, and serve over ice with a slice
or two of lemon, or a sprig of mint floating on top.

For something a touch more sprightly, add a shot of gin or vodka
and a lemon slice, or add it to white wine and sparkling water to
make an elderflower spritzer.

Elderflower cordial is also brilliant in recipes such as gooseberry fool,
and in vinaigrette - mix with wine vinegar, a touch of mustard, salt,
pepper and a light olive oil (surprisingly good with a courgette, lettuce
and broad bean salad). You might even try adding it to a marinade for
chicken breasts. Try it in sorbets, or ice-creams, or just spooned over
scoops of vanilla ice-cream, or use it to sweeten and flavour the fruit
for a crumble.

Did you retype all that?? You obviously type better than I do!

Judith

On Jun 4, 10:59 pm, Anne Jackson wrote:
The message from "
contains these words:

Did you retype all that?? You obviously type better than I do!

Tsk, Judith, I copied and pasted it! G

Aah, I see, so you looked it up, then copied and pasted it. I looked
up a recipe for someone once, printed it out and then retyped it and
sent it in an email; give that woman a drink who said I was stupid!

Judith

On Jun 5, 7:15 pm, Anne Jackson wrote:
You think that's bad? When I first got a computer I looked something up,
typed it out, photo-copied it, and sent it *snail mail* to three other
Zetnet subscribers!

I hadn't quite got the hang of it all...

You have got way past that now though! Have you thought about adding
a third business to your portfolio? That of personal agent to
internet idiots like me who want to have a newsreader better than
Google but don't know how to do it?

Judith

p.s. Is the launch of the businesss today? If so, the best of luck,
after all your hard work, you certainly deserve it and if there is
anything I can do in East Anglia to promote you, just send me the
stuff.

On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 19:52:46 +0100, Anne Jackson
wrote:

Servings: Makes 1.5 litres
Level of difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 20 minutes, plus overnight infusing
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
20 heads of elderflower
1.8kg granulated sugar, or caster sugar
1.2 litres water
2 unwaxed lemon
75g citric acid

Method

1. Shake the elderflowers to expel any lingering insects, then
place in a large bowl.

2. Put the sugar into a pan with the water and bring up to the boil,
stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved.

3. While the sugar syrup is heating, pare the zest of the lemons off
in wide strips and toss into the bowl with the elderflowers. Slice the
lemons, discard the ends, and add the slices to the bowl. Pour over the
boiling syrup, and then stir in the citric acid. Cover with a cloth and
then leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

4. Next day, strain the cordial through a sieve lined with muslin (or
new j-cloth rinsed out in boiling water), and pour into thoroughly
cleaned glass or plastic bottles. Screw on the lids and pop into
the cupboard ready to use.


Cook's Notes: To serve Elderflower Cordial: Dilute the elderflower
cordial to taste with fizzy water, and serve over ice with a slice
or two of lemon, or a sprig of mint floating on top.

For something a touch more sprightly, add a shot of gin or vodka
and a lemon slice, or add it to white wine and sparkling water to
make an elderflower spritzer.

Elderflower cordial is also brilliant in recipes such as gooseberry fool,
and in vinaigrette - mix with wine vinegar, a touch of mustard, salt,
pepper and a light olive oil (surprisingly good with a courgette, lettuce
and broad bean salad). You might even try adding it to a marinade for
chicken breasts. Try it in sorbets, or ice-creams, or just spooned over
scoops of vanilla ice-cream, or use it to sweeten and flavour the fruit
for a crumble.

Thanks for the recipe Anne. Mine is brewing now!

Pam in Bristol