The elderflowers are blooming at the Old Sheep Farm.
We have two types of elderflower bush - a white elderflower by the cottages, and also a beautiful black elder with pink blooms in front of the farmhouse. When you walk past you get wafts of scent, often accompanied by a gentle clucking sound, as the shade under the black elder is the favourite haunt of the chickens on a hot summer's day.
They are only flowering for a few weeks a year, and I was determined to make the most of them this year! So, elderflower cordial seemed the ideal project - especially as I can use it to make elderflower ice cream, a flavour we tried in Criccieth a few weeks ago.
I was careful only to pick the flower heads that were high up - I wanted to leave the low-hanging branches to turn into elderberries which are the chickens' favourite snack later in the summer.
Making elderflower cordial turns out to be very easy indeed and I don't know why I hadn't tried it before! Just pick around 15 elderflower heads, soak in a litre of boiling water with the juice and zest of two lemons and a lot of sugar (one recipe asks for a kilogram, another asks for 500g along with 4 tablespoons of honey). Wait for a day or two, then strain through muslin into some sterilised bottles. It makes the kitchen smell delicious. It will keep in the fridge for a few months, but you can also freeze it. I ended up with a bottle for the fridge and a good few tubs in the freezer ready for my ice cream experiments!
There are a few tips to know, according to google, to ensure the best flavour. Pick the elderflowers on a warm, dry, sunny morning, before the insects have had a chance to gather all the pollen. Pollen is the precious part, apparently, and is the reason why you mustn't wash the elderflowers before adding them - just give them a gentle shake to remove any bugs. And finally, try to remove as much stalk as possible as they are quite bitter.
This morning was again dry and sunny, so I took the opportunity to pick some white elderflower to make a white cordial. I wonder if they will taste different?
Is there a difference in flavor between the white and pink flowers? I was prepping for making my annual white flower cordial - but stumbled on the pink Sambucus Nigra and am very excited to find some I can harvest and try!!