Harriet Cooper
The Hedgerow's Sweetest Gift
Come late May, the lanes around our smallholding begin to change. The hawthorn has finished, the cow parsley is going over, and then — almost overnight — the elder bushes push out those flat plates of creamy blossom that scent the whole lane on a warm evening. It is one of the most generous moments of the foraging year. Elderflower cordial captures that moment in a bottle: fragrant, floral, faintly musky, and far better than anything you can buy.
You do not need a smallholding to make it. A single good elder bush, a large pan and a little patience will do. But if you keep a few hens, grow soft fruit, or simply like the idea of stocking your larder from the hedge, this is one of the most rewarding things you can make in early summer.
Picking Elderflower: Timing and Tact
Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a scruffy, generous shrub. Look for pinnate leaves with five to seven oval leaflets, grey-brown bark with corky ridges, and — the giveaway — flat, saucer-sized umbels of tiny creamy-white flowers. The smell is unmistakable: sweet, lemony, with a musky, almost wine-like undertone. If it smells of nothing much, it is not elderflower.
Timing matters more than almost anything else. Pick on a dry, sunny morning once the dew has lifted, when the flowers are fully open and dusted with pale pollen. Avoid blossom that has been rained on — the fragrance washes out — and leave older heads that are turning brown or dropping petals. The best window is usually two to three weeks, from late May into mid-June, depending on where you are.
Take the whole head with a pair of scissors, cutting just below the flower cluster and leaving the woody stem behind. Shake each head gently to dislodge insects and ladybirds, then lay them in a basket or paper bag rather than a plastic one, where they will sweat. Use them the same day if you can.
- Avoid roadside bushes where exhaust fumes settle, and any hedge beside sprayed crops.
- Pick from several bushes rather than stripping one, and never take more than a third.
- Try not to wash the flowers — you will lose the pollen and much of the scent. Shake and pick over instead.
The Cordial Recipe
This makes roughly three litres of cordial, enough for a summer of drinks and a few bottles to give away. A large preserving pan is ideal.
- 25 to 30 large elderflower heads, or about 40 smaller ones
- 1.5 kg granulated sugar
- 1.5 litres water
- 2 unwaxed lemons
- 50 g citric acid (optional, but it helps the cordial keep)
Bring the water and sugar to the boil in a large pan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved completely. Take it off the heat and stir in the zest of both lemons — pared in strips with a peeler, avoiding the bitter white pith — along with their juice and the citric acid, if using.
Let the syrup cool until it is just hand-hot, then add the elderflower heads. If the syrup is too hot, you will cook off the delicate top notes and be left with something flatter. Cover the pan with a clean cloth and leave it somewhere cool for 24 to 48 hours, stirring once or twice. The longer it sits, the deeper the flavour, though beyond two days it can begin to taste dull and slightly cabbagey.
Strain through a double layer of muslin or a clean tea towel into a jug, and resist squeezing the flowers hard — it makes the cordial bitter. Funnel into sterilised bottles.
Bottling, Storing and Using It
To sterilise bottles, wash them in hot soapy water, rinse well, then either run them through a hot dishwasher cycle or stand them in an oven at 140°C for fifteen minutes. Fill them once the cordial is cool.
With citric acid, the cordial keeps for two to three months in a cool, dark cupboard, or far longer in the fridge. Without it, treat it as a fresh product: keep it chilled and use it within a few weeks, or freeze it. Plastic bottles are best for freezing — leave a couple of centimetres of headspace, as the liquid expands.
To serve, dilute one part cordial with five parts still or sparkling water, over plenty of ice. Beyond the glass, it is wonderful drizzled over vanilla ice cream, stirred into a gooseberry fool, used to poach rhubarb, or added to a gin and tonic with a slice of cucumber. A spoonful in a salad dressing lifts a bowl of summer leaves.
A Word on Foraging Well
Elder is generous, but it is not infinite. Those flowers become the elderberries that feed blackbirds and thrushes through autumn, and that you may want for jellies and winter tonics. Take a little from many bushes, leave the rest standing, and check with the landowner if you are unsure of your rights. In the countryside, a forager who leaves plenty is welcome back next year.
Make a batch while the hedges are still heady with it. Label the bottles with the date, tuck them in a cool cupboard, and you will have a taste of early summer long after the blossom has gone over.
