Help with Elderflower Recipes

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Help with Elderflower Recipes
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cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 1:17 pm Post subject: Help with Elderflower Recipes
I'll be compiling a set of elderflower recipes for an article over the next week or so. Let me know if you have any tried and tested belters, and if they look good then I'll include them (if that's okay with you). I plan to include recipes for sorbet, jams, wine, champagne, cordial, fritters, maybe an elderflower cosmetic or two... And one or two surprises Anything major I'm missing?

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 3:05 pm Post subject:
fool

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45420
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 3:07 pm Post subject:

Jonnyboy wrote:

fool

No need to insult the fella, perfectly valid question...

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 3:10 pm Post subject:

Jonnyboy wrote:

fool

We're talking gooseberry and elderflower, elderflower alone, apricot and elderflower...? Any or all of the above?

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 3:22 pm Post subject:
From a seasonal perspective the classic gooseberry & elderflower, but that's a bit expected, an interesting variation would be fun.

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 5:08 pm Post subject:
Ice cream?

Goxhill

Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 245
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 6:54 pm Post subject:
Do you want recipes posting here? Or just suggestions?

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 9:18 pm Post subject:

Goxhill wrote:

Do you want recipes posting here? Or just suggestions?

Both! I'm hoping that people will post their own recipes to add to the ones I've already got; I could hack out my own set of recipes, but I'd find it a lot more entertaining to get some input from everyone else too.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue May 31, 05 9:51 pm Post subject:

Here's four to get us started:

Elderflower Milkshake
6 heads elderflowers
300ml whole milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon of honey
Heat the milk till scalding (hot, just off the boil) and add the elder flower heads. Steep them in the milk for 5 minutes or so. While steeping, blend the egg yolk with honey, and when the milk has cooled little remove the heads, and carefully combine it with the yolk and honey. Put this somewhere to cool; when it is cool, beat the egg white till stiff, fold it in with the milk mixture, and get the whole thing nice and chilled.

Elderflower Jam
Elderflowers combine superbly well with various summer fruits in jam. Of particular note are apricot, strawberry, gooseberry (the most traditional) and rhubarb; use any reliable recipe for these jams that you know. You can do this by boiling the flowers, rubbed from the stalks, in a jelly bag in the jam, but I like the appearance of the flowers in the jam, so I throw in a handfull of elderflowers shortly before the jam is cooked, and bottle as normal.

Elderflower Fritters
Take your elderflower heads and give them a good shake to remove bugs. Make up a batter with egg yolks, flour and milk, with just a tiny pinch of salt, and beat the egg whites. Mix the whites into the batter, and thin the batter till it’s thin-ish. Dip the flower heads in and fry till golden. Serve hot, with honey.

Elderflower Wine
1 1/2 pints of elderflowers, rubbed from the stalks and pressed down lightly
1 gallon water
Juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 lb of sugar
1 pound of raisins
1 cup of strong black tea
All purpose wine yeast

There are hundreds of recipes for this; I've made it a number of different ways, all of which turn out slightly different. This is one I've found to be reliable.

Put the elderflowers and raisins into the bag, and make as per normal instructions (see:
https://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Home_Brewing/Herb_and_Flower_Wines/

It’s best to pick young elderflowers, when they’re dry, but some springs you just have to take what you can get!

Goxhill

Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 245
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 05 9:43 am Post subject:

Haven't tried these at all

They're from 'The Shirley Goode Kitchen' [BBC Publications 1986] I like some of her recipes & used to watch her TV progs a lot when I was a young mum [sigh!] & cash was a bit tight.

Elderflower 'Champagne'
4 large heads of elderflowers, picked on a dry sunny day
Juice & thinly pared rind of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 lb [700g] granulated sugar

Place all the ingredients in large container with 8 pints [4.5 litres] water. Stir to dissolve the sugar, cover with a cloth & leave for 24 hours. Strain & pour into screw-top bottles that have previously held a sparkling drink. Screw on the caps tightly & leave for two to three weeks before sampling so that it develops a 'fizz'. Store in a cool place. Drink within 3 months.

[She says you can use, fresh, frozen or even dried elderflowers so the drink can be made all year round.]

[b]Elderflower Sorbet
5 oz [150g] granulated sugar
6 fl oz [175 ml] elderflower champagne
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg white
2 tablespoons icing sugar

Put the granulated sugar and 4 fl oz [100 ml] water into a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Boil for about 5 minutes until it has thickenend to a syrup. Cool. Stir in the lemon juice & elderflower champagne & pour into a container. Freeze for 1 hour until it begins to crystallise. Scrape out the mixture into a bowl & beat well. Return to the freezer for half an hour. Repeat beating /freezing 2 or 3 times more. It's a fiddle but worth it. Finally beat the egg white until stiff & then beat in the icing sugar a little at a time. Fold this into the frozen elderflower mixture after its last beating, then return to the freezer. Allow to soften slightly in the fridge before serving.

[I think it will be a lot easier with my ice cream makER!]

Reckon I've got a recipe for Elderlfower Vinegar somewhere. Have to dig it out.
[/b]

gavin

Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 93
Location: Leeds, W Yorks

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 05 11:36 am Post subject:

Elderflower Cordial

I make some for fresh, and put a couple of bottles in the freezer for happy memories and optimistic dreaming at Christmas and New Year.

Ingredients:
20 elderflower heads (or more

);
1 lemon (sliced);
2 tsp citric acid (I use a second sliced lemon instead);
3.5 lb sugar;
2.5 pints boiling water.

Put all the dry ingredients into a clean pan. Pour boiling water over. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Skim. Cover with a cloth or lid. Stir twice daily for five days. Strain and bottle in clean sterile bottles.

The cordial can be frozen in plastic bottles (leave space for expansion). Fresh cordial can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.
Dilute with water, sparkling mineral water or lemonade and serve with slices of lemon and sprigs of mint. Add gin and soda water, or vodka.

All best - Gavin

PS for later in the year - https://www.patch-work.demon.co.uk/elder.htm

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 05 11:39 am Post subject:

gavin wrote:

Dilute with water, sparkling mineral water or lemonade and serve with slices of lemon and sprigs of mint. Add gin and soda water, or vodka.

It's also a great way to disguise not-so-good white wine - one third wine / cordial / fizzy water.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 05 12:11 pm Post subject:
Just the kind of thing we're after, thanks guys Goxhill, the champagne and sorbet reciepes are very, very nearly the same as mine, so much so that I'm sure they'll work as well.

Goxhill

Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 245
Location: Lincolnshire

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 05 3:34 pm Post subject:

I'd better try them then!

Not sure this really counts as a recipe because it's so simple:

Elderflower Vinegar

10-13 sprays of elderflower
1 pint/600ml white wine vinegar

Pick the flowers when they are in full bloom and snip the flowers from the stalks. Make sure they are insect-free too. Put the flowers into a jar, pack them down well and pour over the vinegar. Close, and leave in a sunny place for 2-3 weeks, then taste to see if the flavour is sufficiently developed. When it is ready, strain and decant the vinegar into bottles and store in adry cupboard.

[From 'Cattern Cakes and Lace - A Calendar of Feasts' by Julai Jones and Barbara Deer]

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed Jun 01, 05 3:36 pm Post subject:
So, this elderflower vinegar. What would you do with it?

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