It’s been rather sunny here, believe it or not. So whilst out enjoying the weather, we’ve been picking elderflowers.
Here’s our recipe for elderflower champagne. It is fizzy and delicious.
6-7 open elderflower heads
15ml white wine vinegar
2 lemons
600-700g sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
8-9l cold water (we fill the maslin pan, not that accuarate a measurement, oops)
Shake the bugs from the flowers (that’s nature for you) and remove the biggest bits of stem, little bits are fine.
Remove lemon peel (with veg peeler is easiest) and chop it roughly.
Juice lemons.
Add lemon juice, peel, white wine vinegar, sugar and elderflower heads to water and stir.
Cover with a clean teatowel or clingfilm, and leave for 24-48hrs.
Pick out the big bits (makes it a little easier to strain, so not strictly necessary)
Strain into clean empty fizzy pop bottles or similar (needs to be able to withstand the pressure). We used coffee filters, but folded muslin or similar should also work.
Loosen caps and retighten after a week or so, to prevent explosions.
Leave for about of 2 weeks and enjoy. Take care when you open the bottles as it can get very fizzy.
Serve with ice and sunshine. It is also rather lovely with gin (grown-ups only) as an alternative to tonic.
