Elder flowers in late May/June, and it's the best time to collect some and make elderflower cordial!
It's important not to confuse elderflower with other, similar looking plants... (excuse the worn off nail polish) these are elder leaves.
The flowers have five, rounded petals. Don't collect clusters where the flowers have already turned brown, or where some are still in bud.
The most common, similar plant that I have seen, is apparently dogwood, and the flowers do look similar, although the leaves are different, and closer inspection shows the flower petals have pointed ends making them look vaguely star-shaped, although they only have four petals per flower, and the leaves are individual, rather than in the clusters of five as with the Elder.
The Good Food site recipe calls for 20 stems, and requires citric acid (usually available over the counter in a chemist's shop).
I made less, just 10 stems, and halved the recipe.
It doesn't last long, even with sterilised bottles, so don't expect this to last until next season, and I will be making another batch next week.
You can also make Elderflower Champagne, although this isn't something I've ever tried before... buuut, it sounds easy-ish and I have invested in a fermenting bucket so it'd be rude not to... right? Well, we'll see how it goes?
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