Making Elderflower Cordial from Hedgerow Blooms

June's Short Window

Elderflower season is brief and slightly unpredictable. In most parts of the UK the creamy-white heads open somewhere between the last week of May and the middle of June, and the best of them are gone within a fortnight. Warm, sunny spells bring them on quickly; a cold snap holds them back. Look for flat-topped clusters of tiny flowers on a shrub with dark, ragged bark and sharply toothed leaves, usually along hedgerows, field edges and railway embankments.

Pick on a dry morning once the dew has lifted. Wet flowers sour quickly, and damp heads carry more insects than you want in the pan. Choose heads that are fully open and creamy, not brown or dropping petals. A head that smells faintly of cat when crushed is past it. Leave the ones facing a busy road, and never strip a bush bare — take a couple of heads from each, leaving plenty for the elderberries that will follow in autumn, and for the birds.

What You Will Need

The quantities below make about 1.5 litres of cordial, or enough to fill three average wine bottles. It is easy to double if you have a big enough pan, though you will need a second bowl for straining.

• 20 to 25 elderflower heads, trimmed of the thick stalks
• 1.5 litres water
• 1kg granulated sugar
• 2 unwaxed lemons, zest pared off in strips and the fruit sliced
• 50g citric acid, from a chemist or homebrew shop

For equipment, you need a large pan or heatproof bowl, a wooden spoon, a fine sieve lined with muslin or a clean tea towel, and bottles that have been washed and thoroughly dried. A jam funnel saves a great deal of swearing.

Trimming and Steeping

Do not wash the flowers. Give each head a gentle shake to dislodge the worst of the wildlife, then sit down with a tray and a small pair of scissors. The aim is to snip the tiny flower sprays away from the main stalk. A little green stem is fine; a lot of it makes the cordial bitter and slightly vegetal. This is the fiddliest part of the job, perhaps half an hour for a good batch, and best done with the radio on.

Bring the water to the boil, then tip in the sugar and stir until it has completely dissolved. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Pour the warm syrup over the flowers, lemons and citric acid in a large bowl or clean bucket, stir once, and cover with a plate or cloth. Leave it somewhere cool for 24 to 48 hours. The longer end gives a deeper, more perfumed cordial; much beyond two days and it starts to taste stewed.

Straining and Bottling

Line a sieve with muslin and set it over a jug or large bowl. Ladle the mixture through in batches, then gather the corners of the muslin and squeeze gently — there is a lot of flavour left in the flowers. Do not press hard or you will push through sediment. Strain the liquid a second time if it looks cloudy with specks of petal.

Decant into sterilised bottles, filling them almost to the top, and seal. In the fridge the cordial keeps for four to six weeks. For longer storage, freeze it in plastic bottles, leaving an inch of headroom for expansion — glass will crack. A tablespoon of vodka per bottle will stretch the fridge life by another week or two, though it is not necessary if you plan to use it up through the summer.

Drinking It

Dilute roughly one part cordial to five parts water, or one to eight if you prefer it subtle. Still water is lovely; sparkling water and a slice of lemon is better on a hot afternoon. It also works beautifully as a mixer with gin, poured over plenty of ice with a sprig of mint, and stirred into a jug of Pimm's in place of some of the lemonade. Try it drizzled over gooseberries before baking, or spooned into a glass with crushed ice and a few raspberries for a quick granita.

If you want to ring the changes next year, add a couple of sprigs of lemon thyme or a handful of mint to the steep, or swap one lemon for an orange. Elderflower cordial is best thought of as a base rather than a fixed recipe, and its scent — that unmistakable early-summer fragrance — is the whole point of the exercise.