Name: Elderflower syrup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 30 elderflower blossoms; 2 lemons, sliced; Approx. 2 litre Water; Approx. 300g Muscovado sugar

Elderflower syrup

1 Jun 2020

by Dinna

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

60 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 10 minutes

Background

Every year, when the elderflower trees in my neighbourhood blossom, I collect bowls of the flowers to make cordial. This year I’ve decided to make elderflower syrup which is thicker, so more suitable to drizzle over pancakes, ice-cream, muffins and cakes. Also, it’s perfect for summer cocktails! Making the syrup is super easy, but do soak the elderflowers for as long you can - the flavours will be more intense each day!

Ingredients

30 elderflower blossoms
2 lemons, sliced
Approx. 2 litre Water
Approx. 300g Muscovado sugar

Instructions

Clean the flowers by removing the stems, , leaves and shake the insects off the flowers.
Put the flowers into a large bowl and pour lukewarm over them. The water should completely cover the flowers so add more, if it doesn’t. Put the sliced lemons on top, cover and rest in a cool place up to 3 days - at least for 24 hours.
Strain the blossoms and lemon through a sieve into another bowl, pushing all the liquid out of the soaked blossom and lemon slices. You should get about 1 -1.5 litre liquid. Pour this into a saucepan through a sieve, lined with a cheesecloth.
The liquid should be clear and golden. Add the sugar and bring to the boil. Simmer over medium heat until you get a thick, syrupy sauce (it should reduce to about a third). (If it's not thickening/reducing enough after 25 minutes or so, add some more sugar!) The thickness should be similar to golden syrup.
Pour the syrup into a sterilised jar and keep it in a cool place. You should get about 200-300ml.