My Elderflower Cordial is a family recipe prepared without cooking, with fresh elderflower blossoms, and includes only 5 ingredients!
What is Elderflower?
Elderflower is a flowering plant with strongly flavored small cream colored blossoms.
The little blossoms of an elderflower bush taste intense, delicate and floral.
Elderflowers can be harvested in spring up to mid July.
The blossoms turn into berries, aka Elderberries, which can be turned into a jelly.
Elderflowers are super common in Europe and the most common way to enjoy them is turned into a Cordial, which we also call Holunder syrup.
Holunder is just another name for the elderflower.
In fact, Elderflower cordial has been produced in local central European homes for ages, even the Romans mention it.
The shrub itself grows in Europe, North & South America, Asia and Australia, so maybe it might be growing in your neighborhood!
How to use the Elderflower Cordial?
We usually, dilute our elderflower cordial with plain fresh water or sometimes even with soda water to serve as a Lemonade
Holunder cordial has got a tradition in my native home and I remember having it as a kid in masses.
There is a benefit of drinking water diluted elderflower cordial as it refreshes you when the days get hotter.
The elderflower cordial can be used as a syrup to prepare exciting cocktails.
I recommend a Elderflower Gin Cocktail to start out.
You can also drizzle some of the syrup over a pound cake or serve it with pancakes.
How to make Elderflower Cordial?
This is a cold elderflower cordial recipe.
That means the syrup is prepared by infusion without having to cook the tender elderflower blossoms.
Here is how we do it
Step 1
Pick your flowers fresh and rinse them to get rid of any impurities.
Add to a large bucket the water, sugar, lemon slices, fresh elderflowers and citric acid.
Mix everything well and close the bucket with a lid.
Step 2
Leave the cordial to sit for two days in the bucket.
Mix the content 2 times a day.
Step 3
On the third day, strain the cordial so that you are left with the clear syrup.
Bottle up the Elderflower cordial and enjoy.
Elderflower syrup can be stored for about 10 months in a cool and dry place, away from sun light in sterilized bottles.
See full detailed recipe with ingredients and instructions in the recipe card further below.
More flower blossom recipes
Dear Reader, where in the world do you pick you elderflowers?
Elderflower Cordial Recipe
Ingredients
- 0.8 gallon Water cold
- 20 large Elderflower Heads with opened flowers
- 8.8 pounds Sugar
- 6 Lemons peeled, cut into slices
- 3.5 ounces Citric Acid Powder
Instructions
- Rinse the flowers and remove roughly the main stem. Leave the flowers on the rest of the greenery.
- Add to the clean large bucket the water, sugar and flowers.
- Peel the Lemons and cut them roughly into fat slices.
- Add the Lemon slices and the Citric acid powder to the bucket with the other ingredients and mix the whole content well with the elongated cooking spoon.
- Leave the elderflower mixture stand for 2 days. Keep on stirring throughout the day once or twice so that it all gets well mixed and close always with the lid. The elderflower flavors will infuse the sugar water.
- After 2 days you can strain and bottle the syrup. Press the syrup out of the blossoms and lemon pieces to get the maximum out of your home made syrup.
- Store in a clean sterilized bottle in a cool and dry place, away from direct sun light.
- Enjoy with water as a refreshing cooler in the summer months!
Notes
- One batch of Elderflower syrup makes about 1 1/2 gallon (6 liters), which in turn should fill about 6 bottles. This makes about 150 servings (if used as a beverage mixed with water)
- It’s better to prepare this large batch because elderflower cordial makes a great gift and can be stored for up to 10 months in a cool and dry place if kept in sterilized jars.
Ricky says
Try it with joghurt or in cream cheese also as a filling for a pie. It is delicious, you might want to add some flowers as decoration.
Helene Dsouza says
thanks for the ideas! 🙂
Susie says
I just attended a meeting in Innsbruck, and on the weekend went hiking in the mountains. At a little hut/restaurant on the mountain I was introduced to hollunder with sparkling water. It was so refreshing. I planted an elderberry in my front yard several years ago, and last year we made elderberry jelly. Very good, but next spring I’m going for hollunder. Thanks for the recipe!
Helene Dsouza says
Hi Susie! So, how do u like my home region? =) You are going to love this recipe, because its the best I know. Of that batch we made that day, we gave some bottles to our friends and neighbors. They know that they will get one every year and they get all excited. =D Glad I could help!
Courtney~Mommy LaDy Club says
We had a very nice Elderflower wine with a British friend once in London:)
yummychunklet says
What pretty photos!
Louise says
Oh Helene, This looks lovely. I would love to prepare it one day:)
Thank you so much for sharing…
P.S. We’re playing the Picnic Game over at my blog. Wanna Play???
Anita Menon says
Oh how I want to taste this deliciousness. I am sure it would taste, light and refreshing.