Come late spring, delicate, white elderflowers appear on elder trees and hedgerows across the UK and can be turned into delicious homemade elderflower cordial.
The floral taste of this traditional syrup is wonderful with water, but also complements pastries, cakes, ice-cream and champagne or prosecco. Try adding it to these elderflower, gooseberry and lemon pancakes for the delicate taste of early summer.
Learn how to identify elderflower, where to find it and delicious recipes to make with our expert elderflower foraging guide.
How to use elderflower cordial
Expert forager, wild food guide, cook and author Liz Knight shares tips on how to use your homemade elderflower cordial.
Whether you have the finest homemade elderflower cordial, or some bought from a shop, your bottle contains much more than just a drink - elderflower cordial is a versatile ingredient in its own right . Whether you’re baking a cake, making a light lunch or stirring up a cocktail here are five ways you can use elderflower cordial to transform your food and drink.
1. To flavour sweet baking and puddings
Make an elderflower mess pudding by stirring a couple of teaspoons of undiluted cordial through whipped cream, and serving with smashed up meringues and summer fruits. Macerate fruits like strawberries, raspberries and cherries in a drizzle of cordial to make a floral fruit salad, or an Italian style almond and polenta cake , soaking the cake in elderflower cordial as soon as it comes out of the oven.
2. Summer salad dressings
Mixing together the same quantity of elderflower cordial with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar turns cordial into the most delicious of floral vinegars to dress salads and vegetables, or to dilute as a sour, thirst quenching drinking vinegar.
3. Cocktails and Mocktails
Elderflower cordial is the backbone of a goods summers cocktail cabinet , slices of cucumber with tonic, a dash of bitters and a serving of cordial make an elegant non alcoholic cocktail. For those more keen on drinks with an ABV, supping elderflower cordial added to gin and tonic with a squeeze of lemon is a fitting way to enjoy a summers evening.
Not much slakes a thirst on a hot day like an iced cold cider, a couple of teaspoons of elderflower cordial stirred into a glass of iced cider turns is a match made in floral heaven.
4. In pickles
Elderflower and cucumbers are best friends of flavour pairings and often pop up together in drinks , you can also use elderflower to make instant pickled cucumbers a perfect condiment for summer bbqs - soak thinly sliced cucumbers in a mixture of the same quantities of cordial & vinegar and a few sprigs of dill or mint for 30 minutes before serving - the remaining liquid can be used as a salad dressing or added to drinks.
5. As a herbal medicine
A bottle of elderflower cordial transforms elderberries into a delicious syrup that even the fussiest child will lick off the spoon. Simply place your elderberries in a saucepan and cook on a low heat until they start to break down. Sieve the inky juice into a pan and add 2 times as much cordial as you have volume of elderberry juice, simmer on a low heat until the syrup has reduced slightly; pour into sterilized bottles and store in the fridge. Administer via a spoon, in hot apple juice or with a medicinal gin.
