Elderflower Cordial and confusion at the chemists.

Its the perfect time of year to go out looking for those beautifully scented elder flowers in the countryside. Here near my home the hedgerows are full of the delicate and very fragrant elderflower heads.
I have been longing to concoct some cordial and finally got round to it last week. As recipe read for citric acid I thought is going to be simple, but turned into quite a mission:)You can buy citric acid online or at your local chemist as I did. When I walked to my local chemist they told me that just run out of stock. Following day I managed to visit eight chemist shops and guess what? They also out of stock! Odd, I thought. So on my mission to get my citric acid I drove some miles to nearest chemist. The lady asked me ,,what it was for?,, and I explained to which she replied, "oh well you seem genuine"??? and reached under the counter to get me a box of citric acid. It would seem that is used for nefarious doings, which I never heard before. Strange.

There are lots of recipes on the Internet, but this one seemed pretty straightforward.
1.To make the sugar syrup bring 1and 1/2 litres of water to the boil with 1 kg of caster sugar, stir to check that all the sugar has dissolved.
2.Whilst this bubbles away, clean the flower heads by shaking any bugs off, I also gave them a quick dunk in a bowl of water.
3.Peel two unwaxed lemons with a veggie peeler and then slice up the rest of the lemon and place in the bowl of elder flowers.

4.Pour over the syrup and stir in 50g. of citric acid.

5.Cover and leave to stand for at least 24 -48 hours.
6.Strain trough muslin laid on a sieve and pour in to sterilised glass bottles. I do wash them first with hot water and place in a warm oven for 15 min. Using a jug and funnel pour into the hot sterilised bottles. The sealed bottles should be good, if kept in the fridge or cold place, for a couple of months.

I think this clean, fresh and crisp cordial drink really does capture the essence of the English countryside on a hot day.You can dilute with water, pour into Champagne or Prosecco.Wonderful!
Also you can freeze the elder flower heads in a plastic bag for up to 6 months. And make your fresh drink some time in Autumn:) I will be making this cordial again next year for my wedding:)x