Elderflower Pickins

I spent a short time down at our little plot with Dave this afternoon. Mostly I was pretending to be his assistant but not the glamourous kind! He has had to work super hard this year since I've been very little help except to keep him company.

We picked a whole bunch of the flowers on our Elderberry bush since we thought we'd have a go at making 'elderflower champagne this year. It was a case of now or never as you can see that many of these blossoms will be gone in another week (all the better for the berries that come later).

We had such great success with the elderberry cordial last year that we plan to make twice as much this year. Dave loved it cold in the summer and I got a taste for it hot during the winter. It meant that after giving some away we then ran short so we were looking for a way to share something with family and friends but still keep most of the cordial for ourselves. Heck I was even taking it to work for a hot drink rather than tea! Apparently a glass a day is meant to be very good for you.

We thought since there are more than enough blooms for our berry yield with plenty left over we might give the champagne thingy a try. I don't drink myself but we're planning a party for our daughter later in the year and it might be real nice to toast with our own handmade bubbly - assuming it turns out ok that is.

We decided to make a double batch so we needed 30 flower heads in full bloom. We picked a few extra for good measure as well.

I didn't do some of the work which involved filling and lifting heavy pans with water but I managed to help with the lemons.

I wanted to share the recipe in case anyone else might like to have a go. There seem to be elderberry blossoms just about everywhere at the moment. Here's the recipe:

Elderflower Champagne

4 litres hot water

700g sugar

juice and zest of 4 lemons

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

15 elderflower heads in full bloom

pinch of dried yeast (only if needed)

Dissolve sugar in hot water mixing in a clean bucket

Add cold water to top up to 6 litres

Add lemon juice & zest plus flower heads and stir gently

Cover with clean muslin and leave in a cool, airy place.

Check after a couple of days for signs of fermentation (becoming foamy)

If it's not - then you will need to add a pinch of yeast to help it along

Leave to ferment covered for 4 more days

Strain through a sieve lined with muslin

Pour into strong sterilised bottles - the kind with the Grolsch style toppers - and seal

Leave to ferment in bottles a further week before trying - serve chilled

Champagne should keep for several months

That's it! Doesn't that just sound way too simple? We even managed to get a great deal on our bottles. We got ours at Butterworth's Health Foods in the Traverse - 12 bottles for just £15. I know there is an initial outlay but we can use these bottles again and again so if all goes well and the champagne works it's a very small price to pay for the pleasure of home made bubbly to share with family and friends and they don't mind returning the bottles for a refill next year. All we have to do now is wait 6 days to bottle up plus a further week and it'll be ready to have a try!