Healthy and delicious food from nature.

You can easily make a tasty elderflower syrup that not only delights the palate but also offers a range of health benefits. Elderflowers are known for their soothing and healing properties — they can help loosen mucus, fight bacteria, reduce fever, strengthen the body, promote sweating, purify the blood, and reduce inflammation. Enjoy them as a tea or syrup to relieve colds, fever, coughs, and sore throats. The berries are just as healthy: rich in vitamin C, they strengthen your immune system. However, don’t eat them raw — always cook them first.

You can pick elderflowers between April and June. The shrubs often grow in parks, hedgerows, along paths, and near settlements. Be careful to identify the right plant and not confuse it with other species, such as the dwarf elder. You can recognize true elder by its unevenly paired leaves, consisting of three to nine serrated leaflets. The white blossoms grow in clusters, with each tiny flower having five petals.

Elderflower syrup

Ingredients (makes about 3 liters of syrup):

• 4 liters of water
• 1 lime
• 40 – 50 large elderflower heads
• 800 g sugar

Equipment:

• 2 large pots with lids or plates
• a fine sieve or nut milk bag
• a funnel
• clean, sterilized bottles

Preparation:

1. Pick around 40–50 elderflower heads, ideally without too many insects. Flowers picked on dry, sunny days around midday will produce the most aromatic syrup.
2. Place the flowers into two large pots and add enough water (about 4 liters) to cover them when pressed down.
3. Squeeze the juice of one organic lime into both pots. Cut the squeezed lime into small pieces and add them as well.
4. Wait a few minutes, then remove any insects that might still be floating on the surface.
5. Weigh the flowers down with a plate or lid so they stay submerged.
6. Let the mixture steep for one day.
7. Bring the elderflower water (including flowers and lime pieces) to a boil with 400 g of sugar in each pot. Let it simmer for about five minutes, then strain it through a fine sieve or nut milk bag, leaving flowers and lime behind.
8. Pour the hot syrup into clean, sterilized bottles and seal them immediately with boiled lids.

Voilá – your syrup is ready! It will keep for at least a year, meaning you’ve bottled up the taste of summer to enjoy any time you like.

Wednesday, May 15, 2024