Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower Cordial

Find out just how easy it is to make Elderflower Cordial from scratch using fresh foraged elderflower.

Soft drinks from scratch

At any given time there is a beer brewing or hedgerow wine fermenting somewhere in my house. My husband and I love making our own alcoholic beverages but sometimes its fun to make soft drinks from scratch too!

Elderflower cordial is the perfect place to start if you’re not used to making your own drinks. It’s a lovely, floral scented syrup that can be added simply to water, lemonade, or even alcohol to make delicious drinks.

To buy elderflower cordial in a shop you will notice it’s quite expensive, and for good reason. You need quite a lot of elderflower to make even just one bottle of elderflower cordial at home and it isn’t in season for very long. But, that’s what makes elderflower cordial so special!

In this post I’ll tell you everything you need to know about making Elderflower Cordial from scratch, starting with how to source the best elderflowers.

Make Elderflower Cordial from scratch having foraged the flowers yourself. It's a sweet, refreshing summer drink that can be used in cocktails and cakes alike.

Foraging for elderflower

What is foraging?

The term “foraging” means searching for food. It’s become wildly popular over the last few years as people have come to realise there’s an abundance of edible plants that you can find in your local parks, alongside the sides of roads and in our woodlands.

There are some rules you have to follow when foraging like:

  • only ever taking and eating something if you 100% know what it is (there are often toxic and even deadly plants that look similar to lots of delicious plants);
  • only ever take as much as you need so that you leave some for others (including the wildlife who rely on it);
  • never forage on private land.

There are lots of fantastic books that you can buy to help you on your foraging journey. My favourites are Wild Food UK: Foraging Pocket Guide (perfect for taking on walks) and Collins: Food for Free (great for slipping into your bag or pockets.)

When can you forage for elderflower?

Elderflower season is from May until August. Towards the end of the summer the pretty white flowers become berries (which you can also turn into syrups, jams and other delicious treats).

The best time to pick elderflowers is on a warm, dry day. I try to avoid going too early in the morning in case they are still damp with dew. and don’t forget to give them a little shake to remove any insects (without harming the insects), before soaking or rinsing in cold water and leaving them to dry.

Where can you forage for elderflower?

In the UK elderflower grows pretty much everywhere – in woods, in parks, along the side of train lines and roads. In fact once you know what to look out for you will start seeing it everywhere!

Try to avoid picking elderflower from near roads as the flowers may have absorbed some of the traffic pollution. Picking elderflower that is low down may also be contaminated with dog (and other animal) urine so also bear this in mind.

What does elderflower look like?

Elderflower plants are actually a type of small, flowering tree that is often found in hedgerows. You will notice them as they flower as they produce these big splays of small cream coloured flowers. The leaves are made up of 5-7 small oval “leaflets” with festery edges.

What does elderflower smell like?

Elderflowers have been described as simply smelling like summer! You’ll know you have found an elderflower tree when you smell its sweet, perfumey scent.

If you have gone out on a damp day or towards the end of the season there’s a chance the elderflowers will have an unpleasant damp, musty smell. Don’t be tempted to pick these. The smell will transfer to taste and ruin your recipe.

What does elderflower taste like?

Elderflower tastes a lot like it smells, its fresh with a floral, perfume flavour that has been described as fresh, fruity and green. Because of this it pairs well with other subtle flavours such as pear and lychee as well as citrus fruits and tart gooseberries.

For more elderflower recipes jump to the end of this post.

How to pick elderflowers

When picking elderflowers you want to avoid as much of the green stem as possible but still making it easy to use them in your recipe. Simply take a pair of sharp scissors and remove flower heads just below where all the small stems meet the main stem. That way the umbel of flowers stays together but you won’t get he bitter flavour of the stem in your finished cordial.

Make Elderflower Cordial from scratch having foraged the flowers yourself. It's a sweet, refreshing summer drink that can be used in cocktails and cakes alike.

The Recipe

It turns out making Elderflower Cordial is incredibly simple. The full recipe is set out in printable format below but in short, you infuse water with elderflower and citrus. Then strain this (once or twice depending on how fussy you are), add sugar, bring to the boil and there you have it.

The flavour of home-made Elderflower Cordial really is second to none. We couldn’t resist drinking some after it was taken off the hob and even slightly warm it tasted fantastic. Once you’ve made your own batch, scroll down to find a whole host of different recipes from cakes to cocktails which call for Elderflower Cordial.

Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower Cordial

Add 225ml of water to 25ml of this Elderflower Cordial for a refreshing summer drink.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 day 45 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine British
Servings 40 servings
Calories 52.26 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 25 florets elderflower
  • 3 lemons juice and zest
  • 1 orange juice and zest
  • 750 ml water
  • 500 g sugar

Instructions
 

  • Trim the elderflower heads to remove any long stalks, carefully remove any insects and dirt then place in to a large bowl along with the citrus zest and juice.
  • Boil 750ml of spring water to the boil and pour over the elderflowers and citrus.
  • Cover with clingfilm and leave overnight to infuse.
  • Steralise the bottles or jars which you will use to store the cordial by washing with soapy water, rinsing and placing in an oven on low until completely dried.
  • Strain the infused water through a sieve or piece of muslin straight into a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
  • Add the sugar and heat on low, stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved.
  • Once the sugar is dissolved slowly bring to the boil.
  • Once boiled take off of the heat and, using a funnel pour the hot liquid into sterilised bottles or jam jars.
  • Seal the bottles and store in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 52.26kcalCarbohydrates: 13.64gProtein: 0.12gFat: 0.03gSaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 1.22mgPotassium: 17.36mgFiber: 0.31gSugar: 12.98gVitamin A: 9.15IUVitamin C: 6.04mgCalcium: 4.1mgIron: 0.06mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More elderflower drinks recipes

If you like this, you’ll love…

…making your own kombucha at home! You could even flavour it with some elderflower cordial. Find out how below.

As ever, if you do make any of my recipes I’d love to hear from you so leave a rating in the recipe card or a comment below. Thanks.



32 thoughts on “Elderflower Cordial”

  • I love how honest you are about your “foraging”! I think I know what elderflower looks like but will have to check before I try to find some, wouldn’t want to end up with cow parsley cordial, which would be just my luck, haha. Look forward to hearing about your champagne too!

    • Thanks Lucy 🙂 I’m keeping my fingers crossed it works! There’s always a risk with home brew it doesn’t turn out quite how you expect!

    • I keep seeing it everywhere now Minna! I’m visiting my parents this weekend and it seems every house on the street has a tree growing 🙂

  • I love the idea of foraging for herbs and flowers found in nature. The recipe looks delicious and simple enough and thanks for the ideas on what to do with the Cordial!

  • I love your story! Ha Ha…it was in our own backyard! Love it! I have no idea if we grow enderberry in the states and to be honest…I’ve never heard of it! I travel to England often for work so I shall inquire with my co-workers out there to see if they’ve had this drink!
    Thanks for sharing this story!

    • Thanks Amanda 🙂 glad you enjoyed the post! You should definitely try some when you’re over here !!

  • I’m dying to try this, but I have a feeling there aren’t any elderflowers in Los Angeles, and anyway this weekend’s record heat would probably fry them! I’ll just have to look at your photos and dream 🙂

    • Oh nooo!!! I hope you can find them somewhere! There are a few edible flower delivery companies in the UK perhaps they have similar in the US too? In the meantime I hope you enjoy my post 😀

  • It looks great! We have two elderflower trees in our new garden, but to my shame I haven’t used them for anything yet! You’ve inspired me, so armed with your instructions I’ll be making some cordial this week.

  • Elderflower Cordial is one of my favourite drinks too! I so wish I had wild elderflower close to where I live!! I bet homemade tastes so much better than shop bought anyway! 🙂

    • It’s SO much better Nadia! There are a couple of edible flower delivery companies online that can send you some. (That was my back up plan if we couldn’t find any locally!)

  • I only discovered that my entire street was littered with Elderflower recently but of course I couldn’t use it and have yet to get someone to come with me to forage for it plus it’s been raining so much which has also scuppered my search. So I’m really jealous of your foray into Elderflower Cordial as I really want to find some before it all disappears!

    • Hi Camilla. How frustrating! It is definitely best to “harvest” it when it’s dry otherwise the rain will have washed off all the pollen and that’s the tasty bit! Fingers crossed the sun starts shining and you get to give the recipe a go! It’s worth the wait 🙂

  • This is beautiful!
    I love elderflower syrup but never made my own yet! I need to set up a #ProjectElderflower to search for some Elderflower! 😀 Can’t wait to see that Elderflower Champagne too!
    Definitely saving this for when I do find some.

    • Thanks Dini. Sounds like you need to pin this for later! Keep your eyes peeled you never know where you might find an elderflower plant. I saw a small one on my way into work in the City today! Fingers crossed the champagne has worked and I’ll be able to share it in 2 weeks or so 🙂

  • Sounds like you had a bit of an adventure getting your elderflowers! The cordial looks absolutely amazing.

    • Hi Diana we had SO much fun!!! It’s always more rewarding if you’ve grown or foraged the ingredients yourself!

    • Hi Pooja? Where are you from if you don’t mind me asking? It seems elderflower isn’t well known outside of the UK. The pollen gives a sweet, frgrant, citrus flavour. It’s delicious!

  • This sounds just the kind of drink I’d like. I just don’t know if elderflower is available in Toronto. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. I’m afraid to forage, I might eat something really bizarre haha! Maybe it’s the kind thing available in farmers markets? Maybe…

  • This post was such a blast to read! I love that you took matters into your own hands and foraged for elderflower…only to find it in your own backyard! So classic. I admit I’m an elderflower newbie but I love the thought of making your own cordial (and champagne!) and am now itching to give it a try!

    • Hi Elizabeth. I’m glad you enjoyed the post! We’ll be testing the champagne for signs of life (and alcohol level) this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed it’s gone well!!!

  • This looks so fun!! I don’t think we have elderflower here (south eastern USA), but I’m wondering if I could do the same with honeysuckle! Those things are everywhere in the spring. Love this!

  • You can freeze this cordial and it will last over a year. Spoon it out like sorbet into a glass and just add water to taste and stir. An instant ice cold drink! Also it is great spooned over fresh raspberries or an addition to desserts like cheesecake.

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