Foraging

Last Friday we decided to have a day of picking and storing- so off we went to the allotment for gooseberries, up the garden for cherries, the PYO for strawberries- we have had a steady supply but not enough to store- and armed with secateurs to the hedgerows for elderflowers.
On the list were- strawberry and gooseberry jam, cherry tart and elderflower cordial.

 Elderflower Cordial
20-25 heads of elderflowers

3 lemons sliced

2 oranges sliced

900gms sugar

3 litres boiling water

50gm citric acid

Pour the boiling water over the sugar and stir-allow to cool slightly,then stir in everything else. Stand for 24 hours an stir every time you think about it!

Then strain through a fine seive and bottle. I used plastic bottles that had been rinsed out with milton. 

The citric acid supposedly helps to stop the cordial fermenting and prolongs storage life. 

We have tried it with chilled sparkling water and still; it is lovely and refreshing- it does need diluting quite a bit!