The Taste of a British Summer

Few things capture a British summer as perfectly as a glass of elderflower cordial. The scent alone — sweet, musky, faintly of lychees and meadows — conjures warm afternoons, long grass and the hum of bees. Best of all, the raw ingredient grows freely in our hedgerows and along country lanes up and down the UK. Picked carefully and steeped with lemon and sugar, a couple of hours' foraging will give you a summer's worth of cordial. Here's how to do it properly, and how to do it kindly.

When and Where to Find Elder in Flower

Elder (Sambucus nigra) flowers from late May into early July, starting in southern England and reaching northern Scotland a few weeks later. Look for a scrubby tree or large bush, often in hedgerows, on field edges, in overgrown churchyards and along the towpaths of old canals. The flowers grow in flat, creamy-white umbels the size of a saucer — frothy plates of tiny blossoms that arch toward the sky.

Check the leaves to be sure: they are pinnate, with five to seven oval leaflets that have serrated edges and a slightly unpleasant, rank smell when crushed. The bark on older trees is grey-brown and deeply corky. If you crush a flowerhead in your hand it should smell sweet and floral, never musty.

Pick on a dry morning once the dew has lifted, ideally between ten and noon. That's when the pollen is dry and the fragrance at its peak. Damp flowerheads lose scent quickly and can turn mouldy in the pan, so if rain is forecast, wait for another day.

Picking with Wildlife and Etiquette in Mind

Elder is a wildlife powerhouse. The flowers feed hoverflies, pollen beetles, honeybees and solitary bees; the autumn berries feed blackbirds, thrushes and warblers. So take a little and leave plenty.

• Pick no more than one flowerhead in every three, and leave entire bushes untouched if they're the only elder for some distance.
• Snap the head off with a short stalk — never tear at bark or break branches.
• Avoid busy roadside verges where exhaust fumes settle on the flowers, and steer clear of sprayed hedges, field margins, railway land and anything that looks tidy and managed.
• Never pick from private land without permission, and avoid nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest where collecting may be prohibited.
• Leave dusty low heads alone — they may have been visited by dogs.
• Take a basket or a roomy bag so the heads don't crush, and use them the same day, or freeze them in bags until you're ready.

Picking flowers by hand for your own personal use from a public right of way is generally fine, but always leave the plant healthy and the hedge as you found it.

The Cordial Recipe

This makes around three litres of cordial. You will need:

• About 25 large elderflower heads, lightly shaken (not washed unless dusty — washing strips the pollen that carries the flavour)
• 1.5kg white granulated sugar
• 2 litres water
• 2 unwaxed lemons, zest pared in strips and juice reserved
• 50g citric acid, available from pharmacies and home-brew shops

Bring the water and sugar to the boil in a large pan, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Take it off the heat and let it cool until just warm — pouring boiling syrup over the flowers cooks away the delicate aroma. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, citric acid and the flowerheads, pushing them under the surface. Cover with a clean cloth and leave in a cool place for 24 to 48 hours, stirring twice a day. The longer you leave it, the deeper the flavour, but beyond two days it can turn bitter and start to ferment.

Straining, Bottling and Storing

Line a colander with a double layer of muslin or a clean tea towel and set it over a large bowl. Ladle in the flowers and syrup and let it drip through undisturbed — squeezing makes the cordial cloudy. Strain the finished liquid a second time through fresh muslin for a sparkling-clear result.

Funnel into sterilised bottles. The citric acid helps preserve it, but this is still a fresh product: keep bottles in the fridge for two to three weeks, or decant into plastic bottles with a little headspace and freeze for up to a year. A splash in sparkling water, over ice with mint, a slice of cucumber or a squeeze of lime, is the classic serve. It also lifts gin, prosecco, fruit salads, gooseberry fool and elderflower drizzle cake.

Beyond Cordial — and a Word on Elderberries

If you fancy something fizzing, elderflower champagne uses the flowers' natural yeasts. Ferment in swing-top bottles, but release the pressure daily for the first week and store them somewhere cool and out of the way — the results can be lively. Elderflower fritters, dipped in a light batter and fried, make a lovely pudding, and the flowers can be dried for winter teas.

Come September, the same bushes offer berries. Never eat them raw — they must be cooked, and the stalks removed, to avoid stomach upsets. Leave at least half for the birds. Harvest thoughtfully now, and the hedge will reward you again next summer.