Cover with boiling water (I boil my water in a kettle and then place my plastic bowl directly on a scales, making sure they are set to zero and pour out the 650ml of boiling water) This depends on how you’ve made it and how well you’ve managed to preserve it. It’s important that you use a sterilised glass bottles and seal the bottles (or close) straightaway. When syrup completely cooled, combine it in a bowl or in a jar with elderflower blossoms, lemon slices and ginger and leave it in the fridge for 48 hours. Every day stir the syrup. Elder grows all over the northern hemisphere and many countries use the berries but the flowers seem less popular. Elderflower cordial is a traditional favourite in the British Isles, however, and especially in England. So enjoy a little taste of an English summer, wherever you are!

Lemons. Make sure you are using organic and unwaxed lemons. You will need both the peel and the juice. Some recipes advice using whole sliced lemons but I find that using lemon peel and then juicing is better as you get more lemon flavor, more tang and no bitterness from the white parts of the lemon. Our kids love it. Combined with sparkling water and a few slices of lemon, this is a great-tasting drink to go with a summery meal time – al fresco style! STEP 6 - Fill the cordial into clean, sterilised bottles while still hot. Enjoy your homemade cordial with sparkling water for a refreshing summer drink. Preserving and storage tips Fizzy sugary drinks provide little else apart from a lot of sugar, so only use these to treat hypos. Otherwise, choose sugar-free alternatives Combine low carb sweetener, water and citric acid in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring until sweetener and citric acid are completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and leave it to completely cool to room temperature.No, you don't have to reduce the syrup but I prefer to do that by boiling to just about half of its original volume. It's easier to store and the flavor is more concentrated. Instead of light yellow, the color is dark golden. It is easy to confuse citric acid with ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which can be used in the kitchen to help raise bread. However, this isn’t what you need for this recipe. Citric acid is available online, from health food shops, and from pharmacies. Be prepared to explain why you need it! Don’t buy anything sold as an ingredient for bath bombs, as it may not be edible. You can usually buy citric acid in a health shops, specialist food shops, pharmacies or places where they sell stuff for making wine or beer. It usually comes in small container and costs no more than a few pounds (or dollars). It is really simple to make elderflower cordial but if you’ve been looking around for recipes you might have found that most contain citric acid?

Strain the flower-infused liquid through muslin or tea towel, gently squeezing it to extract all the juice. Measure the amount of juice. The final boiling step sterilises the cordial by killing off any wild yeasts, bacteria or spores that will cause it to spoil. As Richard Mabey points out in his superlative book Flora Britannica , this is a plant of contradictions. The flat-topped sprays of creamy white flowers have a heady fragrance; distinctly musky and sweet. The young leaves, by contrast, smell pretty bad. It’s one of the few seedlings that rabbits seem to have no interest in nibbling, and bunches of foliage were once tied to the harnesses of working horses to ward off flies. I’d also recommend elderflower fritters. Try making this super easy tempura batter to deep-fry the heads for a gorgeous dessert, served with lemon and a little sugar. Sorbet is another winner. Simply make this lemon sorbet and add four tablespoons of elderflower cordial for a refreshing twist. Elderflower and gooseberries make a wonderful pairing of flavours and this jam is an excellent choice to layer on a piece of toast or hand out as edible gifts. Pour into sterilised glass bottles and store in the fridge – best consumed within a couple of weeks.Step five – Sterilize glass bottles by placing them in the oven and switching it on, set to 150°C / 300°F / GM 2. Allow the oven to come to temperature and then switch off, and let the bottles cool.