Holunderblütensirup (elderflower syrup)

Method

1. Shake the elderflower heads gently to remove insects, without washing them under water. Trim off the thick stems.
2. Combine the elderflowers, water, sliced lemons and citric acid if using in a large pot or bucket. Cover and let steep at room temperature for 3 full days, stirring once a day.
3. Strain through a fine cloth into a clean pot, pressing gently.
4. Bring the strained liquid to a simmer. Add the sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Pour into clean, sterilized bottles while still hot. Let cool, then store in the fridge.

Notes

• Don’t wash the flowers under running water. Elderflower’s fragrance and flavour concentrate in the fine yellow pollen dusting the petals; washing rinses much of it straight down the drain. A gentle shake to remove insects is enough.
• Give it the full 3 days of steeping, cold. Heat drives off the delicate floral aromatics almost entirely; a long, cold infusion is the only way to capture them properly.
• Add the sugar only after straining, once the flowers have already given up their flavour; boiling them with the sugar from the start doesn’t improve extraction and only shortens the steeping time.
• It keeps for several months in the fridge once bottled hot and sealed, or can be frozen in smaller portions.

Ingredient substitutions

• Citric acid helps preserve the syrup longer and adds tartness; it can be left out, with the syrup then kept refrigerated and used within a month.
• Dilute with still or sparkling water, roughly 1 part syrup to 5 parts water, to taste.
• A splash of white wine or prosecco turns this into a classic elderflower spritz.