22 juni 2008

Elder champagne

The Elder bush is lovely this year. Lots of beautiful flowering sprays...
Early this morning I went out to collect some sprays for my Elder 'champagne'.



Would you like to try the recipe? In that case, this is what you need:

2 very lage sprays of Elder (N B do not rinse them in water)
1 lemon
2 tablespoon of applecider vinegar
4 1/2 litre of water
0.8 liter of castor sugar

Clean the lemon and squeeze out the juice. Divide the lemon peel into 4 pieces.

Put all ingredients into a big bowl. Stir and put a towel over the bowl.

Stir now and then and leave it in the bowl for approximately 24 hours.

Strain off the liquid and pour it into cleansed bottles. Do not fill the bottles all the way up, since the pressure will be high. Put the corks on tightly.

Store the champagne in a cool place for at least three weeks. Chill it before you drink it!

I hope you'll enjoy it! /Katarina

5 kommentarer :

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens sa...

This is a beautiful spray of elder blossoms. I have copied your recipe, as my elder is also blooming. The elders in the subtropics flower well, but still not as strongly as yours. The elderberries are scarce. I have made jelly but it also tastes a little different from the ones grown in the cool climate.

Niels Plougmann sa...

I love the scent of elder flowers these midsummer nights! I also make elder flower drink, but have never tried making Elder 'Champagne'. Does it sparkle? Must be the vinegar? I use At least 20 big sprays so I think my drink becomes more concentrated. Thank you for your nice comment on my blog today. Hope you have a nice week!

Katarina sa...

Niels - the 'champagne' does sparkle! As you say, it's probably the vinegar that does the trick!

regards, Katarina

lareine sa...

we have this plant in our garden and i didn't know i could make a "champagne" out of the sprays/flowers.... thanks for the info/recipe :)... right now, the sprays are already wilted but i'll keep the recipe for next year:)...

joey sa...

This recipe looks intriquing, Katarina. Wish I had an elder bush! Happy summer ;)