How to Make Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower cordial makes a refreshing summer drink when added to soda water. Today I’m sharing how to make elderflower cordial.

If you can’t wait, skip right to the recipe at the bottom of the post.

Jump to Recipe

Happy 4th of July, friends! As with everything this year, this holiday isn’t feeling quite the same, but Luke’s taken a few days off and we’ll be relaxing in the yard, at the beach, and in the pool with our kids.

As many of you know my hubby is English and we’ve planted a few traditional English plants in our garden – we have gooseberries and elderflowers growing.

We planted this bush a few years ago, and this year we had enough flowers to harvest to make cordial. Conor, our youngest, helped me harvest the flowers.

It’s recommended to pick the flowers while the sun is shining.

Conor enjoys cooking and was really excited to help.

Elderflower cordial is a traditional English recipe and was popular as a refreshing tipple in Victorian times. I used the recipe from BBC Good Food to make our Elderflower cordial.

How to Make Elderflower Cordial

Ingredients

• 2½ kilograms white sugar, either granulated or caster
• 2 unwaxed lemons
• 20 fresh elderflower heads, stalks trimmed
• 85 grams citric acid (I found it at our local hardware store in Scituate Harbor)

Method

1. Put the sugar and 1.5 litres/2¾ pints water into the largest saucepan you have. Gently heat, without boiling, until the sugar has dissolved. Give it a stir every now and again. Pare the zest from the lemons using a potato peeler, then slice the lemons into rounds.
2. Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the pan of syrup to the boil, then turn off the heat. Fill a washing up bowl with cold water. Give the flowers a gentle swish around to loosen any dirt or bugs. Lift flowers out, gently shake and transfer to the syrup along with the lemons, zest and citric acid, then stir well. Cover the pan and leave to infuse for 24 hrs.
3. Line a colander with a clean tea towel, then sit it over a large bowl or pan. Ladle in the syrup – let it drip slowly through. Discard the bits left in the towel. Use a funnel and a ladle to fill sterilized bottles (run glass bottles through the dishwasher, or wash well with soapy water. Rinse, then leave to dry in a low oven). The cordial is ready to drink straight away and will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks. Or freeze it in plastic containers or ice cube trays and defrost as needed.

Special Tip – This recipe calls for a lot of sugar. Make sure you have enough on hand before starting. Also, we found that straining the mixture took almost the whole day. The cordial is so flavorful that it’s worth the effort but know there’s some time involved.

How to Use Elder Flower Cordial

There are so many uses for this cordial, but our favorite way is in drinks. Make Elderflower Presse by filling a glass with ice and mix 1 part of the cordial with 4 parts soda water (or to taste). Mix and add a slice of lemon.

It’s so refreshing and fragrant.

Perfect to sip in the adirondacks by the pool.

Ways to Use Elder Flower Cordial

• If you want to make alcoholic drinks, you can add sparkling wine or prosecco to the cordial / elderflower mixture.
• Elderflower cordial is also lovely over vanilla ice cream or mixed with plain yogurt.
• Drizzle over pancakes and waffles.

I hope you give this a try. We’re looking forward to enjoying our elderflower cordial all summer long.

I’m sharing this recipe as part of the cozy living series hosted by my friend Jennifer over at Town & Country Living.

Be sure to check out more cozy ideas by my friends below:

Creative Cain Cabin / Hymns and Verses / It All Started with Paint

Finding Silver Pennies / Town and Country Living