One of the great things about living in the countryside is that we have lots of opportunity to go foraging. And, early Summer is a great time to go.
Not only is it a brilliant way to cut down on food packaging and unnecessary plastic waste it’s also great for getting outside more.
The Woodland Trust has a great month by month Essential Foraging Guide which tells you what’s in season each month. June is the perfect time to forage for nettles, dandelions, wild garlic; and my favourite elderflowers.
Elder has so many uses from making cordials, jellies and of course a drop of Elderflower Fizz.
Elderflower Fizz
Elderflower Fizz is a lovely bubbly refreshing drink with a light summery taste and is slightly alcoholic due to the fermentation. If you want a non-alcoholic elderflower drink then you can also make a cordial from the flowers.
When you’re picking the elderflowers remenber to leave some fon the trees so you can forage for berries in the Autumn to make Elderberry syrup which is great for coughs and colds.
Here’s my recipe for Elderflower Fizz.
What You need:
- 800g Castor sugar
- 8 to 10 elderflower heads
- Zest and juice of 4 lemons
- ½ tsp yeast nutrient
- 5g sachet Champagne yeast (optional)
How To:
- Shake the elderflower heads to remove any insects
- Dissolve sugar in 2 litres hot water,then add 3 litres cold water. Allow to cool.
- Add the elderflower heads / florets, lemon zest and juice and the yeast nutrient.
- Add yeast if using
- Cover and leave to ferment.
- If it hasn’t started fermenting after 3 days add yeast.
- Leave for 7 days, strain through cotton muslin
- Allow to settle then bottle in glass bottles with flip lids
- Leave for a week before drinking
- It can get quite lively in the bottles so you can release a little pressure by lifting the lid off and then resealing
- Be careful when opening the bottles
Happy foraging.
