Name: Elderflower, lemon & vanilla cordial
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: Makes 1 litre
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1kg caster sugar; 2 unwaxed organic lemons halved, plus a strip of peel; 1 vanilla pod seeds reserved; 1 tbsp citric acid powder or vitamin C powder; about 40 fresh elderflowers shaken free of bugs, lightly rinsed

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Elderflower, lemon & vanilla cordial

Elderflower, lemon & vanilla cordial

Good Food team

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Makes 1 litre

Easy

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 40 mins

Plus steeping

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A refreshing floral concentrate to dilute with water as a drink or use in creamy light desserts like fools and syllabubs

Dairy-free

Egg-free

Vegan

Vegetarian

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Pink lemonade

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

1kg caster sugar
2 unwaxed organic lemons

halved, plus a strip of peel
1 vanilla pod

seeds reserved
1 tbsp citric acid

powder or vitamin C powder
about 40 fresh elderflowers

shaken free of bugs, lightly rinsed

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Nutrition: per serving (100ml of diluted cordial)

kcal67
fat0g
saturates0g
carbs17g
sugars17g
fibre0g
protein0g
salt0g

low

Method

step 1

Fill a large pan with 2 litres water. Add the sugar, lemons, vanilla pod and powder, and bring slowly to the boil. Boil rapidly until the mixture has reduced by half, then remove from the heat.
step 2

Add the elderflowers to the pan and stir gently. Leave to cool completely, then pass through a sieve lined with muslin into another clean pan. Whisk in the vanilla seeds and store the cordial in sterilised bottles with a strip of peel and the vanilla pod added (see tips below). To make a refreshing drink, use 1 part cordial to 5 parts iced water.

RECIPE TIPS

CITRIC ACID/ VITAMIN C POWDER

These can be bought from chemists and health food shops.

STORAGE

You can keep the cordial in sterilised bottles in a cool, dark place for two months or in the fridge for six months. If you want to keep it longer, it can be frozen.

STERILISING

To sterilise the bottles, wash them in hot soapy water, rinse, then place on a baking sheet in a low oven to dry completely.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2012

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