Wonderful! My country road here in Northern California is bordered with massive elderberry bushes in full bloom at the moment. I have 5 quarts of elderflower cordial in my refrigerator made by my co-author. We're serving it, along with wine, at our book launch party. I'm going to try the fritters!
Thank you Elisabeth, as always, and hello from Northamptonshire, not far from the Belvoir Valley, where they still pay for elderflower heads: https://belvoirfarm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Elderflower-Harvest-Information-Pack.pdf. I am trying to calculate whether the £3.45 per kilo (cash, no stalks or leaves, deliver on the day of picking) is better value than the 3d a pound I got for rose hips in the postwar years (but we didn't have to rush to deliver those, we waited for the Ministry officials to visit). Our grandmothers would not have wanted us selling elderflowers back then - they sent us to pick them for their wine, cordials and salves - and always with a warning not to hurt the tree!
lovely memory, Jacky. Weighed without the stalks, it'd take a lot of blossoms to make a pound. i go the easy way n just snip the whole head off at the base. There's loads of elderflowers this year all rushing into bloom together.
Wonderful! My country road here in Northern California is bordered with massive elderberry bushes in full bloom at the moment. I have 5 quarts of elderflower cordial in my refrigerator made by my co-author. We're serving it, along with wine, at our book launch party. I'm going to try the fritters!
I make the syrup yearly. In Italy, the Hugo spritz is a summer favorite. Elder flower syrup or liqueur, Prosecco, soda, lemon slice and mint sprig.
Thank you Elisabeth, as always, and hello from Northamptonshire, not far from the Belvoir Valley, where they still pay for elderflower heads: https://belvoirfarm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Elderflower-Harvest-Information-Pack.pdf. I am trying to calculate whether the £3.45 per kilo (cash, no stalks or leaves, deliver on the day of picking) is better value than the 3d a pound I got for rose hips in the postwar years (but we didn't have to rush to deliver those, we waited for the Ministry officials to visit). Our grandmothers would not have wanted us selling elderflowers back then - they sent us to pick them for their wine, cordials and salves - and always with a warning not to hurt the tree!
Perfect- my coffee this morning will be supervising elderflower harvest for cordial!
lovely memory, Jacky. Weighed without the stalks, it'd take a lot of blossoms to make a pound. i go the easy way n just snip the whole head off at the base. There's loads of elderflowers this year all rushing into bloom together.