Holunderblütensirup

Holunderblütensirup (elderflower syrup) is a syrup of many uses. In Switzerland it is added with abandon to sparking water, wine or cocktails (Hugo) for a light and floral summery taste. There is Holunderblütencreme and you can even batter and fry the blossoms.

I like a splash in my sparkling wine, so I "harvested" some from a neighbourhood tree and set to work on a little batch of the syrup.

It's surely the prettiest syrup you will ever make.

about 5 stems of elderflower

200 g sugar

200 ml water

half a lemon

Shake any bugs off the elderflower. Fill a bowl with cold water, submerge your blossoms and give them a gentle swirl in the water to clean them.

In a pot, bring the sugar and water to a boil.

Remove some of the lemon peel with a vegetable peeler, and cut the rest into slices.

Add the lemon and the elderflower (flower first, stems sticking up) to the sugar and then cover.

Let sit for 24 hours.

Line a strainer with cheese cloth and set it over a bowl. Pour the syrup through.

Rinse out a small glass jar or bottle with boiling water, then funnel the syrup into this container.

This is a small recipe that makes about 300 ml of syrup. It's enough for a couple rounds of elderflower cocktails and should be used within a few days and kept in the fridge. If you want to make more and keep it longer (for at least six months), add a teaspoon of citric acid to the sugar syrup (you can usually buy this at the drugstore) and use properly sterilised bottles and jars (you can do this by boiling them in water, running through the dishwasher, or putting clean jars in a 150 C / 300 F oven for 15 minutes). Once you open a bottle, it should be kept in the fridge.
When choosing blooms, look for freshly opened buds. Try to make the syrup shortly after picking the flowers.