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Boozy Elderflower Cordial Recipe

This boozy elderflower cordial is smooth and mellow, and is the perfect taste of summer all year round. Serve with tonic or soda water, or lemonade, or serve straight up over ice.
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Ingredients

  • 1 1-litre capacity jar cleaned and sterilised
  • 15 elderflower heads see above for how to identify and pick elderflowers
  • 1 litre of cheap generic vodka
  • 1 large, unwaxed lemon organic if possible
  • 5 tablespoons of sugar

Instructions

  • Dip your elderflowers in water and give them a good shake to dry. Peel your lemon, and keep the peel to the side.
  • Next add your flowers to a sterilised jar, adding the lemon peel as you go so it’s evenly distributed in the jar. Keep going until you've added as much elderflower as the jar will hold and all of the lemon peel.
  • Add your sugar, about 5 mls of juice from your lemon, and pour in the vodka until you’ve completely submerged all of the elderflowers. You may have some leftover - keep that for later. Screw the lid on and give the jar a good shake.
  • Leave for four weeks in a cool dark place, shaking occasionally to mix the sugar in.
  • During the four weeks, occasionally open your jar to check that the vodka is still covering the elderflowers. Otherwise the top ones might go a bit brown and make it taste a bit bitter. If this happens, remove the brown flowers and top the jar up with more vodka.
  • Once your four weeks are up, sieve your mix to remove the flowers and lemon peel, and decant your flavoured vodka into a sterilised bottle or jar.