Homemade elderflower syrup recipe

I walked under those fragrant flowers for years before discovering they were elderflowers and that I could use them in cooking.

Every year since then, I have used the flowers to make a few bottles of elderberry syrup, which I then use as a base to create simple thirst-quenching drinks or the famous Hugo cocktail.

But the syrup is also great as an ingredient to add to the dough of some desserts, especially apple pie or desserts with strawberries.

Some things you should know about elderberry plant

The tree is native to the Caucasus and Europe. It lives in sunny but also humid areas. Its roots reach great depths. For that reason, it is a very hardy tree.

There are two different species of elderberry plants.

The species with edible flowers and fruit is called Sambucus Nigra. The toxic one-mostly the fruits-is Sambucus Ebulus, also known as wild elderberry.

Elderberry flowers are white with shades tending to yellow, while those of Ebbio are pink/purple. The fruits, small dark purple-colored berries, are clustered. The first elderberry plant falls downward, while the second one they face upward.

May is the month of the so-called white flowers. The flowers are small and fragrant, and when they seem like large, scented umbrellas, you know it is harvest time.

Legends about the elderberry

Elderberry is a medicinal plant known and used since ancient times.

Romans were the first to use berries as food, although the use of the flowers to flavor vinegar, white wine (called muscatel), and jellies is from later times.

If Rowling chose elderberry wood for her Harry Potter wand, it’s no accident! The history of this plant is a constant reference to magic.

In medieval times, Britains thought a witch a witch turned herself into an elderberry. Again, German folklore told that a fairy lived in the elderberry tree.

In Italy, people believed the elderberry attracts good spirits and keeps snakes away. For this reason, even today, besides old country houses, it is possible to find a surviving solitary elderberry tree.

It blooms in the plains after mid-May and in early June in the mountains.
A walk in the countryside, away from polluted roads, is ideal for picking these flowers. Berries are born after flowering and harvested in August (excellent for making jams).

The use of flowers is widespread, or perhaps we should say it was, in many parts of Italy.
Today this culture deserves to be recovered more widely.
In Italy, for some time now, you can also find them at farmers’ markets.

Traditional Italian recipes with elderflowers

In Sicily, you make a fragrant bread with a handful of elderflowers; in some parts of Tuscany, you make schiacciata; in Lombardy, there is a cake from cucina povera known as pan mejno. In northern Italy, you can eat fried elderflower umbrellas. My mother remembers that also at home, in Romagna, her family made fried elderflowers.

The elderflower infusion is the most common use, especially in the Dolomite areas. It often generated confusion. Many people think the elderberry syrup is typical only of the Dolomite mountains, while Sicilian and Tuscan recipes tell how it was widespread throughout Italy.

I questioned friends and their grandmothers to know local and typical recipes with elderflowers. The aspect that struck me most was the use of syrup to flavor homemade gazzosa. The Gazzosa is a traditional and classic Italian soft drink, little known outside Italy. To make gazzosa, mix the infusion of lemon juice (or elderflowers syrup) and sparkling water.

Before the recipe to make elderflower syrup, I leave you with some ideas for using it.

Buona cucina, Monica

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Some tips how to use elderflower syrup

Soft drinks

Per glass: dilute one or two tablespoons of syrup in water, carbonated or natural, and add a slice of lemon. I often add natural pineapple juice.

Sorbet

Add some drops of elderflower syrup to flavor sorbet or ice-cream.

Elderflower beer

Add a few tablespoons of syrup and water to a light, clear beer (which even children once drank and amen).

Gazzosa of Bologna

Long ago, Cavalier Gazzoni of Bologna invented Hydrolitin. It was a powder which, added to water, made it effervescent. With a little elderberry syrup tablespoons, you will make homemade gazzosa.

Hugo, the aperitif

The most famous Italian aperitivo is the Spritz, but for the past few years, Hugo has also been very popular. It is a slightly alcoholic cocktail. Prosecco, seltzer (or sparkling water), elderberry syrup, and mint leaves are all you need to make a Hugo.

Elderflower Syrup Recipe

for 2 liter elderflower syrup
Ingredients

2 l water
700 g sugar
3 organic lemons
2 cups of elderflowers, about 100 g
two large mason jars, 1 fine sieve, 1 funnel

Method

Combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring, to make a simple syrup.

Remove from heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature before proceeding, as putting the flowers in hot syrup will ruin the flavor.

In the meanwhile, remove the flowers from the stems; the stems have a bitter flavor so do your best to keep them to a minimum.

Clean flowers gently under the water removing bugs and dirt.

Divide the flowers between the two mason jars and add the flowers to the jars.

Cut two lemons in thin slices and divide the lemon slices equally between the two large mason jars.

Squeeze 1 lemon and divide in half the juice. Set aside.

Divide the cool syrup between the two jars and pour the syrup over the lemons and flowers.  Add in both lemon juice. Cover with a clean cloth or a top and leave to macerate for 3 days in your refrigerator.

Remove the syrup from your refrigerator and pour it through a fine sieve to remove the flowers and lemon slices.

Strain through a sieve, fill bottles, and store in a cool, dry place.

Many recipes indicate also adding apple cider vinegar or citric acid. I prefer to use just the lemon, sliced and squeezed, and make new bottles every year.

Some people recommend boiling bottles of syrup to make a vacuum.
But, again, if you intend to drink it throughout the summer, it is unnecessary work.

The syrup will keep for a few months.