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A gift from the gods: my mother (by the name of Frances Clare Johnson) has given me her elderflower cordial recipe. It is the best I have tasted as it is not too sweet as they often are, not too sour and tastes powerfully of elderflower. Apparently it is essential to pick the flowers when the sun is out to have their flavour at its peak, which is wonderfully mystical.
Ingredients
At least 60 elderflower heads (picked in the sunshine!)
5oz (142 grams) citric acid (sold in chemists in 50g packets)
4 lemons, thinly sliced
5 pints (2.85 litres) boiled water
4lbs sugar (1.8kg)
A clean bucket with a lid.
How to make:
Put the elderflowers in the bucket with the sliced lemons.
Dissolve the sugar in the boiled water and mix in the citric acid. When cool, pour into the bucket and stir.
Stir every day for 5-6 days and then strain and bottle or, better still, pour into jam jars and freeze.
Serving
To use from frozen, scoop out a dessertspoonful into a tumbler and add fizzy water.
Dinner Document 