Holunderblütensirup

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large ceramic or glass bowl (5-liter capacity)
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Muslin cloth or cheesecloth
• •Clean glass bottles with tight-fitting lids (2-3 bottles, 750ml each)
• •Large pot for dissolving sugar

Instructions

1. 1

   Pick and prepare the blossoms

   Pick your elderflower heads on a dry, sunny morning after the dew has burned off. This matters. Rain-soaked blossoms have lost half their pollen and fragrance to the water, and damp flowers can introduce mold during the steep. Choose heads that are fully open, creamy white, and fragrant. If they smell musty or look brown at the edges, leave them. Give each head a gentle shake to dislodge any insects, but do not wash them. The pollen coating those tiny flowers is where most of the flavor lives. Snip away the thick green stems, leaving just the delicate flower clusters. A little stem is fine. A lot of stem makes the syrup bitter.

   Pick from trees away from busy roads. Elderflowers grow everywhere, in hedgerows, parks, along rivers. Look for trees above head height where the air is cleaner and dogs haven't visited.
2. 2

   Make the sugar syrup

   Bring the 1.5 liters of water to a boil in a large pot. Remove it from the heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves completely. This takes a minute or two of steady stirring. The liquid should be perfectly clear, no grains settling at the bottom. Stir in the citric acid. Let the syrup cool to room temperature. This is not a step you can rush. If you pour hot syrup over the blossoms, you'll cook the fragrance right out of them and end up with sweet lemon water instead of Holunderblütensirup.

3. 3

   Combine and steep

   Place the elderflower heads in a large, clean bowl or pot. A ceramic or glass vessel is best because plastic can absorb the fragrance and metal can react with the citric acid. Slice the lemons into rounds, about half a centimeter thick, and tuck them among the blossoms. Pour the cooled sugar syrup over everything. The blossoms will float. Press them down gently with a clean spoon so they're mostly submerged, then cover the bowl tightly with cling film or a clean tea towel.

   Use unwaxed, organic lemons if you can find them. The slices steep in the syrup for days, peel and all, and you don't want pesticide residue or commercial wax leaching into your syrup.
4. 4

   Wait three days

   Leave the bowl in a cool spot, not the fridge, for two to three days. Once a day, lift the cover and stir gently. You'll watch the syrup transform. By day two, the liquid turns from clear to a pale gold with a floral perfume so strong you can smell it from across the kitchen. By day three, the color deepens and the elderflower fragrance has fully infused the syrup. Taste it. It should be intensely floral, sweet, with a clean citrus edge from the lemon and acid. If it tastes faintly green or grassy, give it one more day.

   Gretel always said three days, never less. Two days gives you a pretty syrup. Three days gives you a proper one.
5. 5

   Strain and bottle

   Line a fine-mesh sieve with a clean muslin cloth or several layers of cheesecloth and set it over a large jug or pot. Pour the syrup through slowly. Don't press the blossoms or squeeze the cloth. Let gravity do the work. Pressing forces tiny particles and bitter compounds through and clouds the syrup. You want it clear and golden, like late afternoon light through a window. This draining takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Be patient.

6. 6

   Bottle and store

   Pour the strained syrup into clean glass bottles or jars. Sterilize them first by running them through a hot dishwasher cycle or placing them in a 120°C oven for ten minutes. Seal tightly. The syrup keeps in the fridge for two to three months, longer if your bottles were properly sterilized and you kept everything clean during the steep. For longer storage, pour the hot syrup (reheat gently to just below a simmer) into sterilized bottles and seal immediately. These will keep in a cool, dark cupboard for up to a year.

Chef Tips

• •Timing is everything with Holunderblüten. The season is late May to mid-June in most of Central Europe, sometimes earlier in warmer years. Once the blossoms start turning brown and dropping their petals, you've missed your window. Plan ahead and pick the day you see them open.
• •The ratio of sugar to water is deliberately high. This is a syrup, not a drink. You dilute it later. One part syrup to four or five parts cold soda water makes a perfect Holunderblütensaft. With Prosecco and fresh mint, it becomes a Hugo.
• •Citric acid is sold as Zitronensäure in Austrian and German supermarkets, and you can find it in most pharmacies or baking supply shops worldwide. Don't substitute lemon juice for the citric acid. The juice adds flavor, which is fine, but it doesn't preserve the syrup the same way. You need both.
• •If you can't find elder trees near you, don't buy dried elderflowers and expect the same result. Dried blossoms have lost the pollen and volatile oils that make this syrup what it is. Fresh is the only way. This is a seasonal recipe and that's part of what makes it honest.

Advance Preparation

• •The syrup needs two to three days of steeping before it's ready to strain. Plan your picking day accordingly.
• •Once bottled and refrigerated, the syrup keeps for two to three months. For pantry storage up to a year, use the hot-fill method described in the final step.
• •Freeze the syrup in ice cube trays if you've made a large batch. Frozen elderflower syrup cubes dropped into sparkling water make the fastest summer drink in Austria.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 40g)