How to make elderflower cordial

I have a complicated relationship with elderflower cordial. I love taking ingredients that have short seasons, preserving and squirrelling them away for future enjoyment. And I’m cheap, so the fact that the main component comes from the hedgerow is appealing. And it’s fun! It is a little like making a potion, dunking whole heads of flowers into an enormous pan and then leaving it to steep for days, before bottling it. Magical. But the truth is, I really don’t like drinking the cordial. It is too floral, too perfumed, too green. It’s just not for me.

Regardless, when the tiny white flowers bloom and the hedgerows are fragrant with their distinctive scent, I go picking, because I love elderflower when it is used as an ingredient in sweet dishes – and the best way to deliver that distinctive flavour is through cordial. So each year, I make the cordial, partly because those I love love it, and partly because a generous slosh can transform any number of dishes, diffused through fruit or sponge or cream.

Elderflowers start to appear in our woodlands, hedgerows and on river banks in late May, where they will bloom until mid-June. They are best picked on a dry, sunny day. Stay away from main roads where the flowers will absorb the traffic fumes, and pick the higher-up flowers to avoid those against which dogs or foxes have relieved themselves (though if the flowers smell of pee, it is more likely because they’re past their best, rather than anything more nefarious).

To make the cordial, you plunge the heads of the elderflowers into a simple syrup, along with a handful of lemon slices and some citric acid, and leave it to steep for a couple of days before straining.