I missed my opportunity to make elderflower cordial last year, using the first crop of flowers to make gin instead (priorities). So, this year I kept an eye on the flowers and picked them as soon as enough had bloomed.


It was a few weeks ago now, I used this recipe, chosen because it didn't require a trip to the shop to purchase citric acid. The acid acts as a preservative but I figured it wouldn't last long anyway because I'd gobble it all up pretty quickly.


The instructions say to shake the flowers to remove any bugs, I had a look and thought 'I can't see any', but I went ahead and did it anyway. I'm really glad I did, don't be tempted to skip this step!

Reading the post I was very intrigued to learn that you could make elderflower cream.  I rather liked the sound of that.

'Make elderflower cream by adding a few tablespoons of elderflower cordial and a sprinkling of icing sugar when whipping cream. This livens up any recipe using cream – especially trifles, pavlovas and Eton mess.'

I immediately added cream to my grocery list, along with strawberries and raspberries. I had some meringues left over from making Banoffee Mess the weekend before, so it was the perfect excuse for an Eton Mess.


I made an 'Eton Tidy' as I couldn't be bothered to break up the meringues, I just wanted to get it in my face as soon as possible.

How did it taste? Wonderful! Especially when I remembered that I also had some left-over salted caramel sauce and chopped pecans too. The elderflower added a subtle, delicate flavour to the cream that was really pleasant, and it tasted lovely with the soft fruit.

We rarely have a dessert at home, serving one only when we have guests. It felt wonderfully extravagant, even though we were only having left-overs (lasagna - which always tastes better the next day, don't you think?)

Mostly I've been adding the cordial to sparkling water with lots of ice, but it's also lovely added to a G&T or Prosecco. I added a tablespoon to a cup of green tea yesterday and that was lovely too.


It's nearly all gone now, I knew it wouldn't last long. I wish I'd made more.


The recipe called for lemons and I decided to plant a few pips to see if I can grow a lemon tree, I planted three just in case. If it's successful (I'm still waiting for a shoots to emerge) it'll be another thing ticked off my Day Zero list.

Do you forage?