elderflower vinegar

it’s elderflower season and for once i have managed to get myself organised enough to forage some flowers. deciding what to do with them was the next step – elderflower cordial and elderflower fritters were the two most obvious ideas but then i remembered diana henry’s salt, sugar, smoke which is full of wonderful ideas for preserving foods.

i settled on elderflower vinegar, which she describes as exquisite, and which i’ve never seen available on shops. it was also easy to pull together after a long day out when i didn’t actually want anything to eat there and then (using the flowers while they are still very fresh is a piece of advice that every recipe i have seen states - six hours delay is the maximum they can cope with).

it was easy enough to make – the cleaned flower heads(i shook and then washed mine and then picked through to remove any remaining lurking bugs) are put in a jar and then topped with white wine vinegar before sealing. apparently after 3 weeks in a dark place this will be ready to strain and use. i will report back.

in the meantime i will be tracking down more flowers as i have a fancy for a strawberry and elderflower soft-set jam. and maybe a gooseberry and elderflower jam, which was another recipe option in my book.