Homemade Elderberry Cordial/Hyldebærsaft

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup ripe elderberries
2. 1 apple (optional)
3. 1 cup sugar or honey
4. 1 cup water
5. 1 organic lemon in sliced
6. 1 tsp citric acid (50g) (optional) ("Citronsyre" in Danish)

Directions:
1. Pick elderberries away from traffic pollution. Remove stems and and the unripe berries. Rinse to wash away the dust and any insects.

2. Add elderberries, apples, lemon, sugar and water just enough to cover the elderberries in a pot and bring to boil for 5 minutes.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes under lower heat.

4. Discard the apple and lemon slices.

5. Use a sieve over a large bowl and strain the berry liquid.

6. Mash the berries to get all the juice out.

7. Fill the elderberry cordial into bottles using a funnel. 

8. The cordial is ready for use - dilute with water, fizzy water or wine (for adults). You can add ice-cubes as desired.

9. You can also eat the sweeten cooked berries left in the pot as elderberries porridge. It is quite tasty and contains a lot of fibre.

Video Demonstration:

https://youtu.be/Fxbw7W8g5ho

https://youtu.be/hSiq2zwK93o

https://youtu.be/PMqbS40m45E

Storage:

1. Store bottles in the fridge. It can last for 30-40 days.

2. You can also freeze it down in the freezer in ice-cube trays or containers.

Uses:
1. Also delicious in vinaigrette - mix with wine vinegar, a touch of mustard, salt, pepper and a light olive oil, and pour over a salad of courgette, lettuce and broad beans.

2. You can also freeze them as homemade Popsicle for the children without diluting them.

It is a good idea to wear dark color, when making elderberry cordial, as the deep purple color stain very easily.

Tips:
You can also add some ginger slices, a couple of cinnamon sticks and/or thyme for flavor and health benefits.

Additional Information:
We picked elderflowers in June to make elderflower cordial. Our Little FECS is looking forward to pick some elderberries to make elderberry cordial this September, but I am not sure if I would be able to make it, as I am about to start work full-time...

Then today at the Kildeskovshallen, where our Little FECS goes for his swimming class, we discovered to our delight that there is a row of elderberry bushes right just in front of our eyes!!! We noticed that many of the elderberries are even ripe for picking. Wow, praise the LORD!!!

We just had to pick some on our way home. Some were too high up, and beyong our reach. But we managed to pick a handful.

Uncooked elderberries are toxic, so don't eat them without boiling it. Also the stem, leaves and unripe green elderberries are considered toxic. So sort them out and only use the purple ripe elderberries to make elderberry cordial.

It is actually not really necessary to add citric acid. If you put in the fridge, because of the high sugar content, it will keep for many weeks.

As we only collected a handful of elderberries today, we only made a small portion today. But it still tasted very good. If you gathered a lot of elderberries, here is a recipe for a larger portion:

1. 1 kg elderberries
2. 1 apple (optional)
3. 1 kg sugar or honey
4. 1 litre water
5. 1 large organic lemon in sliced
6. 1 TBS citric acid (50g) (optional) ("Citronsyre" in Danish)

It is a good idea to wear dark color, when making elderberry cordial, as the deep purple color stain very easily.

References:
https://suzanneaskham.com/2013/09/15/recipe-elderberry-cordial/
http://blog.ingredientmatcher.com/recipe-swedish-elderberry-cordial-syrup/
http://www.vintageamanda.com/2010/09/get-an-early-start-on-warming-winter-drinks-elderberry-cordial/
http://www.spisbedre.dk/broed/morgenmad-og-brunch/hyldebaersaft-en-nem-opskrift
http://www.louisesmadblog.dk/hyldebaersaft/
http://www.skoven-i-skolen.dk/content/hyldeb%C3%A6r-saft
http://www.sundhedslex.dk/hyldebaer.htm

We picked elderflowers in June to make elderflower cordial. Our Little FECS is looking forward to pick some elderberries to make elderberry cordial this September, but I am not sure if I would be able to make it, as I am about to start work full-time...

Then today at the Kildeskovshallen, where our Little FECS goes for his swimming class, we discovered to our delight that there is a row of elderberry bushes!!! 

We noticed that many of the elderberries are even ripe for picking. We just had to pick some on our way home. 

We just had to pick some on our way home. Some were too high up, and beyond our reach. But we managed to pick a handful.

 Ripe elderberries close-up. Uncooked elderberries are toxic, so don't eat them without boiling it. Also the stem, leaves and unripe green elderberries are considered toxic. So sort them out and only use the purple ripe elderberries to make elderberry cordial.

 We managed to pick a handful

 Our Little FECS removing the elderberries from their stems

 Our Little FECS sorting out the green unripe elderberries

 Here is how they look like after sorting

We rinsed and drained them under water to wash away the dust 

 Add the ripe elderberries, apples and lemons into a pot

  Add the ripe elderberries, apples and lemons into a pot and cover it just with enough water

 Cover and bring to boil

Add sugar (we forgot to add in sugar earlier, but it can be added at any stage in the cooking)

 Let it boil for 5 minutes

Lower heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes (min 20 mins in order to remove the toxic from the elderberries)

Remove the apple and lemon slices.

Use a sieve over a large bowl and strain the berry liquid.

Mash the berries to get all the juice out.

Here are the elderberry cordial separated from the pulp

Fill the elderberry cordial into bottles using a funnel. 

We managed to fill half a bottle. The cordial is ready for use - dilute with water, fizzy water or wine (for adults). You can add ice-cubes as desired.

Don't throw away the mashed elderberries. You can eat it as sweet elderberry porridge, add it to your yogurt or salad, and it tastes delicious. It is also very nutritious and full of fibre (except for the amount of sugar that is cooked in it!!)