Well, its just as well I picked all my elderflowers before the rain set in. I managed to get the Champagne bottled and its now sitting in the garage getting fizzy.
I made this last year for the first time and art was a great success. I doubled ups the recipe as we were having a family party. It went down well.
Heres the recipe – its a Women’s Institute recipe which I got from a google search. I used some of the last Spanish lemons which I had in the freezer.
Ingredients
25-30 elderflower heads in full bloom
2kg white sugar
2 litres water
4 lemons – juice and zest
1-2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
Pinch of dried yeast
Method
Boil the water and put onto the sugar in a large bowl or bucket (sterilised)
Stir until the sugar dissolves and then make up to 6 litres with cold water.
Add the lemon juice and zest, the flowerhead and stir gently.
Cover and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days.
After a couple of days – check to see if it fermenting – if not add pinch of dried yeast.
Leave to ferment for a further 4 days.Strain the liquid through a muslin lined sieve.
Pour into sterilised bottles – the ones with a glass and rubber seal.
Seal and leave to ferment for at leats a further 8 days before serving chilled. Make sure you doing fill to the top, to allow the gas to expand.
I found that it kept to August last year. It may of kept longer but it got shared and drunk!
The champagne is really fragrant and makes a lovely summer drink.
Leave a Reply