My cottage garden looks beautiful with the pristine charm of elderflower. Even a few days back, I was happy with the appeal of these flowers, unaware of the health benefits of elderberry, which is the yield of the plants.
Elderflower and berries are beneficial for our health in many ways. Elderberries have many antiviral properties and it is packed with vitamins A and C.
Further, elderflowers fight against allergies, respiratory problems, sinusitis, inflammation, fever, and skin problems.
Do you want to know how to use these flowers and fruits in food, drinks, and medicines? Let’s explore.
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How Do You Use Elderflower And Elderberries For Food, Tea, And Medicines?
If you love experimenting with your drinks and food, elderflower can be your favorite component. This flower is also popular for its use in many home remedies.
Here, I have curated some of the best ideas to use these pretty flowers in your food, drinks, and medicines.
1. Elderflower Tea
I hope you are familiar with elderflower tea benefits. It is one of the simplest and most effective home remedies you will come across to get rid of cold and flu.
To make elderflower tea and enjoy its health benefits, you will need to boil some water for a few minutes. Now, take a cup of elderflowers and keep them in a large bowl.
Pour the boiled water on the flowers and let them get soaked for around 5-7 minutes. That’s it!
Strain the water and add some honey to the tea to make the most refreshing drink.
2. Make Elderflower Cordial
If you love a touch of sweetness in your drink, cordial can be one of your favorite soft drinks. Did you know that cordial has its origin in Western Europe, and it has been popular since the Roman Eras?
With a distinct flavor, elderflower cordial is more than just another refreshing drink. You can use it as a syrup to improve the taste and moisture of pancakes and cakes.
How To Make Elderflower Cordial?
- Take one cup of elderflowers and boil them in water for 3-5 minutes.
- Now, strain the flowers and collect the boiled water.
- Next, add sugar to the boiled water in a 1:1 ratio. For example, if you have two cups of boiled water, you will add two cups of sugar.
- Finally, add some lemon juice (1 lemon) and some citric acid (according to the quantity of the water). If you have 1 liter of boiled water, you will need around 50g of citric acid.
The lemon juice and citric acid add the must-needed tangy taste to the cordial. These elements further make the cordial last longer.
3. Garnish Your Cake With Elderberry Flower
The quaint charm of flowers always works for garnishing cakes. Along with nasturtium, another flower I love for cake decoration is the elderflower.
Further, you can make an elderberry syrup to make a just-baked cake more flavorful. The floral syrup will also keep the cake moist.
Once the cake is baked and the icing is done, you can use elderflower for garnishing. These flowers have a neutral tone. So, based on your aesthetics, you can use it for white-on-white cake decoration or elevate the look of cakes with colorful icing.
4. Use Elderberry In Crumbles
Do you want to make the yummiest crumbles, pudding, and jam this season? You can use elderberries, which come with a rich flavor.
Especially on an autumn afternoon, food crumbles made with these berries can be like a gentle and warm embrace you need.
To elevate the taste of the elderberry crumbles, you can add plums, pears, and apples. You can further use this crumble for filling up tarts.
5. Make Elderflower Wine
I have made elderflower wine many times now. My friends and I just love it. The distinct aroma of the flowers adds a rustic charm to the flavor of the drink. Further, this is a non-alcoholic drink. So, it is way healthier than your regular wine.
Elder flowers uses for making wine are common, and from collecting the flowers to tasting the wines, the entire process will take a few months.
If you check the best non-alcoholic drinks of the year according to The New York Times, you will find Proxies Red Ember featured in it. It has an elderberry flavor.
How To Make Elderflower Wine?
Before you make the elderflower wine, you need to get all the ingredients ready. So, here are the things you will need to make this non-alcoholic wine.
- Elderflowers (Destakled and around 1 pint)
- Boiling water of around 8 pints
- Sugar (Around 2-3 lbs)
- One lemon (For juice and zest)
- Yeast (Half ounce)
Making The Elderflower Wine
- Take the boiling water and pour it over a mix of elderflower lemon juice and zest. Now, let the mix remain this way for around three days for proper infusion.
- After three days, you have to strain the mix and only use the infused water. Further, mix the strained water with sugar and yeast.
- Next, keep the mixture so that it gets fermented and let it get set for three days.
- Further, strain the mixture again and keep the mixture for aging. This aging process will take around 2.5 to 3 months.
As the wine ages, you need to keep it covered. However, make sure that there is adequate airflow through the wine. Otherwise, it can explode.
6. Make Elderflower Syrup
Do you have elderflowers and elderberries in your cottage garden? You have the best remedy for the common cold, flu, and fever.
You can easily make syrup at home using these flowers and berries. I am yet to try making this syrup, but I surely want to give it a shot.
Do you want to know how to make elderberry or elderflower syrup? Check out this video. ⇓⇓
7. Make Elderflower Salve To Get Rid Of Inflammation
One of the main elder flower benefits is reducing inflammation. You can make a salve or lotion using elderflower. So, if you are hurt, and your muscles are sprained or strained, this salve can offer the ultimate comfort.
If you want to optimize the benefits of this salve, you can use some more herbs in the formula. Go for Calendula or comfrey as additional herbs for this lotion.
Final Words
Elderflower benefits are many, and you can use these flowers in your food, drink, or medicine to enjoy those benefits. These flowers come with a beautiful appearance, and their distinct aroma adds freshness to many dishes and drinks.
When used in medicines, these little flowers fight inflammation, the common cold, fever, and many skin problems. The berries of this plant are great for health as they are packed with antiviral benefits.
Do you want to make any of the drinks, food, or medicines at home anytime soon? Also, do you know of any other way in which I can use these flowers and berries? Don’t forget to share.
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