The Lazy Forager: #16 – Elderflower Vodka

The air is so full of intoxicating elderflower, you could get positively drunk on it. Well then, I thought, why not do that - literally. Being way too lazy for the faff that is elderflower champagne, I resolved to go down the tried and tested route of bunging something delicious in some strong alcohol, putting it on the shelf and waiting to see what happens.

In a departure from normal procedure, this is going to be a vodka rather than a gin liqueur. Mainly because there is an embarrassingly huge array of infused gins already lining my shelves...

Apart from elderflower fritters or a simple tea, I reckon this is pretty much the easiest thing you can do with foraged elderflowers.

Step 1: Collect as many umbels as you can muster (responsibly and without stripping trees bare!). Do this preferably in the morning on a dry and sunny day. I used about 10-15 to fill my bottle, and roughly 500ml of vodka.

Step 2: Clean the flowers, without washing them if you're comfortable with that (the pollen is part of what makes it delicious)

Step 3: Find a wide-necked bottle or jar, fill it with the elderflowers and cover the whole thing in vodka.

There were some lemons lurking at the back of my cupboard, so I threw some lemon rind into the mix. I saw a recipe for adding gooseberries as well, which sounds absolutely heavenly - but sadly my gooseberries just aren't there yet.

I'm going to leave this for about a week before straining off the elderflower, adding sugar and putting it back on the shelf for a few months. Ready for a - probably physically distant, but nonetheless! - summery picnic or BBQ... can't wait!