A Recipe For Liquid Gold

Flädersaft (Elderflower Cordial, pronounced "flair-der-sahft" in Swedish) is one of Sweden's favourite beverages in the Summer. And in keeping with my foray into foraged foods, this past week has seen me produce my first batch of Swedish homebrew liquid gold flädersaft.

It's a simple recipe, so I thought I'd share it with you in case you have access to an Elderflower (Fläderblom) tree.



 
Ingredients:
30 pieces of Elderflower
3 large lemons
1.5 litres of water
1.5 kg caster sugar
50 g citric acid


The method goes that you need to first ensure any bugs are removed from your elderflowers by rinsing them under water. After you've done this you can dissolve the caster sugar and citric acid into a large pot using boiling water, adding the chopped lemons at the end. Be sure to cover the lemons with the sugary water mix, otherwise they can go mouldy in the ensuing days. Same thing with the elderflowers - mix them in there and cover them with the mix if you can. You should smell a nice aroma as they mix with the water.


Next bit is nice and easy: Cover the pot and let it sit for a few days in a cool place. 


After 2-3 days you should have a nice mix of saft almost ready to go. Discard the lemons being sure not to mix any mouldy bits of lemons into the drink and pick out the big stems of elderflower.


You can now drain the remaining elderflower out by running it through a fine cloth and into a new container. 


And voila! You have delicious, refreshing, flädersaft.


For those with curiosity but without access to Elderflowers, you can find an inferior version of my AWESOME flädersaft at most Ikea stores. Enjoy with ice, lemon slices or even a little splash of vodka!