Cooking with foraged elderflowers in summer

The short, sweet elderflower season

For a few weeks each summer, Britain's hedgerows turn a frothy cream colour and the air smells faintly of Muscat grapes. Elderflower is one of the most generous things you can forage here — but the window is short. In southern England it usually opens in the second half of May and is all but finished by mid-June; head north or uphill and you might still be picking in early July. Once the heads brown off and the first green berries swell, it's over. Keep an eye on your local lanes from mid-May.

How to pick well

Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a shrubby hedgerow tree, two to five metres tall, with grey corky bark and leaves of five or seven oval leaflets. The flowers are unmistakable: flat, saucer-shaped plates of hundreds of tiny cream blooms. Crush a leaf and you'll catch a faintly rank, catty smell, which confirms it.

• Pick on a dry day. Rain washes away the pollen that carries most of the flavour, so wait until the dew has lifted — mid-morning to early afternoon is ideal.
• Avoid dusty roads. Hedges beside fast A-roads collect exhaust particles and brake dust. Stay a few hundred metres clear; quiet lanes, field edges and old railway paths are perfect.
• Watch for spraying. Hedgerows beside farmland may have been sprayed. If you're unsure, ask or walk on. Never pick on private land without permission.
• Snip, don't pull. Cut whole heads with scissors just below the cluster; pulling tears the bark.
• Shake each head gently over the hedge to dislodge beetles and bees before it goes in your basket.
• Leave plenty. Take a head or two per bush and leave the rest — those flowers become the elderberries that feed blackbirds in autumn.
• Carry a basket or shallow box. Plastic bags crush the heads and make them sweat.

Getting your haul home

Elderflower loses its perfume quickly. Use it the same day, or spread the heads in a single layer on a tray and refrigerate, or freeze them whole and use from frozen. The green stalks are bitter, so strip the flowers first: hold a head by the stalk and run the tines of a fork down it, letting the little flowerlets fall into a bowl. A few stray stalks won't hurt, but don't leave the thick main stems in.

Elderflower cordial

This is the recipe worth making every year, and it takes about fifteen minutes of real work. You'll need:

• 20–25 good flower heads, stripped from their stalks
• 1 kg caster sugar
• 1.5 litres water
• 2 unwaxed lemons, zest pared in strips and juice squeezed
• 30 g citric acid (optional, but it keeps for months rather than weeks)

Bring the water and sugar to the boil, stirring until dissolved, then take off the heat. Add the lemon zest and juice, the citric acid, and finally the flowers. Cover and leave somewhere cool for 24 hours — no longer, or it turns stewed and cabbagey. Strain through double muslin, bottle in sterilised bottles and keep in the fridge. Dilute one part cordial to five parts water or sparkling water, over plenty of ice.

Fritters and other treats

Elderflower fritters are the classic hot-weather treat. Whisk 100 g plain flour with one egg and about 150 ml milk or light ale to make a thin batter. Hold a flower head by its stalk, dip it in the batter and fry in a centimetre of hot oil for a minute, until pale gold. Drain, dust with caster sugar and eat straight away, holding the stalk like a lollipop; eat the flowers only and discard the stalk.

Other uses for a glut:

• Stir cordial through stewed gooseberries or rhubarb with whipped cream for a quick fool.
• Freeze cordial in ice-cube trays and drop them into a gin and tonic.
• Steep flowers in white wine vinegar for a fortnight, then strain for a delicate dressing.
• Scatter stripped flowers over strawberries and cream, or fold a few into a Victoria sponge.

A simple sparkling drink

Elderflower "champagne" relies on the wild yeasts living on the flowers to ferment a light sugar solution. It's lovely, and it's also how many kitchens get redecorated. If you try it, use strong swing-top bottles, fill them only two-thirds full, and store them somewhere cool and easily wiped down. Better still, use plastic fizzy-drink bottles: you can feel the pressure with a squeeze and release it daily by loosening the cap. Leave for about a week, until lightly fizzy, then chill and drink within a few days.

If you'd rather not gamble, the fuss-free version is just as good: a good glug of cordial, a squeeze of lime, a sprig of mint and plenty of soda water over ice. Sit outside. That's the whole point.