Elder Flower Champagne -Recipe

Elder Flower “Champagne”

Sparkling elder flower has a low alcohol content, it is delicious. It is easy to make and it is the only alcoholic drink that my wife Hanna makes an exception for.

Ingredients:

• 12 elder flower heads
• 8l water
• 2 lemon, grate the zest and juice
• 60ml of cider vinegar
• 5 x 250g packets of Fruisana fruit sugar or use 1.6 Kg of sugar

Method

1. Wash or shake the elder flower heads to remove any bugs that might by crawling on them
2. Place the flowers in a plastic food bucket, add the vinegar, lemon juice and lemon zest
3. Add the water a litre at a time stirring in some of the fruit sugar to dissolve.
4. When all the water has been added, put a lid on the bucket and leave it for two or three days
5. Strain the liquid through muslin cloth into sterilized bottles. You can use either glass bottles with screw caps or plastic bottles that previously had fizzy water or fizzy drinks.
6. Leave in a cupboard for a few weeks. Check the bottles regularly and unscrew them slightly every now and again to ensure that there is not too much pressure building up in the bottles, other wise they might explode.