As the sun peeks out from the May rain clouds, the elderflower blooms in great abundance on the massive bush on the corner of the street. Perfectly sweet for cordials and syrups or, during an English heatwave, iced as a floral granita.
Serves – 4
Foraged Ingredients
- Around 10/20 heads of elderflower, the more freshly picked the better – easy to find in late spring/early summer.
Other Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups of caster sugar
- 550 ml/ 2 ⅓ cups of water
- 2 lemons or 3 limes
- Fresh herbs to garnish (we used sage)
Method
- Choose your flowers carefully; clean, white petals work best for a full flavour. I just grabbed as many as I could without making the tree bare, which was around 10 bunches. Check the flowers for any bugs and plop your elderflower heads in a large pan with the sugar and water.
- Juice the lemons or limes (I used limes this time) by squeezing liberally and place the hollowed, juiced halves along with the juice in the pan with the elderflower and sugar mixture.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, then turn off the heat and leave it to infuse for at least 1 hour, making sure the sugar is dissolved. The longer it steeps, the better the results.
- Using a sieve over a bowl, strain the mixture to dispose of the elderflower heads and empty lemon halves. Then pour the mixture into a freezable container and freeze for 2-3 hours until frozen.
- Leave to stand for 5 minutes and then scoop a large serving into your favourite bowl for serving and add your herbs to garnish!
Expert’s Tip
Place the serving bowls or ramekins in the freezer around an hour before serving, crusted with sugar if you desire. This will not only add a lovely touch, but also allow you to linger over the granita and enjoy it at a leisurely pace, as warm crockery (and hot days!) can make the granita melt faster.