Elder flower syrup recipe … basic stuff
June 6, 2012
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Elder Flower Syrup Recipe / Basic Stuff
(makes 3,5 – 4 liters of syrup)
You will need:
5 liter jar
3 kilos sugar plus 1 kilo for later
3 liters water
Elderflowers a’plenty, plucked, unwashed, bugs and all
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The flowers:
Fill a 5 liter jar ½ – 2/3 -full with elder flowers.
Flowers only, no stems.
Absolutely unwashed, bugs and all.
Remove snails and birdshit, if applicable.
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The syrup:
The minimal ratio is 1 kilo sugar : 1 liter water.
If possible, add more sugar.
Approximately 3 kilos white sugar
(or as much as will dissolve)
Approximately 3 liters water
(just warm enough to dissolve the sugar)
Pour the sugar, and then the water.
Stir until clear.
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The time, the taste:
After 5 days, start tasting the syrup. It should taste clearly of elder flower. The entire kitchen should smell of elder flower and when you leave the kitchen you can still conjure the smell of elder flowers in your head. If the flavour is too weak, let it sit a few more days. Depending on the weather and kitchen conditions it may even ferment slightly, that is to say become lemony without the addition of lemon juice.
This is ok, if not desirable.
When you’re ready to call it ready, wring the syrup out of the flowers and discard them.
Decant the syrup through a series of fine sieves and cloths to filter out Vitamine Beast.
Don’t worry if a bit of Vitamine Beast remains because… it will simply remain.
It is vitamine B12, a cause for celebration.
Store bottled syrup in a cool and dark place, or refrigerate.
The preservation:
Elder flower syrup is a seasonal product. Enjoy the yearly ritual of harvesting these flowers and getting completely dusted with pollen because it is a supreme joy. The syrup should be used generously and given away freely as a floral sweetener when it is in season (in NL, May – June). Even when refrigerated, it does not preserve well for more than a month or two, and preservatives like ascorbic acid change the flavour considerably. Though elder flower syrup can be reboiled with even more sugar to preserve it for a longer period, beware! You are treading on dangerous territory. Instead, why not avoid all preservation issues by simply using this flowery syrup in season and by giving it away to people you like or whom you want to like you.
Remember, the sugar is the preservative that keeps this mixture from transforming. If you don’t like sweet things, dilute the finished syrup in the foods to which you add it. If you are using elder flower syrup as a sweetener in a ferment (e.g. elder flower kefir) just let it ferment a little longer so that the beasts can eat up the sugar. The sugar is not for you, it is for preservation process.
Use:
In general use elder flower syrup diluted at a ratio of 1:4 with water, or to taste.
- On kefir making.
- On love of bacteria and yeast.
Soon to be related links:
debra at 18:36 | Comments (6) | post to del.icio.us
Spontaneous salads neither sown nor stolen
May 6, 2012
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The lettuces in the DemoGarden haven’t even come up, yet this is the sort of salad that we’ve been eating for the past 3 weeks. All 18 of these vegetables grow spontaneously in our permaculture garden, most of them sown more than 3 years ago. This bouquet-eating abundance is a testament to why we need to transform our cities into resplendent edible landscapes.
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Ingredients: spinach, red orach, chard, smokey fennel, ramps leaves, ramps flowers, chives, chive buds/flowers, mystery speckled red lettuce, purple frills mustard, yellow mustard, raspberry leaf (plucked by accident, tastes wonderful), broccoli shoots, mint, ground elder, sorrel. Not pictured, garlic mustard (alliaria petiolata).
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We’re dipping these amazing leaves into our own lapsang souchong kombucha vinaigrette, also fermented from wild yeasts.
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Edible bouquets, we walk, we pluck.
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We talk about how lucky we are.
debra at 21:42 | Comments (1) | post to del.icio.us
Dear Annet,
November 8, 2011
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Weak, Polar Circle light illuminating a dried pear
Thanks for bringing those most tasty and juicy pears to the food co-op last pickup day. We bought 4 kilos and the next day had already eaten an entire kilo! The last 3k we dried because they were threatening to go soft. Just look what they turned into! Golden, chewy, hint of vanilla, sticky, full of flavour!
Please let us know if you’ll be harvesting again soon, because I’d love to go with you and help pluck. Of course I’m happy to dry a bunch for you as well; dried pears bring a huge amount of happiness into the home.
Merçi, verheugnis alom en tot straks op een pluk dag,
Debra
debra at 14:34 | Comments (2) | post to del.icio.us
