[Liz M]

Have tons of Elderberries on many unwanted trees that have decided to take root in my hedges! If you have any recipes out there that I could at least use them up with, would be really helpful and may save them from the axe

[Sylvia]

Wine? Apple and elderberry jelly? Elderberry syrup(dilute with hot water for a cold comfort) Chutney? Or, the birds love them and need all the wild food they can get.
Also, did you know that it's extremely bad luck to cut down an elder

[Beewyched]

Try this -  it's    I used to make syrup a lot before we moved - can't seem to find many trees up here    Elderberry Syrup RecipeThe Recipe:
This is our family recipe, and we think it makes the best elderberry  syrup we have ever tasted.
Pick the berries on a dry day,  (I added pieces of ginger before simmering)
You will need:
* Loads of elderberries – get a couple of kilos to begin with (take whole heads and pick them when the weather is dry)
* A bit of ginger (optional)
* 1lb (450g) of sugar per pint of juice- you can use Splenda instead  if you are worried about sugar intake (it is very light so follow the  instructions which substitute volume for weight….)
* Juice of one lemon per pint of liquid
* 10 cloves per pint of liquid
* A stainless steel pan (don’t use aluminium)
* Glass or food grade plastic bottle(s) with airtight caps
* a funnel (you can just cut the top off a large soft drinks bottle and use that)
* Jelly bag, J-cloths or wine filtering fabric
* A large sieve
* A fork
Instructions:
* Wash the elderberries and drain well. The easiest way to strip them  off their heads is to use a large fork. You don’t have to be inch  perfect here – just not too much greenery.
* Put the elderberries in a pan – stainless is best, and not  aluminium as the berries are acidic and strip the metal – and  just   cover them with water.
* Bring to the boil and  simmer till they are soft (usually 25-30 minutes)
* Strain through a jellybag/J cloth/Sieve.  You can bash them about  first and squeeze the bag all you like, but don’t use a food processor  as the seeds are bitter when broken.
* Then for every pint of liquid add 1lb of sugar, juice of one lemon and 10 cloves
*Return to the  heat and  stir until the sugar has dissolved. Boil  hard for  10 mins and then leave to cool. Fish out the cloves (we just  pour it through a sieve).
* Bottle in containers  that have been sterilised.
Use sterilised bottles:

• The microwave, in a pan with a little water to make steam  if they fit! – 1 minute. Remember to remove all metal and paper from the bottles
• Glass bottles in your oven  (load them in when it is cold, and then run it up to about 140C, leave  it there for 10-15 minutes and let it cool slowly.
• Leave them to soak in disinfectant then rinse and run in dishwasher twice on highest setting with no powder.

Save old glass bottles: Olive oil bottles  and wine bottles with screw caps are good to fill with syrup.
Unopened and refrigerated or kept in a nice cold place this should keep for years.
Elderberries are ripe in Early Autumn
As I walked into work today I noticed a certain reddening of the elderberries. So the time of elderberry syrup  is almost upon us.  Those of you who remember the late, truly great Spike Milligan may recall a mythical invention of his called Snibbo. Snibbo did everything, cleaned floors, cured cancer, took the dog for a walk – you name it.
Elderberry Syrup has some of the same properties. It is a tonic, it works as a cough syrup, it helps the vodka go down, it makes a slightly spicy winter Kir Royale and for all I know it is good for any number of other uses.  Not for cleaning floors though as it is a bit sticky.
However if you have not tried Elder Berry syrup, do so this autumn.  It is unbelievably good.
More seriously – this is a remedy that has been used for at least the last 400 years.  The syrup is aperient, which means it helps relieve  chest troubles, it is a cold preventative (not H1N1 unfotunately although it probably helps) and undiluted it will  bring on a sweat.
We usually  dilute it at about the same rate as Ribena and then you can add a squeeze of lemon, a drop of brandy or whisky or (according to Laura – elderberry syrup is good with tequila).
Add a little to some red white before dinner.
Drizzle it on Ice Cream.
Drink long with soda water, ice and a sprig of mint during those sweltering summers of ours…. et
Creative Commons License
Elderberry Syrup Recipe by
Frances Bosdari is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
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Ashridge Trees

[Dans]

Also remember that you can use the flowers too. Elderflower wine, champagne, fritters.

Hope to get enough elderberries this year for wine and syrup.

Dans

[FiB]

Lucky you - bids have had all mine before I could get them     Yep  Elderberry cordial is a fantastic winter drink and cold remidy.  As well as cloves ginger and lemon, I like a bit of cinnimon in it.  Will miss it this year.

[Anke]

Haven't seen a single bush with any berries on around here  ... either birds had them all before I got there, or more likely they never got pollinated/ripened with all this   we had and not enough  ....

[Dans]

Weather hasn't been great, we still have elderflowers up by me!

Dans

[Sylvia]

For the past three or four years we have had berries and flowers(only a few) on our trees at this time of year.
If anyone would like to grow elder, just snap off a  few biggish twigs from someone elses tree and push into the soil. 99% will root and grow away.

[Auntyhen]

My daughter makes elderberry syrup which we find soothing and good for fighting colds etc. We found it went off when kept in bottles because it was used only as and when needed. She had the brilliant idea of pouring it into those plastic sheets of ice cube pockets, when cold obviously, then freezing. Takes up little space and one cube, or ovoid actually with the packs she used, equals one hot drink when added to hot not boing water.