Sureau

How I love this tree.  It is attractive all year round in itself, has beautiful blossom in spring, and gorgeous dark purple berries in late summer/autumn.

Perhaps one of the best things is that the beautiful creamy coloured blossoms smell divine, and can be used in many ways.  Some people pick the blossom and dip them in a tempura batter and fry to make elderflower fritters.  Others sprinkle the flowers on desserts as decoration.  Myself, I prefer elderflower cordial.  Refreshing and aromatic, it is perfect in fizzy water on a hot day.  We won't talk about elderflower champagne.....

The part of the annual cycle that really gets me interested however is the berries.  Dark, glossy and deep deep purple, they are reminiscent of polished jet beads, or maybe tiny black pearls.  Absolutely gorgeous to look at, and even better to eat.

Unfortunately the stems and leaves of elder are poisonous, so it is vitally important to prepare the flowers or berries properly.  Also, all berries must be completely ripe - no green ones!  They are poisonous too.

Each berry contains a rather large seed (for the size of the fruit), which is rather unpalateable.  It is best to prepare them in such a way that the seeds are excluded from the finished product.  Yes, this means straining I am afraid.... the most time consuming part of playing in the kitchen.

There are four ways in which I like to prepare the berries.  A jelly, cordial, syrup and a booze.  Recipes for the drinks to follow.  Jelly recipe saved for another time.  Sorry.  I cannot tell you where these recipes come from.  Really they are a melange of recipes and ideas that I have read in various sources and tinkered with till they suit my taste.  Apologies to those that I have read and now cannot remember to give credit to.


Elderberry Cordial (medicinal)
1kg ripe berries, destemmed carefully
1 cup water
6 cloves
good piece of ginger, peeled, sliced and bruised
500g sugar

Boil the berries and water for 30mins.  If you think it is not enough water to start with, add half a cup more before boiling.
Mash the berries and seive to capture all the seeds and skins.
Return liquid to pan and add rest of ingredients
Simmer for 1 hour
Strain ginger and cloves from liquid
Bottle
Store in a cool dark place

Take 1 teaspoon of liquid every 2 hours for a cough.  Alternatively, mix a tablespoon of liquid with boiling water and sip for a cold or sinus relief.

Note:
Depending on sweetness of berries, you may not need the whole amount of sugar.  Taste liquid before adding.
I usually strain out the ginger pieces, but leave in the cloves.
The amount of ginger depends on the strength of it.  I usually add a thumb sized piece of reasonably strong ginger.

Elder Syrup
1kg berries
4 cups water
500g sugar
juice of half a lemon

boil berries and water for 20mins
mash and sieve well
return liquid to pan and add sugar and boil 15mins
add lemon juice and stir well
bottle and store in fridge

Elder Liquer
In a clean glass jar (I use a massive le parfait jar) place destemmed berries to 2/3 of way up sides.
Add vodka or another flavourless clear alcohol to within a cm or so of top of jar

Shake gently and place in a cool dark cupboard
Gently shake every week or so for up to 6 weeks
Filter out the berries and replace the liquid in the jar
Let rest for 2 months before drinking

Thank you to Sheila over at the blog love and wild honey for prompting me to post these recipes.

Finally, the rain has stopped

We have had 2 months of almost continual rain.  Fabulous, I can hear all the family and friends in Australia saying.  Miserable and depressing for those of us here in Europe.  Spring has been a long time in coming this year.  Up until a week ago we were still lighting the fire each morning in an effort to stay warm and dry.

Combine the rain with hail almost everyday, and gale force winds, and you have a scenario that is not good for the keen gardeners.

Luckily, my garden has pulled through without too much stress.  Sadly, I did not get the riot of spring bulbs that I had hoped for, however other plants have benefitted from the rain and are showing a glorious array of flowers.

The irises are particularly good this year.  I have a pale violet, and a deep dark chocolate with hints of orange.  Both are a mass of colour and scent at present.  The dark iris was a surprise.  I had been given it at a cemetary in the Somme Battlefields (they were replacing the plants and throwing away all the old ones.... what a waste!).  No one could tell me what colour it would be, so it was nice that it is such an unusual shade.

My tiny - and very spindly - elder tree is flourishing also.  I have already picked a huge amount of flowers and they are fermenting away in the cave to make elderflower champagne.  An experiment.  We shall see if it works or not.  All depends on how much natural yeasts are floating around in our garden.  There are plenty of flowers still on the tree to turn to berries and make gelées and sirop later in the year.

The pea shoots have been galloping ahead.  So much so that I have taken to picking them and adding to salads and as garnishes to our meals.  They are nearly 2metres tall and only just starting to flower!  I have been picking rhubarb and strawberries already, and my herbs are looking lush and green.  Tomato plants are in as well as butternut and queensland blue pumpkins.  We shall see if they grow here.

We went to a bbq last night at a neighbours house.  It was a great night, but it was even nicer to be able to go in to the garden and cut fresh flowers to make a bouquet for the hostess.  The roses are magnificent this year, and the sweet peas are heavenly.  I made a pretty posy of pink roses, lavender and deep burgandy sweet peas and pink and burgandy dianthus.  Beautiful and fragrant.

Le brassage (beer brewing) has commenced this weekend with the start of the warm weather.  I am starting with a bitter, to get my hand in and refresh my memory.  It has been a long time since I home brewed!  Hopefully I will be able to bottle next weekend and in 2 weeks after that we will be able to commence sampling the brew.  Tshirts have been made to commemorate the occasion and I have 3 official taste testers waiting (impatiently!) to pass judgement and select the next type of beer brewed.  Think they are going to keep me occupied over summer with requests for new batches.... Photos will follow in a future post.

The last photo is of a neighbours garden.  She has 9 different colours of iris planted in groupings under the fruit trees.  It is spectacular!  I think it rivals Monet's garden at Giverny actually.  Hope you enjoy the colours as much as I did.