Homemade elderflowers cordial

Today, I saw how elderflower cordial is made. The neighbour has a huge elder tree in the countryside and we were given the permission to cut off the flowers to make cordial. It is very common in Sweden to make this cordial which is also known as fläderblomssaft (pronounced as fleh-der bloms saft and it means elder flower cordial). This cordial is made during summer as the flowers are in full bloom somewhere in the middle of June. This cordial contains so much sugar, by the way! I was so surprised by the amount of sugar, and I understand now why it is so sweet and the cordial is diluted with a lot of water.

First, rinse and dry the flower clusters. Then, boil a huge pot of water with sugar in it. Add citric acid. Citric acid is added to preserve the cordial. The amount varies according to recipe. Turn off the heat. 

Place the flowers in the cooled water and add sliced lemons into it. One can add mint or lime for taste. It is common to have lemons in this cordial. Cover the pot of water and let the flowers' flavour seeped into the sweetened water for 5 days. On the 4th day, one has to stir the cordial.

On the 5th day, one sieves the cordial through a linen cloth. Ta-da, it is done. It is stored in a cool and dark place. Cordial drinks can last for years due to the citric acid and high amount of sugar. I had a bottle of elderflower cordial in the fridge for a year and it still tastes good.