The berries and flowers of elderberry are packed with antioxidants and vitamins that may boost your immune system. They could help tame inflammation, protect your cells from damage, lessen stress, and help protect your heart, too. Some experts recommend elderberry to help prevent and ease cold and flu symptoms making it a powerful preventative home remedy. Just one cup of berries contains about 40% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C (90 mg daily for men and 75 mg for women).
Elderberry syrup can be used as a cordial, mixed into yoghurt or taken neat (in small amounts).
Prep-Time 1 hour
Cooking time 30 minutes
Makes approx. 1 x litre
Ingredients
500g of de-stalked elderberries
500g white caster sugar (granulated also works and is cheaper)
1 x lemon, juiced
How to
- Forage for elderberries, pick the heads then use a fork to strip them from their stalks.
- Tip the berries in a saucepan and cover with about 1cm of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15-20minutes.
- Once cool, strain the berries through a fine sieve and measure the liquid. For every 500ml of liquid you need 400g of sugar.
- Tip the liquid and sugar back into the cleaned saucepan and add the lemon juice. Simmer for 10mins until the sugar has dissolved.
- Leave to cool completely and bottle up. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 x months or in the freezer for a year.
