Elderflower vinegar is an easy way to make those ritch flowers and the smell of summer last longer. In this post I will take you through the step by step process, that I used to capture the best of summer. This is a nice vinegar that will go with everything from salatdressing to giving a stew that little something extra.
Having some extra time this summer I wanted to see what I might be able to do with our elderflowers. If I could preserve the elderflowers in a different way than making elderflower pancakes. While I love those, and the kids does as well there is only so many one can eat. I also love making elderflower cordial, but I wanted something different still. Then I saw our chilli infuced vinegar. I thought that maybe it would be possible to do something similar to our elderflowers.
This recipe will leave you with vinegar that just have that suttle tang of summer and elderflowers. This is so good, and will become a stable in our summer kitchen.
How to make elderflower vinegar
Making elderflower vinegar is so simple and I wish that I had thought of this years ago.
Step 1: Find your elderflowers
This is one of those recipes that you can only make in the beginning of summer when the elderflowers are at their peak. You need to find 10 full heads of elderflower that are in bloom, but where none of them have turned brown, as a sign of them turning into elder berrys.
Step 2: Have a bottle ready, cleaned and sterilized.
I rinse out my bottles with warm water and a fluent preservative to make sure that there is nothing in the bottle that will spoil the finished product.
You can choose any size of bottle you would like, I like to have quite a big opening at the top to make sure that I can fit the elderflowers through the bottleneck.
Step 3: Prepare the elderflowers
Before you add the elderflowers to the bottle you want to make sure that you remove all bugs and unwanted things in the heads. However, you do NOT want to wash the flower heads. All of the taste and goodness is in the powder that is placed on the flower heads, and if you wash them, you will wash away the flavor as well. Just gently bang them on the side of a bowl and all unwanted things will fall into the bowl and you are free to use the elderflower heads.
Step 4: Add everything to the bottle
Add all elderflower heads and pepercorns to the bottle and poor over some clear vinegar of your choice.
Step 5: Wait for it to be ready.
This vinegar will be ready for you to taste in about 5 days, but you can leave it as longs as two weeks and it will just add to the flavor.
Step 6: Remove the elderflowers
Once you are happy with the taste of your elderflower vinegar you can remove the elderflowers from the bottle. I do this by running it through a piece of cloth in a strainer, and that leaves me with a beautiful clear elderflower vinegar ready to enjoy for years to come.
Elderflower vinegar
Equipment
- 1 Bottle
- 1 Sissors
Ingredients
- 10 Flower heads from Elderflower
- 2 cup Vinegar White clear vinegar is best
- 10 blackpepper seeds
Instructions
- Add flowerheads and pepper to a clean bottle
- Poor over the vinegar until its completely covered
- Store for 5-14 days depending on how strong you want it to be
- Remove ingredients from the bottle by sifting everything through a cloth and into a bowl
- Add to a container of your choise (I chose a clean bottle) and use it over the winter
How to use the elderflower vinegar
I usually use this vinegar in salad dressings or when I think a sauce will need a little kick of summer. My favorite is to use it as a part of a oil/vinegar dressing. I use that for kale and cabbage salats throughout the year.
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