Nicola made this on Friday and by and large used a recipe from River Cottage Handbook No.7: Hedgerow. It might seem a bit complicated but it was relatively straightforward and tastes fantastic. So, the elderflowers are still out, give a go!
Ingredients
-
- 20g of gelatine leaf
- 700g of granulated sugar
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 400ml of water
- 130g of cornflour
- 30g of icing sugar
- About 20 elderflower heads
Method
- Put the gelatine in a bowl of water to soften.
- Use a fork to remove the individual elderflowers from the heads and wrap them in some muslin; tie the end closed with some string.
- Add the water, sugar and lemon juice to a saucepan with a heavy bottom
- Heat the mixture over a gentle heat and stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved.
- Leave the mixture to cool.
- Mix 100g of the cornflour with 300ml of water until you get a smooth consistency.
- Add this to the mixture in the heavy bottomed saucepan and stir until well mixed.
- Put the saucepan back over a low heat.
- Squeeze out the gelatine leaves to get rid of an excess water and add them to the mixture.
- Gently stir with a whisk until the gelatine has dissolved.
- Slowly bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Keep stirring so the mixture doesn’t stick to the pan.
- Hang the muslin bag of elderflowers in the mixture and simmer for another 15 minutes or so, again stirring continuously.
- From time to time, give the bag a squeeze with a wooden spoon to release more of the elderflower fragrance.
- Once the mixture becomes gloopy leave it to cool.
- Mix the rest of the cornflour with the icing sugar.
- Line a 8 inch baking tray with parchment paper and coat with some of the cornflour and icing sugar.
- Take the elderflowers out of the mixture and slowly pour the mixture into the baking tray.
- Leave in a cool place for a couple of hours and then transfer to the fridge for a few hours.
- Cut the set mixture into cubes and dust with the cornflour and icing sugar.
