September is a strange month. For me, it’s always been a time of excitement about the new school year interspersed with a strange sort of nostalgia. Looking forward to eating homemade apple sauce and wearing a warm coat mixed with longing for the summer past in a feeling not unlike the kind of homesickness that sets in before you’ve even left. It’s stranger still in places like this, where one single September day can represent two entire seasons. Midday hot enough to feel like July, sitting by a bay on the hot stone, feet dangling in the water, a feeling of endless summer. The late afternoon is perfect for a barbecue, although it feels like evening already, and after dinner, all of a sudden, it’s cool enough to put on a wool jumper. Dinghy sailboats and kayaks on the water during the day, at night the smell of wood fires. Days with a timeless feel, at once confusing and beautiful.
I had been looking forward to making elderflower cordial in June, but I was too late to pick the flowery heads. Fortunately the elder offers two harvesting seasons, and early in September it rewards the waiters with branches heavy with tiny black berries. Elderberry syrup was a first for me, but I don’t regret the two hours spent on picking and preparing the berries. The flavour of the syrup is distantly reminiscent of elderflower, but the strong floral notes of the blossom are replaced by something closer to blackberry or blackcurrant. Just the thing for carrying a fresh bright summer into a warm autumn.
Elderberry syrup
Elders can be found in lots of places, both rural and urban, and the berries can generally be picked from late August to mid-September. To make the preparation easier for yourself, make sure to pick only the berries that are black, and avoid any that have already dried out (also, make very sure you are picking from the common elder – many berries, including some similar-looking ones, are highly toxic!). Pick whole heads, but obviously don’t empty entire trees / shrubs. Be prepared to encounter several earwigs, ladybirds and small spiders, both when picking the berries off the tree and while preparing them. It’s best to make the syrup, or at least pick and clean the berries, the same day you collect them.
The measurements in the recipe are a bit odd, but this is what I used, and I thought the syrup came out just right. A lot of recipes also use cloves in the first boiling stage. I don’t like them, but do add some if you think you will.
a bag of freshly picked elderberries (think one or two kilos)
water (same volume as the berries after they’re picked off their stems)
sugar (500g per litre of water – I used a mixture of organic golden and soft brown)
juice of one lemon per litre of water
some fresh slices of ginger (optional)
Sterilise some clean glass bottles (for instance old wine, olive oil or cordial bottles): lay them in a cold oven (without any plastic bits), heat to 140°C, and leave for at least 15 minutes, or till you are ready to fill them.
Submerge the heads of elderberries in plenty of water, removing debris and insects that float to the top. Repeat a couple of times. Pick the berries off the stems, taking care not to include any unripe – green or purple – ones, nor more than a few small bits of stem (this will take a while). Wash the picked berries once more.
Cook the berries with the ginger and an equal volume of water for about 20 minutes, until soft. Sift through a fine cloth or jelly bag (not just through a sieve), squeezing out all the liquid. Discard the pulp and seeds. Return the juice to the pan, add 500g of sugar per litre of water used, and simmer for another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the juice of one lemon (or to taste).
Pour the syrup into the sterilised bottles, taking them out of the oven one by one as you’re filling them. I read somewhere that placing the bottles on a wet towel when filling prevents them from breaking, though I usually just pour wherever, and I’ve never had any bottle or jar break on me. Screw on the lids immediately and turn upside down.
The syrup mixes with water about 1:10, and is a beautiful dark purple even when diluted. Also delicious in yoghurt, over ice cream, in blackberry-speckled porridge, or, on the last hot day of the year, through sparkling water on ice with a generous shot of gin and a slice of lemon.
- Naomi
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