Elderflower lemonade

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 liters of boiled or still mineral water
• 40 elderflower umbels, blossomed
• ½ kg sugar
• 2 lemons, untreated, juice
• 25 g citric acid

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 1 day; Total time approx. 1 day 30 minutes

from elderflowers; boil and bottle for long shelf life

Collect the flowers on a warm, dry day, preferably around midday. Collect any small creatures and shake the umbels well, but do not wash them. Cover the umbels (with a little of the stem) and leave to steep in water in the refrigerator for around 24 hours. The next day, remove the flowers from the mixture and squeeze out any excess liquid. Strain the liquid through a cloth to remove any creepy crawlies that may have been missed. Add the lemon juice, citric acid, and sugar to the liquid and mix well until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then bring to the boil. Pour the still-hot liquid up to the brim into boiled bottles, preferably ones with twist-off lids, and seal immediately. I usually use 0.5 l baby juice bottles, which open with a pop. Stand the bottles upside down on their lids for around 5 minutes. This way the lemonade will keep for a long time.