Elderflower Champagne

Although rhubarb champagne is delicious, I do adore elderflower champagne. It's crisp, fresh, fragrant and incredibly fizzy. The season for elderflowers seems very short when I do so look forward to making champagne. It is the start of summer and fills the trees with frothy white flowers. Charlie likes to help and chooses the best blooms and is truly adorable when he puts the flowers to his nose and says,
"Mmmm smells like champagne" and he is quite right, the flowers do smell just like the pan full of flowers, sugar, water, lemon and vinegar. We are already on our second batch with the first bottles ready to drink in just a couple of days. Similar to the rhubarb champagne, this elderflower brew is just as explosive and the gas needs to be vented every day.

Elderflower Champagne Recipe

15 heads of elderflowers

4l of hot water and 2l of cold

700g of sugar

2 tbs of white wine vinegar

The juice and rind of 4 lemons

A pinch of yeast

It is best to pick the elderflowers when the are in full bloom, about this time of year is perfect. Dissolve the sugar in the hot water in a large pan then add the cold water. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cover with a clean muslin cloth. Leave for 2 days. If it has not started to ferment at this point, add a pinch of yeast, cover and leave for four more days. Strain the mixture through the muslin cloth and bottle. I use some swing top bottles especially for elderflower champagne as well as empty screw top wine bottles. I sometimes even use recycled squash bottles, although they are not really strong enough. Please be sure to vent the gas daily to avoid explosion or loosing too much of the champagne as fizz, when you are ready to drink it. Once you have bottled it, leave for at least a week before drinking although it will last for a few months.

If you are visiting from my Etsy store, live locally and would like to buy some please contact me and I'll drop off a bottle on my bike. Perfect for those long lazy summer evenings.

Comments

Ridgeway Cottage Anyhow - How to add social media buttons to your blog

I know not everyone is excited by learning code and techie stuff but in my quest for website geekiness, this post is just one step closer. For all my lovely friends and family who do not care one hoot about what goes on behind the scenes of Ridgeway Cottage, here are some lovely photos of October life. (Those who do want to know about the buttons, social media and coding, please read on.) Social Media Buttons Anyhow You will need. Your blog open in layout The URL of your social media places you want to link to Some lovely pictures of social media icons that you would like to use as your buttons A photobucket account which you can easily open here A small understanding of how the coding works A rather large smattering of patience unless you are super clever at all techie stuff What social media icons are you going to use? You can find some very lovely ones by searching on the internet or there are some here, here , or here . I liked these...

Granny square Christmas

When I was younger I fell in love with the granny square blanket my Nan had made. It was in her tiny little Welsh cottage near the mountains and was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. So many colours and combinations of colours, it was just truly amazing. I'm not sure if it's the happy childhood memories or my ever increasing passion for crocheting, but granny squares (and doilies) are something I could fill me life with. Even more delightful are the variations on granny squares. Star burst blanket, which used to be my favourite, but I have recently had a go at African flowers. They are quick and easy to make and so very pretty. Thanks to the brilliant free pattern that I found here , I have managed to make a little crochet Christmas stocking made out of 16 1/2 motifs. I am happy with the how the little Christmas stocking turned out and am now rather fond of African flowers, star burst and granny squares, well actually, all...

The Pink Ladies

As we sat in our classroom inspired horseshoe, designed to encourage conversation, there was a slightly uneasy silence. Those of us who knew each other, stole furtive glances, others returned our smiles politely although they were not privy to the planning and discussion that had occurred in preparation for the evening. The time had slowed, 8pm seemed an age away. The silence was intermittently interspersed with brief attemps at small talk and the rants of a drunk outside on the city streets. The commanding presence of our WI advisor Dorothy, had the air of an experienced headmistress or well respected senior relative which in the event of such formalities made me feel foolish in my .....excitement. Some of us stifled giggles as advice was provided on the process, as we had already made the majority of our formal decisions but it was with noticeable nerves, that I raised my hand to the question of who wished to be President. So that's it, another new chapter has open...

Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

Search This Blog