Strawberry Elderflower, Three Ways to Enjoy It

Most Canadians aren't familiar with the flavour of elderflower, even though the shrub is common enough here. Elder grows wild across Ontario, and right now it's covered in the same frothy white blossoms that have been picked in Europe for centuries.

Floral flavours have long-standing traditions in many cultures. Violet and lavender have long-standing places in French confectionery and baking. Rosewater and orange blossom water are constants in Persian and Middle Eastern sweets. Elderflower has just as much history behind it. Cordial-making in the UK goes back to Tudor times, and elderflower champagne was a Victorian staple, but it's had less exposure here. Most North Americans discovered it through St-Germain, the liqueur that made it fashionable in 2007, which makes an old ingredient feel like a recent discovery. You may have had it recently as the flavour of the Hugo spritz which seems to have taken over bar menus this year.

While you can harvest the flowers yourself and make your own elderflower syrup, most of us don't have a shrub within reach. Buying a bottle from a producer who does it well, like  Belberry, is the easier way into this delicious flavour. Used on its own, it works in so many places: splashed into soda, brushed over cake layers, stirred into creamy desserts like panna cotta, drizzled over sliced fruit.

Today I'm pairing it with local strawberries. I macerate the berries in sugar until they turn juicy, then purée with a pinch of salt (for balance and flavour), and add in enough elderflower syrup to bring its distinct flavour through. It's a lovely pairing. Once you have this mixture, what you do with it is up to you.

One note before you start: strawberries vary in sweetness and wateriness, and freezing mutes flavours significantly, so if you're making popsicles the base should taste a little more intense than you might otherwise choose, so taste as you go.  From there it splits three ways: a popsicle, a highball, and a shaken cocktail:  choose your own flavourfull adventure. 

Strawberry Elderflower Popsicles

1 pt juicy local strawberries (about 340g), hulled and halved (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup sugar
5 tbsp Belberry Elderflower syrup
1/4 tsp Diamond Kosher Crystal salt

1. Toss the strawberries with the sugar and let stand 10 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are juicy.
2. Scrape into a food processor, add elderflower syrup and season with salt.
3. Purée until smooth. Makes about 2 cups, enough for 6 popsicles.
4. Pour into moulds and freeze until solid.

Strawberry Elderflower Vodka Soda

1 frozen popsicle
1.5 oz vodka or gin
135 ml soda water
ice

1. Add the popsicle to a glass along with ice.
2. Pour in the vodka and top with soda.
3. Garnish with strawberries or elderflower as desired. The popsicle cools the drink and flavours it as it melts (and the popsicle stick becomes a handy stir stick - beverage and activity in one).

Fancy version, shaken

1/3 cup strawberry elderflower purée
1.5 oz vodka or gin
135 ml soda water
ice

1. Combine the purée, vodka, and ice in a shaker and shake until cold.
2. Strain into a glass with ice and top with soda.