ELDERBERRIES

ELDERBERRY BALSAMIC GLAZE

What a fantastic year it has been for elderberries! I love going for a walk, staining my fingers with the deep purple berries, and then sitting in the kitchen listening to some music and shredding them off their stalks.⁠⠀⁠

Elderberries are full of vitamin C and have long been used to make a syrup to ward off winter colds. They are a brilliant accompaniment to game and they also make a nice flavoured vinegar.

Here is a recipe, inspired by Foraged By Fern, for an elderberry balsamic glaze. I love adding a splash to sauces and dressing salads with it.

Ingredients

• 500g ripe purple elderberries

• 500ml balsamic vinegar

• 200g sugar

Method

• Sterilise 2 jam jars or 1 small bottle

• Rinse the heads of the elderberries then remove the berries from the stalks using a fork⁠ (you can also freeze the elderberries and do this at a later date)

• Add the berries to a saucepan along with the vinegar and sugar⁠

• Heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved

• Gently simmer the mixture for around an hour and a half until it has reduced by half, squishing the berries with a potato masher every now and then⁠⠀

• When the mixture has reduced by half and looks thicker, leave to cool. It will thicken a little more as it cools⁠⠀

• Strain the syrup and decant into your clean jars/bottle. Keep the elderberry ‘mush’ that is left behind and it’s incredible spread on crackers and eaten with cheese

• NB, this recipe has less sugar than other recipes so consume within a month