Stikkelsbær og hyldeblomst / gooseberry and elderflower muffins (Danish summertime)

S came home with a punnet of gooseberries when he went on a chestnut rice related mission to Istedgade the other day. The previous lot of gooseberries (stikkelsbær) we had this season I had simply stewed and eaten, mostly with skyr. But I was a little unsatisfied - gooseberries are so tart they definitely need quite a bit of sweetener and/or dilution with something cakey or creamy.

This time, I was thinking of making muffins in the morning before N awoke, and S suggested doing gooseberry ones. I checked my Delia veg collection book and she didn't have anything with gooseberries, but the first recipe that came up online was a Delia one that I had all the ingredients for (including elderflower cordial I made a few weeks ago) so the gooseberries' fate seemed a foregone conclusion.

These were part of our 'balcony brunch', which also featured avocado on Manfreds sourdough toast with a softboiled egg on top, and tomato-mozzarella salad. I started with four eggs: one for the muffins and one each for the toast. Perfect.

(makes about 8)

150 g plain flour
1 level dessertsp (11 ml) baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 large egg
40 g golden caster sugar
2 tbsp milk
75 ml elderflower cordial
50 g butter, melted and cooled slightly
225 g gooseberries, topped and tailed

For the topping:
18 extra (approx 100 g) gooseberries, topped and tailed
1 heaped tbsp demerara sugar

Heat oven to 200C / 180C fan. Line a muffin tin. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl with a fork. In a separate bowl whisk together egg, sugar, milk,elderflower cordial and melted butter. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold together until just combined. In the final few strokes add the 225 g gooseberries. Spoon the mixture into prepared muffin cups. Lightly press 2-3 of the extra gooseberries into the top of each muffin, and sprinkle with a little demerara sugar. Bake for 30 min until well risen and golden brown. Remove the muffins from the oven, and transfer them straight away to a wire rack to cool.


These are really good! The elderflower doesn't come out very strong but that's OK. Perhaps my homemade one isn't as strong as the shop bought one? My gooseberries were pink but green ones would be good too, These are really well balanced - the sugar sprinkled on top (I didn't have demerara so just used golden caster) is the final touch to offset the tartness from the berries.

Elderflower, honey and cornmeal biscuits (gluten-free)

I found elderflowers the other day for the first time in ages, and made elderflower cordial. A lot of flowers were falling off the heads I collected, so I saved and dried the fallen ones (spread them on a baking sheet in the oven with it switched off (it has a pilot light so is always warm) for about 24 hours). Then I stashed them until yesterday, when I had the oven on to make bread and felt like doing some experimental baking as well. These are inspired by this recipe. I used all the elderflowers I'd dried (started out with two baking trays spread with fresh flowers, ended up with 3/8 loosely-packed cup dried flowers).
 
(Makes ~12 medium sized biscuits)

30g icing sugar
2 tsp honey
20g grapeseed oil
20g olive oil
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp boiling water
75g fine cornmeal
25g cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3/8 cup dried elderflowers*

Heat oven to 360F. Beat sugar, honey and oils together in a mixing bowl. Add linseed mixture and beat some more, so it goes thick. Add elderflowers, cornmeal, cornstarch and salt and mix until combined. Flatten to about 1cm thick, use a cutter to cut flower or circle shapes, then transfer to baking sheets and bake for about 10 min, until they are golden. Let cool on the tray for 10 min then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

*I think this would also work with dried chamomile (or maybe calendula) - I have been meaning to test this out as I have some of each at home.


The batter was a bit greasy and soft, and I wondered if I should have used less oil. But they baked up lovely: the honey and elderflower come together in a wonderful, delicate, slightly flowery sweetness. And the cornmeal adds crunch; with the biscuits coming out beautifully yellow, flecked with brown from the linseed mixture (use golden linseed if you want to avoid this). I didn't bother lining or greasing the baking sheets and they came off just fine. I made flower shapes because I have an accidentally, ridiculously big selection of cutters (came in a bargain pack with something I wanted), and I couldn't resist the kitsch. But round ones would also be fine. Remember that because this is a GF dough there is absolutely nothing to worry about regarding handling the dough - re-roll and re-cut as much as you need to.

Lemon, lime and elderflower marmalade

I cannot bring myself to throw away the fruit and flowers left after making elderflower cordial, so I save them to make marmalade. This time I stored them in the freezer for a week or two, as it was super hot when I made the cordial and not good conditions for preserve making. I defrosted yesterday and made this marmalade. It is an adaptation of my usual marmalade recipe.

1 lb mixed elderflowers, sliced lemons and limes left from making cordial
900 ml water*
100 ml elderflower cordial* 
2 lb sugar

Cut around the edges of the lemon and lime slices to remove the peel and turn it into strips. Put the peel pieces in a pan and put the rest of the fruit and flowers in a muslin bag before adding to the pan as well. Add the water and bring to the boil. Simmer for ~2 hours, until the peel is soft (add the cordial about halfway through if using). Then remove the bag and squeeze it into the pan. Add the sugar and bring to a rollicking boil until setting point is reached. Turn off the heat and let sit for 10-20 min before putting in sterilised jars and sealing.

*I had some cordial in the fridge that needed using up, so I used it. If you don't have cordial that needs using up, just use 1 litre of water instead of 900ml water and 100ml cordial.


Perfectly good marmalade. Mostly tastes like lemon. There's subtle floweriness if you search for it, but subtle is the word.

Elderflower cordial

My mother used to make elderflower champagne, and I remember helping her with it as a child: first we went out flower picking (ones away from the road), then we mixed them with sliced citrus and sugar to make the most beautiful mixture in a big earthenware bowl. Then it was strained and bottled and left to ferment. There is a story about once finding holes in a corrugated iron roof after the lids burst off bottles of elderflower champagne left in a shed.

I've made elderflower champagne myself several times, but ultimately decided that cordial is easier and more efficient: it is ready to drink sooner, it is more concentrated so less voluminous and easier to store, and there is less chance of lids blowing off bottles (although it doesn't keep as long without freezing).

I have rarely found elder in New England. But we came across a bush while biking around in Belmont at the weekend. The heads were huge: wider across than my own head. So I think it was perhaps a different species from the wild, British one, but it smelled good, so I thought it was worth turning into cordial anyway.

~20 heads of elderflower
1 lb sugar
1 1/2 litres of water (500ml boiling, 1000ml cold)
2 lemons (one large, one small), thinly sliced
1 lime, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbsp citric acid

Wash the elderflowers gently and remove any bugs. Put the sugar in a large, heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then add the cold water. Test the temperature with your finger (it should feel colder than body temperature), and if it feels OK add the lemons, lime and citric acid. Stir to dissolve the citric acid, then add the elderflowers and stir again. Cover with a clean cloth and leave for 24-48 hours, stirring occasionally. When ready, strain through a fine sieve or a piece of muslin, then bottle (using a funnel or a jug). It will keep for approx a couple of weeks in the fridge. To keep for longer, put in plastic bottles (or a tub, or ice cube trays) and freeze. With a tub, you can scoop enough for a glassful out at a time: it doesn't freeze very hard as it has so much sugar in it.


Yes!!! Last time I made elderflower cordial in the US it didn't really work - the elderflower taste didn't come through and I wondered if there might be something in the environment that was different and scuppered the taste. But this one is good. I left it for 48 hours instead of the 24 I usually do, although with it being so hot I wondered if I should have left it in the fridge. Anyways, we had some last night, at our picnic, diluted with fizzy water, and it was good.

Notes: I saved the lemons, limes and elderflowers left after straining the cordial and used them to make this marmalade. I also dried out the flowers that fell off the flowerheads and didn't make it into the cordial mix and used them to make biscuits.