Elderberry Syrup Recipe

A simple recipe for elderberry syrup, a rich, fruity syrup that tastes delicious and can boost your immune system. Includes information on foraging the berries and cleaning them #foraging #elderberry #wildfood #herbalmedicine

5 from 2 votes

A sweet dark purple syrup made with elderberries, a wild berry filled with flavor and health benefits. Use it to boost immunity over the winter months and to pour over pancakes and desserts. This recipe makes just over 1.3 pints (625 ml) and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three months.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American, British, European

Keyword elderberry, foraged

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Draining time 2

Total Time 1

Servings pints

Calories 42.12kcal

Author Tanya Anderson

Cost $1.50

Equipment

Ingredients

3.25 cups elderberries (fresh or frozen) / 500 g / or 1.5 cups dried elderberries
1 cinnamon stick optional*
1 lemon
2.25 cups white sugar 500 g

Instructions

Make the Elderberry Juice

This recipe can be made with fresh, frozen*, or dried elderberries. If using fresh, gently pull the berries from the stalks, discarding the stalks and any green berries. A fork is a handy tool for this step.
If you're using dried berries, put them in a large saucepan and pour enough scalding water over them to cover them by half an inch (1 cm). Leave them to sit for an hour before adding the cinnamon stick and skipping to step 5.
If freshly picked, rinse the elderberries in cold water. Green berries and stems will float to the surface for you to pick off.
Measure the berries and place them in a large saucepan with the cinnamon stick. Fill the saucepan with enough water to cover the berries by up to a half inch (1 cm).
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cook for five minutes, mashing the berries with a potato masher.
Strain the berry mixture through a fine mesh sieve and into a heat-proof bowl. You can line the sieve with cheesecloth to ensure no sediments pass through, but this is optional.
Allow the juice to drip through the sieve until it stops. This can take a couple of hours. Alternatively, leave it to drip overnight.

Make Elderberry Syrup

Measure the elderberry juice. For every 2 ⅛ cups (500 ml), you'll need 2 ¼ cups (500 g) of white granulated sugar.
Juice the lemon. For me, the juice of one lemon is about 2 TBSP.
Add the lemon juice, elderberry juice, and sugar to a large saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Allow it to simmer for ten minutes*, and stir it often to ensure that the sugar dissolves.
After ten minutes, take the elderberry syrup off the heat. You can either pour the hot syrup into warmed jars or bottles or allow it to cool before pouring it into containers or ice cube trays*.
Homemade elderberry syrup can be refrigerated for up to three months or frozen for up to a year. If not freezing as ice cubes, ensure that the container the liquid is in is freezer-proof and has space for expansion.

Notes

* Other optional spices include cloves, cardamom, allspice, fresh ginger and vanilla.

* Frozen berries do not need to be defrosted before making the recipe. However, they should be cleaned of most of the stems and unripe berries. The weight and measurements of frozen berries is the same for fresh.

* Cooking the elderberry syrup for ten minutes helps the pectin in the lemon juice to thicken it. However, if you're more concerned with vitamin C integrity versus syrup consistency, you can gently cook it on low only until the sugar completely dissolves.

* It may stain ice cube trays so, be aware.

Nutrition