Elderflower Confiture

Elderflower confiture is made from the edible flowers of elder tree (Sambucus nigra). It has a delicate flavor and a special taste and can be consumed as any other confiture: on bread, in Grießbrei (Semolina Pudding) or Milchreis (Rice Pudding) or as ingredient in cakes and creams.

Ingredients for ~400g of confiture:

• 70g Elderflowers (cleaned, with no green stalks), that’s about 20-25 big elderflowers
• 700g sugar
• 350ml water
• 1 organic lemon or 1-2 limes

1. For confiture I calculate about 10% flowers to the sugar ratio. Sugar will be half of the quantity of water because we want to get a thick syrup and adding more water will just mean boiling it for longer.
   
2. Clean the elderflowers, making sure there aren’t any insects. I don’t recommend washing them because the flavor will be reduced. The confiture will be boiled so there’s no risk for health.
3. Remove all the flowers from the green stalks. It’s quite the work but it will worth it.
   
4. Cut the lemon or limes in slices. You can put them on top of the elderflowers.
   
5. Mix the water and the sugar and boil them until you get a thick syrup. You can check the consistency of the syrup by dropping a few drops on a plate and check if they keep their shape but are still liquid. The bottom round drops are too thick so in this case you may want to add some water.
   
   
6. Add the slices of lemon/limes and the flowers and bring it to a boil.
   
   
7. Check the consistency of the syrup, as described above, and when it’s done, turn off the heat. It should only take a few minutes.
   
8. Pour the hot confiture in the sterilized glasses, close them and turn them upside down. Make sure to have a metallic plate/tray under the glasses to take away some of the thermal shock and prevent the breaking of the glasses.
   
   
9. Turn them back up when they’ve cooled down and store them in a cold dry place.
10. I got 6 jars a 50g each, one 100g jar and some extra for tasting.
    
11. Thanks to the high sugar content, this confiture will basically last forever.
12. Extra tips since making confiture is a little trickier (based on how the jars look):
    • If the confiture got too thick, you can add some extra water, bring it to a boil and let it cool down before consuming.
    • If the confiture is not thick enough and seems quite liquid in the jars, you’ll need to boil it again until it reaches the desired consistency.

I also make Elderflower Syrup for Lemonade in the same time.