Selfmade Elderflower syrup {one childhood story}

I've blogged about this recipe earlier (last year) but wasn't quite satisfied which what I came up with in the first place so, this year, I did it again (I would have anyway, go figure).

I love this recipe because, for me, this is my only really "childhood recipe". I sometimes wish I could say we had those awesome cookies my mum always made or something along the way, but we didn't (I guess my childhood cookies are "Prinzenrolle". Store bought. But awesome!). However, we had this syrup. I can't really remember a time where it wasn't around the house, though that must have been the case quite often (since we were three sweet-loving kids and one busy mum who would only attempt one serving size each year. 5 liters for a year...you get it).
This is what my childhood tastes like. And I hope that one day, I'll be able to provide my kids with their own share of childhood recipes...this will definitely be one of them.

A bit unrelated but I had told my dad earlier that I was making elderflower syrup again and he asked me, all confused, why I wasn't just going to the store and bought some. Why do we make DIY stuff?! I believe it's because we love stories! And with everything we create, their is a little story to the thing itself. My story of how I went out and bought elderflower syrup wouldn't probably have turned out so nice. Instead I can say that I went out, just before it got really dark, to ride my bike one last round and go on a hunt for elderflowers....some I would actually be able to reach. And how the fields smelled of fresh dirt and the air felt smooth and cold on my skin while riding my bike. Much better than the store bought version, I assure you!

The syrup is super easy done and if there were Elderflowers all year round I'd probably be doing it...all year round. Yeah, you guessed it right ;)
So follow me on one sweet sugary childhood journey!

You'll need for 5 liters:

• 1 really large pot
• 2 liters water
• 7 natural lemons
• 3kg white sugar
• 1 package Vitamin C (powder)
• 15-18 elder flowers (Those big bundles of them, not the separate teeny tiny flowers...quite logical.)

1. In the large pot, mix together water and sugar. This is the most fun part of the whole recipe, at least for me. Because adding three kg of sugar to two liters of water is simply fun!
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Meanwhile stir occasionally (until the sugar is dissolved). Also, wash you lemons under warm water and cut into lots and lots of slices.
4. When the sugar/water mixture boils (please be careful here! Similar to caramel, this will need longer to heat up because it will reach a higher temperature than the normal 100°C (which would be plain water)! This stuff is hot!) add the melons slices and the elder flowers. 
5. Bring to a boil again and than turn off the heat and put on the lid. You're done with the first part!
6. After one day, add your Vitamin C, by simply stirring it in. 

Now, the whole things need to sit nice and cozy for another six days. Waiting. Ugh.

After a week in total, you'll need:

• containers to store your syrup
• something to fill them with
• boiling water

1. Bring your mixture to a boil again.
2. Meanwhile, boil some more water ind rinse all your containers/bottles/whatever you use (and the container lids!) with boiling water. Be careful again!
3. There are different methods now: For once you could drain your whole syrup through a sieve before you start boiling it, and to make it perfect, through a kitchen towel afterwards. This will leave you with a 100% perfect and clear syrup. Also, you could simply leave it the way it is and just be careful not to get too many elder flowers into your bottle. I did this last year. I did the towel version the year before. This year however, I used a 'spoon sieve' (not to fine) and simply removed as much as the sieve would do. I think I like this version the best because it's fast easy and you can do it while you already started heating up the whole mess and simply forgot you wanted to remove something before you would have done the heating part. Ups. And it is actually quite clean! 
4. When the whole thing is boiling again, carefully fill them into your containers. Close them nice and tightly and you're done!! For the filling process I normally use a large ladle and a funnel. Kitchen gloves for handling the hot containers!

And this will leave you with 5 litters of beautiful golden yellow elderflower syrup. Something to be jealous of! You could use it for simply enriching your water, or wine if it gets more special, pour it over ice cream or make elderflower cupcakes (I'm going to try out those soon, so stay tuned!). The possibilities are endless! Have fun being creative!!