Elderflower grows wild in the UK. They flower in early summer, turning into berries later in the summer. Elderflower berries and flowers are regularly used to make cordial (like ribena but with flowers) and also wine. However, I found a recipe for deep fried elderflower, like pakoras or bhajis! I have never had fried flowers of any sort before and was suitably intruiged. I saw the recipe it last year, but bacon was more than reluctant to let me try it, as he had never heard of anyone eating elderflower before. This year I managed to persuade him to be slightly more adventerous, and this morning we went to the woods behind his dad’s place to pick some, as he used to climb them when he was young.

So, we came back with a good lot of elderflowers, and being me, I soaked the flowers without reading the recipe first which calls for no soaking as it removes the lovely floral aroma that it emates. We had a couple of friends over earlier in the afternoon who had never tried elderflower before as well, so I got cooking.

Batter seemed to be fairly ordinary with with the usual flour and milk. Instead of salt, the recipe calls for sugar. Hmm. It also calls for a squeeze of lemon and honey to top it off. Ours is not exactly a deepfrying household as I always end up getting oil splatter all over myself, but I don’t think I did too bad today – everything was cooked, nothing was burnt and I remained splatter free!

Presenting deep friend battered elderflowers:

You cant see the blooms anymore as they were all coated with thick batter. Compare it to the before picture.It was very strange, but in an extremely pleasant way. It smells like perfume, and tasted just slightly sweet with the honey on top being a nice touch as I had blossom honey as well which added slightly to the lovely aroma from the elderflowers.

Would I have it again? Hell yeah, its free food after all; elderflower is very widely available near where we live; and the taste is so pleasant that I would have it again even if I had to buy it from the supermarket, which by the way, they don’t sell.

Thanks to Liz at Gastronomy Domine for such a lovely recipe!

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