Volcanic Elderflower champagne

We have always been fortunate to live in a house with a Elder tree in the garden. Guaranteeing pesticide and pollution free blooms for making elderflower cordial. So most summers when the tree is in full bloom I make cordial. A delightful summer treat which normally lasts into early autumn.

This year I thought we would give Elderflower champagne a try as it was my nephew's 21st ( by the way the celebration meal was at the Red cat - as usual fantastic food, service ).

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall had the same idea and also made some on his tv programme. For the first fortnight nothing happened, the recipe for "champagne" is slightly different to the cordial in that you add vinegar so I didn't know what to expect. Then doing the 3rd week we saw small bubbles in one of the bottles, so tentatively we opened this bottle. WOW , POP , its a good job we opened the bottle outside as half the contents exploded out of the bottle. Once things calmed down we tasted the "elixir". It was fantastic a little warm as at this point we hadn't chilled the bottle. We quickly checked the other 4 bottles, still nothing happening with those, so later the same week, once we had go the the dregs of the fizzy bottle , we put a couple of drops in to the other bottles. This did the trick 1 week later all bottles fizzy and having to be tamed by de gassing periodically and chilled.

Try making some its great, friends, neighbour and relations suitably impressed. Next year we are making more ! hick !