My sister Rosanna has a most magical garden outside Zurich. In her garden she has an enormous Elderberry tree. These trees were often planted on farms and were known as ‘ holy trees’, for their ability to improve health and longevity. Juices from elderberries are meant to be antioxidant, immune system booster, good against coughs, colds, chest congestion and flu. The flowers steeped in oil relax muscle aches and sunburn. I asked Rosanna to teach me how to make ‘elder flower syrup’.

Here she is cutting down the open, white flowers from her tree.

A close up of the beautiful, lace like flowers.

• cut off all the leaves and stems

For the syrup you will need:
• 2 litre’s water
• 10 elderflower heads
• 2 kg sugar
• 20 gr citric acid
• combine the sugar, water and citric acid in a large pan
• bring to the boil

• add the elder flowers and let them gently boil for about 10 minutes
• stirring from time to time
• turn off the heat
• let the syrup stand for two days, stirring a few times a day

• on the third day, take out the flowers
• bring the liquid back to the boil
• now strain the syrup through a muslin
• fill your bottles with the hot liquid and seal