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2steps

Elderberry Cordial

Yesterday made some elderberry cordial but this morning when I went to put in away it has turned soild in the bottle Confused is there anything I can do save it?
marigold

Solid like jelly?

What was your recipe?
2steps

no, it's rock hard. doesn't move at all in the bottle

this was the recipe

Elderberries (still on stalks)
Sugar
Cloves

Pick the fruit on a dry day and stew with the stalks in a large stainless steel saucepan, with just enough water to cover.

Strain through muslin squeezing to get all the juice.

To each pint of juice add 1 lb (450g) of white granulated sugar and 10 cloves.

Boil for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool and bottle in sterile bottles with good quality plastic screw-on tops making sure you distribute the cloves evenly amongst the bottles (they act as a preservative).

The cordial can be used immediately, and will keep well for a year or two.

Taken with hot water it is renowned as a guard against colds, and a glass a day through winter is a wise precaution..
whitelegg1

Sounds like you have made cheese, like quince cheese.

I would have thought it would dissolve in hot water.

Perhaps try putting the bottle in a water bath, and see if it softens...

Good luck.

Sounds like it would be delicious sliced with some cheese.
marigold

Rock hard suggests to me too much heat and (going by my recipe) perhaps too much sugar. Did you boil it hard?

Sadly I doubt there's much you can do to rescue it now if it has hardened in the bottle and maybe it wouldn't taste nice if the sugar has caramelised. You could try warming a bottle of it in a bain marie to see if it softens and, if you get it out of the bottle, add some more water and taste to see if it's worth persevering with.

I strip the elderberries first, heat berries in a low oven to soften so the juice flows (no added water). Then squeeze through muslin (messy innit Smile ) and use half a pound of sugar to 1pt of juice plus a few cloves. Heat in a saucepan on hob to dissove sugar and then simmer for half an hour until the mixture thickens a bit, strain and bottle.

The first lot I made was great, the second, not so good, so I'm no expert. Another recipe I've got says 12oz sugar to 1pt juice, but I like things less rather than more sweet. If I had more spare time I'd like to experiment more (for example, try freezing the berries to make the juice flow, which would mean I could gather and process on different days).

Give it another go - it's delicious stuff Smile [/b]
dougal

2steps wrote:
...
To each pint of juice add 1 lb (450g) of white granulated sugar and 10 cloves.
Boil for 10 minutes.
...


Well, if you used 'jam' sugar you'd get elderberry jelly from that recipe!

Otherwise, I'm not sure how it could have set. There shouldn't be enough pectin in the berries (& stalks) alone to make jelly, should there?

I suggest you open a bottle and examine and taste it - and only thereafter make any plans. I suspect you have a firmly set jelly. If so, the question becomes one of getting it into more suitable containers...
2steps

I used granulated sugar.

It poured into the bottle as a syrupy liquid. Its much harder than cheese, more like a boiled sweet from what I can tell.

Will try heating it
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