mihto
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Elderberry questions from a noviceThis is my first real season with elderberries. I need to freeze them before they are made into cordial, and there is so much I do not know!
Should I strip them befor I freeze them? Thanks for the fork tip, btw. Very useful.
Must I take out the green ones befor I make the cordial?
Anything else a neebie should know?
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Snowball
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We strip them first. The odd green one wont matter, but you don't want many of them.
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oliveoyl
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You don't need to freeze them... well, not unless you just want to collect them now to make the cordial at a later date if that's what you meant... they're not berries that improve after a frost (like sloes).
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mihto
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| oliveoyl wrote: | | You don't need to freeze them... well, not unless you just want to collect them now to make the cordial at a later date if that's what you meant... they're not berries that improve after a frost (like sloes). |
Thanks for your answers, both. I'm collecting the elderberries as they ripen to make cordial later. I also collect rowanberries for jelly; they do need to be frozen to free the sugars.
Yesterday I stripped and froze 5 liters of elderberries and there are plenty left on the tree. Never knew they were edible untill my eldest came home last year and told me what they actually were. My mother always told me that all berries on trees were poisenous.... 
Today the children teach their parents. Live and learn!
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cinders
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| mihto wrote: | | oliveoyl wrote: | | You don't need to freeze them... well, not unless you just want to collect them now to make the cordial at a later date if that's what you meant... they're not berries that improve after a frost (like sloes). |
Thanks for your answers, both. I'm collecting the elderberries as they ripen to make cordial later. I also collect rowanberries for jelly; they do need to be frozen to free the sugars.
Yesterday I stripped and froze 5 liters of elderberries and there are plenty left on the tree. Never knew they were edible untill my eldest came home last year and told me what they actually were. My mother always told me that all berries on trees were poisenous....
Today the children teach their parents. Live and learn! |
Lol, my mum told me that berries were poisonous too other then blackberries
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Nutmeg
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Hello,
This is my first post. I happened to tell my Mum this year that elderberries were edible after reading the Collins book Food For Free. She was pleased I did! They are delicious in a pie with some apples!
Haven't tried Rowan berries, but they must be good!
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cab
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| Nutmeg wrote: |
Haven't tried Rowan berries, but they must be good! |
They make an interesting wine and a great fruit jelly (one of my favourites), but they aren't a fruit you'd stew down for a pie or anything.
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toggle
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| cinders wrote: |
Lol, my mum told me that berries were poisonous too other then blackberries |
i had friends whose parents told them that the berries in their garden looked like blackberries, but were actually toxic. this caused absolute hysterics when i ate some.
i never get to do anyhting with elderberries, my kids just scoff them.
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Nutmeg
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Rowan berry jelly it will be then cab! Although I think it will have to be next year now, but something to look forward to tasting!
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mihto
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| Nutmeg wrote: | | Rowan berry jelly it will be then cab! Although I think it will have to be next year now, but something to look forward to tasting! |
I made rowan berry jelly with a smattering of crab apples for the first time last year. The jelly was spectacularly unsuccessful: the result looked like fluid tomato paste, and whatever I did (recook, resugar) it would not budge and the many glasses sat in my kitchen as a perpetual reminder of an utter kitchen disaster.
This year I needed those glasses for another attempt of the delicious jelly and at last faced the defeat of throwing the "soup" away. Luckily I tasted it first......... 
It is a wonderful cordial! Unusual tasting, but delicious! Every drop will be savoured as a hot as well as a cold drink.
Morale of the story: whatever idiot you think you are, taste the resut before you throw it away!
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gil
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mihto - try adding more crab apples to get a better set this year. These days I tend to use 50:50 rowan:apple.
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mihto
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| gil wrote: | | mihto - try adding more crab apples to get a better set this year. These days I tend to use 50:50 rowan:apple. |
I have made the first portion. It is beautiful and clear, but not quite set. I will recook it for 15-20 min and maybe add a bit of sugar. I'm confident it will be nice.
Rowanberry jelly has turned out to be a fantastic present to people who cannot make it themselves, either because they live in cities or just on the wrong side of the planet. It is spectacularly nice with most meats and a joy to behold on a nicely set table.
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dpack
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style
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2steps
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I always thought elderberries where poisonous until I moved into my first flat and my Nan spotted the elder tree and said they make nice jam  I don't like the taste of rowan much but put it in my hedgerow jam and it's nice
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