Elderflowers are now in bloom: 6 ideas for using the fragrant flowers.
Flowers for fever, leaves for sore joints and fruit for migraines. Grandma taught me that elderberry cures 99 diseases!
Elderberry is a popular European shrub known for its medicinal properties.
It has a positive effect on health and is great for preventing seasonal infections, which is especially important in autumn and winter.
The portal search-2.blogspot.com reveals more about this useful shrub, whose flowers and fruits are a real treasure.
Useful colors and fruits
Its flowers are collected in spring, and its fruits in autumn. The flowers contain useful essential oils, tannins, glycosides, organic acids and vitamin C.
Elder flower is both astringent and diuretic, an infusion of the flowers is used internally for colds and fevers of the respiratory tract, to relieve spasms of the digestive tract and flatulence.
The fruits contain sugars, malic acid, tannins, pectin, vitamins C and A, B vitamins and pantothenic acid.
In pharmacy, the flowers are mainly used in the composition of teas against colds. Elderberry also helps with migraines and sciatica.
Elder leaf will help with knee pain
Elder leaves can surprisingly help with knee pain, it will also help to “draw water from the knee”.
Fresh leaves are crushed, ground or pounded until they release juice, they are used to cover the diseased joint, folded with a piece of cloth and bandaged.
About an hour is enough for the compress.
To treat colds
Elderberry obviously has healing effects, especially anti-inflammatory.
It is mainly used for colds, ulcers, burns and cuts.
Elderberry juice and berries, as well as tea from the bark and flowers, are tried-and-true home remedies for colds.
The fruits contain vitamin C, B and fruit acids, essential oils that are also contained in the flowers, flavonoids and especially atocyan, which gives color to both flowers and fruits.
It acts as an antioxidant, protects cell membranes from the effects of harmful free radicals and slows down the aging process of cells.
Elderberries are slightly poisonous, so they should not be eaten raw.
A classic elderberry syrup recipe
Ingredients:
20 elderflowers
1 liter of water
800 g granulated sugar (or other sweetener)
juice of 1 lemon
Preparation :
Soak 20 fresh elderflowers in 1 liter of cold water.
Let it sit for 24 hours in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator.
Strain, add 800 grams of sugar, the lemon juice and let it stand for 24 hours again.
Stir occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
Strain through double gauze and pour into bottles.
This juice is drunk diluted with water, you can also use mineral carbonated water to prepare juice.
Elder honey:
40 elderflowers (diameter of one flower about 12 cm)
1 liter of water
3 pieces of lemon
1 kg of granulated sugar
Preparation:
Clean the collected flowers from dirt and insects (it is best to collect flowers in a deserted place where cars do not pass).
We remove the large stems and put them in the pot.
(If we have smaller flowers, we will use more than 40 pcs.)
Cover with water.
Add lemon juice from three lemons.
Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let it sit overnight.
On the second day, we press the flowers with our hands.
Strain.
Add granulated sugar.
Cook on low heat for at least an hour and a half.
Alternatively, if you want a firmer consistency, cook longer.
From the specified dose, you will fill 2-3 glasses of 700 ml each – it depends on the density of the mixture.
Elderberry lemonade
We need:
8 elderflowers
1 lemon
1 slice of orange
2 tablespoons of honey
about 3 liters of water
Optional: mint, honeydew, thyme
Preparation:
On a sunny day, we choose a beautifully blooming elderberry bush in the garden or in another clean place.
We will cut approximately 8 larger flowers.
We remove the thicker stalks of the flowers and place them in a 3.5 liter pot without rinsing.
For a handful of young shoots, we can (but do not have to) add honeysuckle, or mint, or other suitable herbs to our taste.
Lemon and orange without chemical treatment of the peel are thoroughly washed, cut into slices and added to the base.
Add two tablespoons of honey to the mixture.
Fill the container with water, ideally spring or at least filtered.
We cover it with something breathable so that the contents can breathe, put it in a sunny place and let it stand in the sun all day (or put it on the window for 24 hours).
Note:
Even 6-8 hours in full sun is enough, no need to overdo it.
After standing, we pour it through a strainer, the mass can be slightly squeezed.
Store in the refrigerator and consume preferably within 24 hours.
Grandma’s Breaded Elderflower Recipe
We need:
Elderflowers
¼ liter of milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
120 g plain flour
For frying:
butter/ lard
garnish:
potatoes
fresh vegetables
Preparation:
Clean the flowers, pat them down and leave them lying around somewhere for small insects and bugs to crawl out of.
From fresh milk, eggs, flour and a pinch of salt, a mixture is prepared that resembles the consistency of a pancake.
Too thin batter will run off the flowers and not cover them completely, and too thick batter will be hard and rubbery after frying.
Soak clean and dry flowers well in the mixture.
Dip so they are completely covered holding them by the long stem as you do this.
You can prepare the classic version as follows:
Roll the washed elderflowers in plain flour, salted scrambled egg and breadcrumbs.
Add oil to the pan.
Then we fry.
Fry until golden on both sides.
We serve, for example, with boiled potatoes or other garnish according to taste.
Medicinal syrup to strengthen immunity, for flu and fever
It is strongest in the first symptoms of respiratory diseases, helps in the treatment of flu and bronchitis.
According to grandma’s experience, if you put it on in time for a cold, you are like a fish for up to 3 days.
We need:
1 kg of elderberry fruits
1 kg of sugar
1 liter of water
20 g of citric acid
2 cloves
a dash of rum (optional)
cinnamon
Preparation:
Wash the fruits and separate them from the stems.
Transfer to a saucepan with the water.
Let it boil for 5 minutes, then add the sugar and the other ingredients (cloves, cinnamon).
Remove from the heat, let everything dissolve, drain and then cook for another 20 minutes.
Now add citric acid (preservative), pour into warm, sterilized bottles, close and put in an oven heated to 150 ° C
Elderberry liqueur
Our grandfather considered elderberry liqueur to be a cure for all ailments and always drank it at night before going to bed.
Its other huge advantage, however, is the fact that it’s damn tasty.
I recommend a teaspoon for ailments, it’s better medicine than cough syrups – for adults of course!
Fruits should not be eaten raw.
We need:
2 kg. cleaned elderberries
1 liter of water
1 kg of granulated sugar
1 vanilla sugar
5 spoons of strong black coffee (optional)
1/2 liter rum or vodka (40%)
Preparation:
Boil elderberry with water for 15 minutes.
Then strain through a thick strainer and crush the fruit a little, but do not mash.
Sugar is added to the resulting juice and boiled a little more.
Add vanilla sugar again and cook for 3-5 minutes.
Finally, add brewed black coffee and bring to a boil again.
Set the boiled syrup aside and let it cool.
Pour rum into the cooled mixture, stir and pour into prepared bottles.
Store in a cool place.
When are elderflowers and berries harvested?
Elderberry is a shrub rich in valuable nutrients and active substances.
The herbal raw material and at the same time the richest in these components are the flowers and ripe fruits of the plant.
You should know that elderberry contains substances that are toxic to humans.
Never eat them raw!!
Elderflower blooms in late May and June.
If you want to pick flowers, do it on a sunny and dry day.
All of them should already be developed and should not fall.
Collect only completely healthy inflorescences.
They should not have any traces of brown color.
Also, never decide to pick the flowers if the shrub is growing along roads or in places where the air quality is too polluted.
If you like the fruit, pick it only when you’re sure it’s ripe.
This happens around August and September, never before.