Syrup
Elderberry syrup
Elderberries are ready to be harvested in August and September, and they are gone again before you have looked around. That makes this the one recipe of the year you cannot postpone.
The syrup is dark red, almost black, and tastes sweet-tart with cinnamon behind it. I use honey instead of sugar wherever it is at all possible. It comes out thinner than a sugar syrup, but it tastes of something.
And elderberry is one of the herbs where research has actually found something: studies from Israel and Norway point to shorter illness with elderberry extract.
One rule is absolute, and it is in the safety section too: the berries must be cooked. Raw elderberries are toxic.
Ingredients
- about 500 g ripe elderberries, picked off the stalks
- 400 g water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- Half a tsp ground ginger
- about 170 g honey
Equipment
- Pan with lid
- Fork for stripping the berries
- Strainer or cloth
- Scalded jar or bottle with lid
- Scale
Method
- 1
Strip the berries off the stalks with a fork. No stalks may go in, they are toxic. Rinse the berries.
- 2
Put berries, water, cinnamon sticks and ginger in a pan. The honey waits.
- 3
Bring to the boil and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
- 4
Take the pan off the heat and let it steep for 1 hour with the lid on.
- 5
Strain everything and press the berries well, so you get all the juice.
- 6
Stir in the honey while the juice is hand-warm and not scalding. That way the honey's own enzymes survive.
- 7
Pour into a scalded jar or clean bottle, close and refrigerate.
Dosage
Preventively in season: 1 tbsp daily.
At the first signs of a cold: 1-2 tbsp daily, spread through the day.
Children over 1 year: 1 tsp, up to 3 times daily.
Shelf life
Because it is sweetened with honey rather than sugar, it keeps for less time than a traditional syrup. Reckon on 6-8 weeks refrigerated in a scalded, tightly sealed jar.
To make it last the winter, freeze it in portions, for instance in an ice cube tray. Then you take one cube at a time and the rest stays untouched.
If it turns cloudy, bubbles, smells of yeast or tastes sour, discard it.
Safety
Raw elderberries are toxic and cause nausea, vomiting and cramps. They contain cyanogenic glycosides, which break down on cooking. The berries must be cooked, and properly, the 30 minutes are not negotiable.
Stalks, leaves, bark and unripe green berries are toxic and must never go in the pan. Strip the berries off with a fork, and be thorough.
Be entirely certain of the plant. Common elder has dark, glossy berries in hanging clusters. Confusing it with red-berried elder, which has red berries in upright clusters, or with other shrubs, can go badly. If in doubt, leave it.
Honey must not be given to children under 1 year.
If you have an autoimmune condition, speak with your doctor. Elderberry stimulates the immune system, and that is not always what you want.
Not in medicinal amounts during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Do not forage at roadsides or where spraying happens.
Fever lasting several days, breathlessness, chest pain or persistent high fever belong with a doctor, not a syrup bottle.
How the herbs work
Elderberries contain anthocyanins, the dark pigments, which in laboratory studies have been shown to hinder influenza virus from entering cells. Studies from Israel and Norway point to shorter illness with elderberry extract, and that is unusually good documentation for a herb.
The berries are also very rich in vitamin C.
Cinnamon is warming and antimicrobial, and ginger eases inflammation and the body ache that comes with flu.
Honey contributes against cough in its own right and makes the syrup something you want to take. It goes in after cooking, because high heat breaks down its enzymes.
The content here is general knowledge and folk herbal lore, not medical treatment. In illness, pregnancy, breastfeeding or alongside medication: always talk to your doctor first.