Elderberry Tonic

Recipes, Cooking tips and maybe some 'Home Made' secrets !
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KathJ
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Elderberry Tonic

Post by KathJ »

Has anyone every made this? We've got a tree in the garden and plenty more in the lanes, unfortunately I didn't have time to do anything with the flowers but I've seen this recipe for tonic. It's supposed to be really good for warding off colds over the winter so I thought we could have it in our morning porridge.
Kath xx

Mum to my beautiful girls Lucy, Holly, Rosie, Hettie, Polly, Ruby, Lily, Penny, Gracie, Maisie, Molly, Evie and my gorgeous boy Toby

RIP my beautiful Ranger, Roxy, Bluebelle, Poppy, Speckle, Daisy and Honey xxxx
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lancashire lass
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Re: Elderberry Tonic

Post by lancashire lass »

Elderberry Rob is excellent as a hot drink (confusion at first about the porridge idea, but I suppose it would be like adding jam) You make a syrup out of the elderberries and from that, make a hot cordial drink (like you would Ribena - put just enough in a mug, add hot water to dilute and drink) Elderberry Rob / Tonic is supposed to be good at warding off colds and flu but I actually like it just as a hot drink.

For every pint of elderberry juice, add about 1 lb sugar and ten cloves. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and then boil for a good ten minutes. Either dispense into sterilised bottles or after cooling, freeze into ice cubes. I tweaked the recipe when I last made some and added ginger, orange and/or lemon slices and cinnamon to the juice, then strained off before bottling. It had a Christmassy / Mulled Wine aroma when making a drink with hot water.
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manda
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Re: Elderberry Tonic

Post by manda »

I like the sound of that ...never made it but as I'm just getting over Pneumonia I like the idea of warding off colds when winter comes round again (thankfully we are now in Spring so I've got time to get it sorted!!).

Any idea how long it keeps?
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Living our version of the Good Life with 4 dogs, 6 cats, a cow, a few sheep, Angora Goats and ???? chooks.
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KathJ
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Re: Elderberry Tonic

Post by KathJ »

Thanks lancashire lass that sounds lovely. Good idea about freezing in ice cube trays I hadn't thought about that. We currently have frozen fruit in out porridge (blackberries/raspberries at the moment) for a bit of vitamin c so I could just add an ice cube when the fruit runs out )like(
Kath xx

Mum to my beautiful girls Lucy, Holly, Rosie, Hettie, Polly, Ruby, Lily, Penny, Gracie, Maisie, Molly, Evie and my gorgeous boy Toby

RIP my beautiful Ranger, Roxy, Bluebelle, Poppy, Speckle, Daisy and Honey xxxx
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lancashire lass
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Re: Elderberry Tonic

Post by lancashire lass »

manda wrote:Any idea how long it keeps?


ah, now that's where I did find a small problem but it may have been the bottles weren't properly sterilised at the time or I wasn't careful enough when filling. Once the bottle of syrup was opened, it didn't take long for a bit of mould to appear on the surface (a bit like you find on cheese left open) but I had made several bottles which lasted me over the winter.

KathJ wrote:Good idea about freezing in ice cube trays


if I was to make it again, I would definitely go down this route (changing the subject, when I was growing up in South Africa, my mother worked in a local grocery store and was able to buy the glut fruit like pineapples or large sack load of citrus fruit like oranges quite cheap - the Outspan rejects that didn't make export - which she would juice down and freeze into cubes before bagging up. Then these would be dropped into fizzy or alcoholic drinks, or sucked like ice lollies)
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manda
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Re: Elderberry Tonic

Post by manda »

Thanks for that LL....I like the idea of freezing in cubes too.
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(¸.✰´¨(¸.✰ Manda

Living our version of the Good Life with 4 dogs, 6 cats, a cow, a few sheep, Angora Goats and ???? chooks.
Don't get your knickers in a knot..it solves nothing ~ just makes you walk funny
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KathJ
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Re: Elderberry Tonic

Post by KathJ »

Made this at the weekend, pretty easy to do and then poured in ice cub bags and put in the freezer. We've been having an ice cube in our porridge each morning which gives it a lovely flavour. I only realised the other day though that I'd forgotten to stir the honey in at the end but it's still good )t' Loads more berry's on the tree so I might make another batch.
Kath xx

Mum to my beautiful girls Lucy, Holly, Rosie, Hettie, Polly, Ruby, Lily, Penny, Gracie, Maisie, Molly, Evie and my gorgeous boy Toby

RIP my beautiful Ranger, Roxy, Bluebelle, Poppy, Speckle, Daisy and Honey xxxx
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