This wildly spiced Elderberry and Hogweed Seed Syrup is mighty versatile – drizzled onto puddings, diluted in hot water for a warming drink, served as a cordial with sparkling water or as a great addition to a seasonal cocktail. The combination of the deep fruity elderberry combined with the warm, aromatic common hogweed seeds truly screams ‘Autumn is here!’ in our books!
And just in time for cold and flu system, elderberries also happen to be one of nature’s larders finest superfoods – a great natural remedy, rich in vitamins A, B and C.
Depending on where you are, elderberries are ripe for the picking around early-September to mid-October, which also happens to be perfect timing to harvest a handful or two of common hogweed seeds. These incredibly flavoursome, versatile and abundant seeds are a great match when combined with elderberries, adding a warming, orangey-cardamony flavour to the syrup.
Foraging for common hogweed before it’s flowered and gone to seed, comes with a word of caution for beginners – be aware not to confuse it with it’s rightly-feared larger cousin, Giant Hogweed. Whilst common hogweed is one of the easier of the (potentially deadly) carrot family to identify safely, as with all wild ingredients – always be 100% sure before consuming. You can learn more about foraging for common hogweed seeds here.
Elderberries (20x heads)
Water
Honey or sugar (see Step 3 for quantities)
1 tbsp dried common hogweed seeds
2-3 slices of orange peel
2-3 slices of fresh ginger
Once you’ve picked your berries, you’ll need to remove them from their stalks. The best way to do this is to comb through the stalks with a fork into a bowl. Elderberries, their stems, and their leaves are toxic when raw – but thankfully the berries lose their toxicity when cooked. You’ll need to remove as much of the stems and raw berries as possible.
Next, lightly toast your hogweed seeds in a dry pan for a few minutes to release the incredible aromas.
It’s now time to place your berries in a stainless steel pan with half of their volume of water, then simmer very gently for 15-20 minutes. Try to avoid boiling the liquid, as this removes lots of those precious vitamins. To help release all the flavours, we’d recommend using a potato masher to squeeze the berries.
Then, pass the mixture through a fine sieve or muslin cloth, being patient to give it time for all the juice to drip out.
Next, you’ll need to measure your elderberry juice – for every 100ml of liquid you have add half the volume (50g) of sugar or a third of the volume (30g) of honey. At this point, we also added our toasted hogweed seeds, a couple of slices of fresh ginger and orange peel.
Stir and gently simmer for 25 minutes, then strain one final time. Pop the elderberry and hogweed seed syrup in a sterilised glass bottle and store in a cool, dark place – and in the fridge once opened. If you’ve made a big batch, you could also freeze the syrup in ice cube trays.
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Always ensure to use sterilised bottles to store your Elderberry and Hogweed Seed Syrup. Once open, store in the fridge.
Foraging for common hogweed before it’s flowered and gone to seed, comes with a word of caution for beginners – be aware not to confuse it with it’s rightly-feared larger cousin, Giant Hogweed. Whilst common hogweed is one of the easier of the (potentially deadly) carrot family to identify safely, as with all wild ingredients – always be 100% sure before consuming. You can learn more about foraging for common hogweed seeds here.
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