Having made my Elderflower & Ginger Cordial this summer (2018), I thought it would also be glorious to create Elderflower & Raspberry Cordial, too as I LOVE both and I felt they would combine beautifully. I was right! And here is the resulting recipe….. Again, as I felt intuitively that using citric acid was the wrong thing to do as I wished this to be as pure as possible (it is often used in elderflower cordials to prevent the elderflowers from going brown whilst soaking the juice), I used extra lemons and lemon oil instead, which have a lot of citric acid in them naturally. The combination of flavours between the raspberries; elderflowers and zestiness of the lemons, is divine!
Preparation / Cooking Time:- 1 hour + 48 hours soaking time
Quantity:- 3.5 litres
Equipment
Preserving Pan -  Wooden Spoon - Sieve - Juicer - Tablespoon -  Scales - Large Tea Towel  - 7 ×500 ml Bottles - Kettle
Small Bowl - Medium Bowl
Very large Bowl - Dropper - Funnel - Ladle - Rubber Gloves - Muslin Bag
Ingredients
1.25kg / 2 pints Agave Syrup  - 2 lbs / 1 kg Raw Cane Sugar - 20 drops Lemon Oil -  2 litres / 4 pints Boiling Water
10 Lemons - 1 lb / 500g Raspberries - 60 Elderflowers
Method

1. Boil the water – pour into the preserving pan and add the agave syrup and raw sugar. Stir until dissolved. Leave to cool
2. Put the Raspberries in the Medium Bowl and crush with the wooden spoon. Add to the preserving pan
3. Zest and juice 3 of the lemons and add to the preserving pan. Slice up three of the un-zested lemons and add to the pan then juice the remaining four lemons, adding them to the mixture. Stir well
4. Add the 20 drops of lemon oil
5. Put the elderflower heads in the syrup – mixing well – stir by hand and cover with the tea towel. Put in a cool place for 48 hours
6. Wearing the rubber gloves, remove the lemons; elderflowers and crushed raspberries , carefully straining them a little at a time through the muslin bag into the very large bowl (discarding the “spent” fruit and flowers as you go). When all has been strained, carefully pour the remainder of the liquid into the very large bowl, passing through the sieve to catch any remaining crushed raspberries; flowers and lemon zest etc.
7. Wash out the preserving pan and pour the reserved cordial mixture back in.
8. Place on a high heat and bring the cordial mixture to the boil, which takes appropriately 15 minutes
9. Boil rapidly for 5 minutes, skimming constantly with the tablespoon (use the small bowl to store the scum). Switch off the heat
10. Boil the kettle and, using the funnel, pour boiling water into each of the bottles, discarding after a few minutes before using the funnel and ladle to decant the hot cordial into each. Secure the tops and allow to cool. Once cooled, label and store in a cool place. Consume within 6 months

                                                                                                                                     
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