Ingredients
The following ingredients have 2 Servings
- 1 pound (4 cups) fresh or frozen elderberries, or 1/2 pound dried elderberries, picked over and all stems removed.
- 3 cups filtered water
- 1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar (can increase quantity to taste)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 small piece fresh ginger, peeled (optional)
Instruction
- To make juice, place berries in a large, heavy saucepan along with water. Cover and bring to a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, mashing berries with a potato masher until they soften and release their juices.Press berries through a food mill or fine mesh sieve. Discard solids. Strain juice a second time through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth to remove any remaining solids. You should have about 2 2/3 cups of juice.Pour 2 1/2 cups prepared juice into a saucepan along with honey, lemon juice, and ginger. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until syrup has thickened slightly and reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard ginger. Once cooled, syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months (pour syrup into ice cube trays to make for easy dosing).If you will be canning the syrup, while the berries are cooking, fill a large stock pot or canning pot 2/3 full with water; place a rack of some sort in the bottom and place over medium-high heat. Wash/sterilize your jars and submerge in water bath as it heats. The pot should be just about boiling by the time the syrup is reduced and ready to go. Keep jars in hot (not boiling) water until ready to use.Ladle hot syrup into sterilized jars, leaving 1/8-inch of head space. Wipe jar rims and screw on lids. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes (7 if using smaller jars), then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Check seals. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within 2 weeks.
