How to Make Homemade Elderberry Syrup
With colder months upon us and the season of catching some kind of bug right around the corner, there’s no better time to make some elderberry syrup! Elderberries are filled with vitamins and antioxidants! That’s why we can use them to help prevent cold and flu symptoms. Follow along to learn how to make this immune-boosting syrup!
When to harvest the elderberries
If you’re picking your own elderberries, it’s very important to know when to harvest them. That’s because picking too early, and not cooking properly, can make you sick! Elderberries start green when they’re first growing, turn to reddish color, then start darkening to purple, and eventually black. Then they are ready for you to pick! Make sure you leave them until they are a nice black color!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup elderberries
- 3/4 tbsp ginger
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 3 cups water
- 3/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch for a flurry
Instructions:
- In a pot, pour your water, lemon juice, berries, ginger, and cinnamon. ( If using fresh elderberries, make sure to remove all the stems before putting them in the pot.
- Bring it to a boil.
- Add your slurry made from cornstarch.
- Turn the heat down to medium and cover. Let cook down for about 40 minutes.
- Give a stir to make sure it’s the consistency you want, if not add more slurry.
- Tip! You can make more slurry by using a little bit of your syrup in the bowl to mix the cornstarch. This way you won’t water down your recipe!
- Pour your liquid into a bowl either using a mesh drainer or cheesecloth.
- Place in fridge until cool
- Fill your containers of choice, and you have elderberry syrup!
