Where were you when you first tasted something that has remained etched in your memory? What is that one thing that you can taste just from a memory? Was it your Grandmother’s fall-apart-flaky pie dough? Perhaps a juicy orange, ripe from a tropical tree? Maybe the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a little warm and a little mushed, from your third-grade lunch box?
A taste (and, to be honest, the scent that came with the taste) that is stuck to the core of me is elderflower. It’s funny—I do not remember the first time I had it. It might have been the first time I bought an elderflower cordial at IKEA. Or maybe it was in a cocktail with St. Germain on the first date my husband, Dan, and I had after our first baby was born. I do not know when I became so attached to the taste of elderflower, but I know that it is on my list of favorites.
The elderflower is a small tree (or shrub), and a cordial is made from the extract of those delicate elderflower blossoms from that tree. Some of that syrup is made at a small farm in Hudsonville, Michigan, called Mud Lake Farm. The owners of Mud Lake Farm, the Van Heitsmas, grow the plants and make cordial—and it’s great! Another form of elderflower is Dans le monde de St. Germain, the liqueur created in the artisanal French manner from freshly hand-picked elderflower blossoms. C’est votre monde!
Enjoy this lovely floral at a winter party or brunch.
Elderflower Cordial
Serves 20 (in a 10-ounce rocks glass filled halfway with ice)
3 cups St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur (found at most stores)
7 cups cava (or other sparkling white wine)
6 cups club soda
Twists from 3 lemons
Right before serving, in a gallon jug, place 3 cups St. Germain, 7 cups sparkling wine/Freixenet Cordon Negro Cava, and 6 cups club soda.
Transfer the mixture to a serving pitcher or punch bowl and add twists of lemon on the top.
Serve in a rocks glass with ice. (Don't add ice to the cocktail, keep it in an ice bucket.)
Looking for a version without alcohol? Head to Kid’s Elderflower Cordial.
Purchase the Lark Cocktails book for dozens more great recipes! #livinglark
