Elderflower Champagne

• 25- 30 full Elderflower Heads in full bloom
• 2 kg Sugar
• 2 lt Water
• 4 Lemons, juice and pared zest
• 1-2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• Dried Yeast, pinch

1. Boil the water and pour onto the sugar in a large previously sterilised container.
2. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add cold water up to 6 litres.
3. Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.
4. Cover and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. At this point, check and if it has not started to ferment (a few bubbles) add a pinch of yeast.
5. Leave the mixture to ferment, covered for a further four days.
6. Strain the liquid through a muslin lined sieve into sterilised champagne glass bottles. Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for a further eight days before serving, chilled.

Tips

Gather the flower heads on a dry day when they have a lot of sweetly smelling blossom

Only a pinch of yeast is needed if fermentation has not started. If too much is added the gas can cause the mixture to fizz out of the bottle or the bottle to explode! For this reason, it is best not to shake the bottles and to store the champagne in the fridge or a cool place.