elderberry flowers
The blossoms of the elderberry can be identified immediately with the
appearance of small white flowers in late spring along with black-red
fruits reminiscent of berries. The elderberry itself can be found in any
health-food store as an ingredient in cold and flu and syrups. The
fascinating thing that I discovered is that elderberry extract is great
for cooking and baking and so easy to prepare at home, so I came up with
a recipe that uses elderberry extract to make a delicious cookie that
is sure to sweeten your day.
Ingredients for elderberry extract:
Sugar - 3.5 oz.
Water - 3.5 fl oz.
Elderberry flowers - 0.7 oz
Ingredients for elderberry cookies:
Flour - 1 3/4 cups
Butter - 9 oz.
Sugar - 3.5 oz.
Elderberry extract - tbsp.
Chocolate chips - 1/3 cup
Lemon zest - 1 tbsp.
Vanilla Extract - 1 tbsp.
Powdered sugar - as garnish
Method of preparing the elderberry extract:
Take a few elderberry flowers and cook them in water, almost to a simmer, at a ratio of 1 : 5 (flowers : water)
Remove the flowers and leave only liquids in the pot. Bring to a
boil, stirring. Add the sugar and simmer. Let the sugar melt slowly,
simmering, until you have a syrup consistency, stirring constantly. Once
you're satisfied with the consistency, remove from the heat, allow
cooling and store in a glass jar in the fridge.
Method of preparing the elderberry cookies:
In a bowl mix 1/2 a cup of sugar, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and 3 tbsp. of elderberry extract.
Add the butter and beat until you get a creamy texture. Sift the flour and add to the sugar and butter, mix until a soft dough is formed. Add the chocolate chips.
Roll the dough to a thickness of 1/3-inch (1 cm) and wrap in plastic wrap, put in the refrigerator for an hour.
Preheat your oven to 350 °F (180 °C), remove the dough from the refrigerator, and cut the roll into slices. Apply some elderberry extract over the cookies and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. You can sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving, after the cookies have cooled down a little.
Chef's Tip:
The syrup will last 3 months in the fridge. It can be used to top many
desserts, you can also add it to drinks or use it as a homemade cough
syrup.
