Sweet, fragrant elderflower milk & elderflower fritters – sugar free

 

Luxurious elderflower milk drink that boasts a subtle, sweet scent and light sweetness with a little help of stevia-sweet fluid, it’s a perfect elderflower treat you can make in 2 minutes.

Yesterday, I finally managed to get organised enough to collect some elderflowers on my Sunday countryside exploration. I love going and collection free natural foods on walks it’s like Easter egg hunting, looking out for edible treats.

What got me really exited was finding some wild raspberries, which sweetened my excursion greatly. – I do have 4 little raspberry plants in my front garden, every morning I get a little bowl full collected by my husband, he doesn’t really like them but he loves getting them in for me and looking out for more newly ripened ones. You really can’t beat the experience of gathering something that nature provided, so much better than the supermarket “have it all when ever you like” version; it just makes everything more special. You probably think why I haven’t put up a raspberry recipe? Well I just can’t keep my hands off them long enough to get to prepare a fully blown treat, natural is best.

Now – what I like about the Milk infused with the delicate Elderflower flavour makes a healthy and delicious new way to enjoy the elderflower fragrance with no added sugar, just sweeten with stevia. Unlike the alcoholic or sugar laden syrup elderflower treats this one is perfect for sharing with all the family as soon as you get back from the hunting and gathering trip.

 

Elderflower milk, forager’s reward with stevia

Makes 4 glasses

Prep time: 30sec. (cleaning, shaking off bugs and loose leafs)

Cooking: approx. 2min
You need:

• 4 freshly picked clusters of elderflowers
• 800ml fresh milk of your choice (I used skimmed milk)
• 10 drops Stevia-sweet liquid  -or another stevia product of you choice

Note: getting the sweetness to the desired level is a matter of trial and error, the best thing is to start with a smaller amount of whatever Stevia you have on hand, it can be ready-use, liquid or tabs (need to be dissolved too), adding more is easier than diluting – you could end up with a huge amount of treat -Don’t have any Stevia yet? – you can always use normal sweetener products until you are set up.
 

Instructions:

Just warm some milk and pour over a cluster of flowers placed in each glass, sweeten with stevia to taste and leave to infuse for a few minutes.

I was lazy, I just placed the flowers in a glass added the milk and stevia and placed it in the microwave for 1min. –that’s why some of my flower heads have turned brown, see image.

You can also enjoy this elderflower-scented milk as a cold, refreshing drink. Just chill for a bit and add some ice cubes. I think you would agree, elderflower is the quintessential summer flavour.

 

The calorie count for the Elderflower scented milk will depend solely on the type of milk you use.

 

 

 

 

Battered deep fried Elderflower fritters with stevia, a forager’s snack

Since I have already enjoyed the traditional elderflower treats like syrups and cordials and sparkling wine I really wanted to try something new.

I had a look through the net and found quite a few recipes recommending dipping the flower clusters into batter and deep-frying them. Yes I was a bit wary of the deep fry aspect and the calories, but since I never deep fry anything, I think once a year will not kill me.

Others recommended stirring a few flowers into angel cake and muffin batters to give them a light, sweet scent. Maybe I’ll try that later. But now I want something instant.

 

Makes approx. 12 medium clusters

Prep time: 10min

Cooking: approx. 20min
You need:

• 12 or more elderflowers cut, leaving a little bit of the main stalk connected to the flower spring cluster.
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

 

For the pancake batter:

• 100g of plain flour (I used whole meal flower)
• 140ml skimmed milk
• 2 medium eggs
• 2-4 knife-tips Stevia-sweet 90% powder dissolved in 1 table spoons hot water

Note: getting the sweetness to the desired level is a matter of trial and error, the best thing is to start with a smaller amount of whatever Stevia you have on hand, it can be ready-use, liquid or tabs (need to be dissolved too), adding more is easier than diluting – you could end up with a huge amount of treat -Don’t have any Stevia yet? – you can always use normal sweetener products until you are set up.

 

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients and sweeten to taste with your preferred stevia sweetener for the batter set a side of a few minutes, don’t be tempted to skip the resting time for the batter, this is essential for a light result.

Dry Shake away or rinse off any tiny insects by dunking the whole flower heads into a bowl of cold water. Shake off excess water.

Fill a wok or pot with enough oil to allow the flower sprigs to swim.

Test the temperature of the frying oil by dropping in a little batter – it should go golden in seconds.

Dip the dried Elderflower sprigs head first into the batter by holding on to the little main stalk. Place in hot oil and leave until golden brown, turn them over once to get both sides nicely coloured.

Let the fritters rest for a second or two on kitchen paper to soak up any oil before serving as they are or with a fresh lemon zesty yoghurt or quark cream.

Eat immediately – they lose their crispness quickly.

Here’s the nutritional information:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you already collect elderflowers this summer, what did you make with them?

If you haven’t, why not stop and pick some up next time on your way home before the season is over.

MK xx