Elder flower cordial with lemon a la Lønnestræde

I have been twisting this recipe on elder flower cordial a la Lønnestrædeelder flower cordial a la Palle using lemon only instead of the mixture of lemon & lime. I have picking all the elder flowers in just behind my garden in the in the surrounding of Lønnestræde.

You really should try to make your version of elder flower cordial instead of buying an industry product in the supermarket. It is a very easy thing to make and the taste is just so much better !!!

It is very easy to see in the supermarket, when it is high season for making elder flower cordial at home, as the supermarkets are running out for the citric acid powder.

Elder Flower Cordial a la Lønnestræde:

• 40 elder flowers
• 4 lemons - organic - in thin slices
• 40 g citric acid
• 1.5  kg cane sugar
• 2 l water - boiling

1. Shake the elder flowers very, very well, so they are free from various insects. DO NOT use water for this cleaning step, as this will reduce the wonderful taste of elder flower significantly as you remove the "yellow" flavour dust/pollen.
2. Use a scissor to cut the flowers from the flower stem, as these apparently will increase the bitterness level in the final cordial.
3. Place the elder flower into a big bowl, which you can close with a lid at the end.
4. Slice the lemon into thin slices. Add into the bowl.
5. Add the cane sugar on top
6. Add the citric acid as well.
7. Add the boiling water into the bowl.
8. Stir the sugar into solution, so it does not form a sediment on the bottom, which is difficult to dissolved later, when the cordial is cold.
9. Cover the bowl with the lid.
10. Let the content cool down to room temperature, before you place the bowl in the refrigerator.
11. Stir or shake the bowl daily during the infusion time.
12. Let the elder flower cordial infuse for 4 days in the refrigerator.
13. Sieve the cordial to remove all the different ingredients.
14. Prepare the glass bottles by by filling them with boiling water. I do not use any preservatives, so this is important to increase shelf-life of your cordial.
15. You can also use plastic bottles, if you want to freeze the cordial as another way of preserving it. Remember NOT to fill these bottles completely, as liquid will increase in volume, when turning into ice.
16. Enjoy the wonderful Summer time using this cordial as "plain" cordial mixing with water (with or without gas), mixing with wine or sparkling wine. Or mix it gin or vodka and lots of ice.

Rhubarb jam with elder flowers

Besides asparagus it is also high season for fresh rhubarb and blooming elder flowers. I have used this recipe on Midsummer jam (strawberry jam with elder flower) as inspiration.

Other suggestion rhubarb jam could be these: rhubarb-white currant jam, rhubarb-raspberry jam, rhubarb-apple jam, strawberry-rhubarb jam, tomato-rhubarb jam, rhubarb jam & rhubarb jam with vanilla.

Rhubarb jam with elder flowers:

• 500 g rhubarb - stems cut into small pieces
• 1½ dl water
• 250-300 g sugar
• 8 g pectin
• 1 teaspoon citric acid
• 8-10 elder flower stems
• potassium sorbat - optional

1. Clean the rhubarb stems, cut them into 1-2 cm pieces.
2. Place the rhubarb and water into medium size cooking pot.
3. Bring to the boil, let the rhubarb simmer gentle for 15 minutes, until the rhubarb is boiled out.
4. Dry-mix the pectin with 50 g sugar, stir the pectin mixture into the rhubarb mass.
5. Let the rhubarb boil for 4-5 minutes.
6. Add in the citric acid and sugar, and bring a rolling boil.
7. Let the jam boil for 2-4 minutes.
8. Add the elder flowers into the jam, stir well. 
9. Remove the cooking pot from the heat, push any scums from the surface of the pan to the side and remove it with a metal spoon. 
10. Prepare the jam glasses by filling them with boiling water to sterilise them.
11. Fill the glass with jam and close the glass. Store them cold.
12. Store at ambient temperature.

Lønnestræde elderflower cordial with less bitterness

It is this time again of the year, where you in Denmark can make your own elder flower cordial. Many Danes are actually making their own elder flower cordial, some you can quiet frequently during this time experience, that your local supermarket runs out of citric acid !!!

I have fine tunes this recipe on elder flower cordial to get less bitterness from the citrus fruits into the final cordial. So this year I have peel out the skin of both the lemon & lime. When I cut of all of the white citrus layer and thrown all the white stuff away. And final I have sliced the remaining part of the citrus fruits. So I am still using the citrus peel as well as the inside of the citrus fruits for flavour and taste. The majority of the bitterness is sitting in the white part of the citrus skin.

Elder Flower Cordial a la Lønnestræde with less bitterness:

• 40 elder flowers
• 2 lemons - organic - peeled, white skin removed and fruit part sliced
• 4 limes - organic - peeled, white skin removed and fruit part sliced
• 40 g citric acid
• 1.5  kg cane sugar
• 2 l water - boiling

1. Shake the elder flowers very, very well, so they are free from various insects. DO NOT use water for this cleaning step, as this will reduce the wonderful taste of elder flower significantly as you remove the "yellow" flavour dust/pollen.
2. Use a scissors to cut the flowers from the flower stem, as these apparently will increase the bitterness level in the final cordial.
3. Place the elder flower into a big bowl, which you can close with a lid at the end.
4. Peel the citrus fruits. And the peel into the bowl.
5. Cot of the white part of the skin layer (gives bitterness) and cut the remaining part of the citrus fruit into thin slices. Add into the bowl.
6. Add the cane sugar on top
7. Add the citric acid as well.
8. Add the boiling water into the bowl.
9. Stir the sugar into solution, so it does not form a sediment on the bottom, which is difficult to dissolved later, when the cordial is cold.
10. Cover the bowl with the lid.
11. Let the content cool down to room temperature, before you place the bowl in the refrigerator.
12. Stir or shake the bowl daily during the infusion time.
13. Let the elder flower cordial infuse for 4 days in the refrigerator.
14. Sieve the cordial to remove all the different ingredients.
15. Prepare the glass bottles by by filling them with boiling water. I do not use any preservatives, so this is important to increase shelf-life of your cordial.
16. You can also use plastic bottles, if you want to freeze the cordial as another way of preserving it. Remember NOT to fill these bottles completely, as liquid will increase in volume, when turning into ice.
17. Enjoy the wonderful Summer time using this cordial as "plain" cordial mixing with water (with or without gas), mixing with wine or sparkling wine. Or mix it gin or vodka and lots of ice.

Midsummer Jam with balsamico twist

As mentioned yesterday I have so lucky to "borrow a strawberry field" of a rowing friend on Summer vacation. I picked more strawberries, than I could eat, so I decided to all these strawberries into various Summer jams, thereby shaving some of the Danish Midsummer for later use in the Autumn and Winter.

As the first jam I decided to twist to this recipe on Midsummer jam - strawberry jam with elder flower with addition of a little amount of balsamico vinegar, as balsamico marinated strawberries taste fantastic. Perhaps I could have added a little more balsamico vinegar, but it is difficult to remove that extra balsamico vinegar from the jam, if it was too much. I will leave in your capable hands, when you adjust the taste with balsamico. The trick is always to take small steps, and not giant leaps (= teaspoon full).

I just love this combination of strawberries and elder flowers, it makes the jam taste like pure magic :-)

Midsummer Jam with balsamico twist - strawberry jam with elder flowers:

• 600 g strawberries - cut into halves
• ½ dl elder flower cordial
• 9 g pectin / gelling powder
• 330 g sugar
• 4 stems of elder flowers - only the flower heads
• ½ teaspoon of balsamico vinegar
• preservative - optional

1. Heat up the strawberries together with the elder flower cordial in a cooking pot together over low heat. Stir on a regular basis.
2. Heat the fruit up to 80'C. Mix the pectin/gelling powder together with 30 g sugar. Add this dry-mix slowly to the strawberries, while you stir very well in the cooking pot to avoid lump formation.
3. Let the strawberries cook slowly for another 5 minutes. Stir on a regular basis.
4. Add in the rest of the sugar. 
5. Bring the jam to the boiling point and let it boil for 2 minutes.
6. Add in the balsamico vinegar.
7. Taste the jam. If you find it too be to sweet/matured in taste, you can add some apple vinegar to bring freshness back to the jam. I normally do this in smaller steps, so I can fine tune the flavour profile to my preference. It is more easy to add some extra, than to remove an overdose of something.
8. After the tasting adjustments have be done, add the elder flowers and stir well again.
9. Let the jam boil for another 2 minutes.
10. Prepare the jam glasses by filling them with boiling water.
11. Fill the glass with jam and close the glass.
12. Store the jam cold to prolong the shelf-life,

Baiser Rose

With inspiration from my first Summer vacation this year I hereby share this recipe on a cocktail, which were served at the hotel, where my mother and I stated in Alsace, called Basier Rose. We did not taste this appetizer at the hotel, but I noted down the ingredients mentioned on the menu card and based on this, I have created my version of Baiser Rose using both rose liqueur and cremant produced in Alsace.

My mother and I have just enjoyed this cocktail on our return from our Summer holiday. We really did enjoy this drink. The rose flavour is delicate, so my good friends in Horses should be able to relax, if they read this post :-) The level of Martini should not be increased, as it otherwise will dominated the taste.

Baiser Rose: - 1 cocktail

• 5 ml grenadine
• 7.5 ml rose liqueur
• 60 ml Martini bianco
• Cremant or other dry sparkling wine
• Ice cubes

1. Pour grenadine, rose liqueur and Martini into a cocktail glass.
2. Add into the ice cubes
3. Fill up the glass with sparkling wine.
4. Enjoy and have a nice week-end :-)

NKs blue Summer for my teapot 34

When I travelling either business or pleasure I like buy tea as "souvenir", as it brings back the memories of that travel, when ever I enjoy a cup of this tea.

This Spring I spend some days doing Stockholm. Here I brought NKs (Nordiska Kompaniet) blue Summer is a black tea with bergamot flavour, lemon, cooling flavour of vanilla. Decorated with three different sorts of blue flowers.

Both taste and appearance of this tea is a daily pleasure for me :-)

Elder flower cordial a la Lønnestræde

I have been twisting this elder flower cordial a la Palle into elder flower cordial a la Lønnestræde. I find this to be a very fitting name, as all the elder flowers are collected in the surrounding of Lønnestræde.

In order to have more classic version and light pale cordial I have been working with lemon, lime and sugar in light colour.

You should really try to make your version of elder flower cordial instead of buying an industry product in the supermarket. It is a very easy thign to make and the taste is just so much better !!!

It is very easy to see in the supermarket, when it is high season for making elder flower cordial at home, as the supermarkets are running out for the citric acid powder.

Elder Flower Cordial a la Lønnestræde:

• 40 elder flowers
• 2 lemons - organic - in thin slices
• 4 limes - organic - in thin slices
• 40 g citric acid
• 1.5  kg cane sugar
• 2 l water - boiling

1. Shake the elder flowers very, very well, so they are free from various insects. DO NOT use water for this cleaning step, as this will reduce the wonderful taste of elder flower significantly as you remove the "yellow" flavour dust/pollen.
2. Use a siccor to cut the flowers from the flower stem, as these apparently will increase the bitterness level in the final cordial.
3. Place the elder flower into a big bowl, which you can close with a lid at the end.
4. Slice the citrus fruit into thin slices. Add into the bowl.
5. Add the cane sugar on top
6. Add the citric acid as well.
7. Add the boiling water into the bowl.
8. Stir the sugar into solution, so it does not form a sediment on the bottom, which is difficult to dissolved later, when the cordial is cold.
9. Cover the bowl with the lid.
10. Let the content cool down to room temperature, before you place the bowl in the refrigerator.
11. Stir or shake the bowl daily during the infusion time.
12. Let the elder flower cordial infuse for 4 days in the refrigerator.
13. Sieve the cordial to remove all the different ingredients.
14. Prepare the glass bottles by by filling them with boiling water. I do not use any preservatives, so this is important to increase shelf-life of your cordial.
15. You can also use plastic bottles, if you want to freeze the cordial as another way of preserving it. Remember NOT to fill these bottles completely, as liquid will increase in volume, when turning into ice.
16. Enjoy the wonderful Summer time using this cordial as "plain" cordial mixing with water (with or without gas), mixing with wine or sparkling wine. Or mix it gin or vodka and lots of ice.

Tea with Summer flowers

You can add flowers or herbs from your garden into your tea to give it a flavour twist. This time I did not go for a flavour modification of my tea, but for a more visual appealing tea instead of bringing the Summer inside to my tea containers.

I assume it would be better to store your tea in metallic containers to prevent oxidation coming from sun light, when you use glass for storage of tea. However, when you can see inside the tea tin and see how the Summer has moved into your tea as well !!! Therefore I store these type of teas in glass container, which is placed in my little kitchen window being a part of the decoration.

It is important, that you use dried Summer flowers, as un-dried flower heads can make the entire mouldy and thereby undrinkable.

Tea with Summer flowers:

• 50 g Earl Gray tea
• 3-5 heads of eatable Summer flowers - dried

1. Remove the leafs from the Summer flowers, so they are individual, and thereby can give visual impact to the tea.
2. Mix tea leafs and flower leafs together.
3. Store in airtight container.

Karin´s Cake - cake with rhubarb and lavender

For the excellent monthly blogging event known as "Tea Time Treat"  managed Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedge Combers, Jane has selected flapjacks and tray bake as theme for July.

Here in July I can harvest both rhubarb and lavender in my little park, so when my very good girl friend in Horsens shared this recipe of her´s on a cake with me, I decided to bake this cake for the tea table of July, where you sit in your garden drinking tea with lavender, eating cake with lavender and smell the wonderful flavour of lavender surrounding you :-) At this stage my good friend is about to have nightmares about lavender soap attacking her !

Actually I am quiet amazed, that my good girl friend so freely shared with recipe me, as it included the use of lavender !!!! I think, she still recalls these quiet soap-like meringue with lavender and orange bloom, which almost did her in !!!!

Karin´s Cake - cake with rhubarb and lavender:

• 300 g rhubarb - chopped into a length of 2 cm
• 2 stems of lavender - the flowers - and NO than 2 stems
• 1 egg
• 150 g sugar
• 75 g milk
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 100 g (cake) flour
• 20 g almond - chopped - optional

1. Heat up the (conventional) oven to 200'C.
2. Whip egg and milk together in a mixing bowl.
3. Add in the sugar, baking powder and flour and whip again.
4. Stir in the rhubarb pieces and lavender flowers.
5. Pour the cake mass into a baking tray.
6. Decorate the surface with chopped almonds.
7. Bake the cake in the middle of the oven at 200'C for 30 minutes.
8. Cold down the cake, before it is cut into pieces.

Abrikos marmelade med lavendel

For meget lang tid siden faldt jeg over denne opskrift på aprikos marmelade med lavendel af "Lavender and Lovage", som jeg efterfølgende har ladet mig inspirere mig af, da jeg gik i gang med at lave denne marmelade i mit eget køkken. Jeg elsker det,  når jeg kan twiste mine marmelader eller kager med tilsætning af diverse blomster, idet jeg finder at det virker some prikken over i´et på smagen. 

Jeg har prøvet på ikke at lade mig rive med af min blomsterglæde, da jeg tilsatte de enkelte små lavendelblomster til allesidst. Jeg ønsker nemlig ikke, at den endelig marmelade skal smage af sæbe, hvilket en overdosering af lavendel meget nemt kan bevirke. Anvendelse af ​​lavendel giver efter min mening denne marmelade et fransk twist, hvorfor jeg planlægger at medbringe et glas marmelade til en af gode arbejdskollagaer, der er franskmand. Jeg håber ikke, at han får et chok. Det tror, jeg dog ikke, idet man kan købe ren lavendel marmelade i Frankrig :-)

Af følgende justeringer til den oprindelig opskrift er, at jeg anvender væsentligt mindre sukker i mit hjemmelavet syltetøj, idet det giver mere frugtsmag i syltetøjet, udover bare at være sødt syltetøj. Min præference er at anvende et forhold på to dele af frugt til en del sukker. Det bevirker også, at et geleringsmiddel, såsom pektin er nødvendig for at få mere fasthed i slut marmeladen i forhold til marmelade med et højere tørstofindhold. Desuden fjernede jeg også citronsaften, idet jeg i stedet for anvender enten hvidvins- eller æbleeddike til at justere til smagen ind til min ønskede præference for frugt og friskhed.

Ligesom med opskriften på Midsommer Marmelade - jordbærmarmelade med hyldeblomst, så deltager jeg også med denne her opskrift til i opskriftskonkurrencen "Danmarks Lækreste Syltetøj", der arrangeres af magasinet Isabellas og Dansukker. 

Abrikos marmelade med lavendel:

• 860 g abrikos - hver skåret i 6 stykker
• 100 g vand
• 12 g pectin / geldannende pulver
• 430 g sukker + 50 g sukker til allersidst 
• 1/4 tsk hvidvin eller æble eddike - valgfri 
• 5 stilke lavendel.

1. Varm abrikos skiver op sammen med vand i en gryde sammen over svag varme. Rør rundt regelmæssigt.
2. Varm frugten op til 80'C. Tørbland pektin / geldannende pulver sammen med 50 g sukker. Tilføj denne tørblanding langsomt til abrikosen, mens du røre rigtig godt i gryden for at undgå klumpedannelse.
3. Lad abrikos koge yderligere 5 minutter under regelmæssig omrøring.
4. Tilsæt resten af sukkeret.
5. Bring marmeladen op til kogepunktet og lad det koge i 2 minutter.
6. Smag på marmelade. Hvis du finder, at den er for sød i smagen, kan du tilføje lidt eddike til for at bringe friskheden tilbage til smagen. Jeg plejer at gøre det i mindre trin, så jeg kan finjustere smagen til min præference. Det er mere let at tilføje nogle ekstra, end at fjerne en overdosis af noget. Som udgangspunkt bemærkede jeg, at jeg er nødt til at øge sødme niveau for at få mere modenhed ind i smagen for denne her abrikos marmelade, så jeg havde brug for at tilsætte at tilsætte yderligere en ekstra 50 g sukker og nedjustere mængden af eddike til kun 1/4 teske.
7. Forbered marmalde glassene ved at fylde dem med kogende vand. Det er specielt vigtigt, hvis du ikke anvender konserveringsmidler i din marmelade. Desuden skal du opbevare marmeladen i køleskabet for at øge holdbarheden.
8. Fyld glasset med marmelade, afslut med at placere individuelle lavendel blomster på toppen af ​​marmeladen. Jeg justerede mængden af ​​lavendel, afhængigt af størrelsen på marmelade glasset, hvorpå glasset lukkes med låg.
9. Opbevar marmeladen koldt.

Apricot jam with lavender

Quiet some time ago I noticed this recipe on apricot and lavender jam by Lavender and Lovage, which I must admit I found quiet interesting to use as inspiration for some jam cooking in my own little kitchen. I really to twist my jam cooking and cake baking by twist the flavour by addition of more kind of flowers, so the use of lavender is fitting perfect in this preference of mine.

I did my best to control the amounted of added individual lavender flowers, so the final taste of this jam is not turned into a soap flavour. The use of lavender is my opinion giving a French twist, so I am planning to bring a glass of this jam to one of my French work colleagues. Lets hope he will not get a chock by the lavender. I think this will not be case, as you can buy pure lavender jam in France :-)

One of my modification was, that I am using less sugar in my jams, so get more fruitiness and just plain sweetness in my jams. Therefore I use a ratio of two parts of fruit to one part of sugar. This also means, that a gelling agent so as pectin is needed to get more firmness in your jam compared to making jams with a higher dry matter content. I also decided to remove the lemon juice, as I a keen user of white wine or apple vinegar to adjust to my desired preference of freshness as this increase the fruitiness in the final jam.

As for Midsummer Jam - strawberry jam with elder flowers I will also be forwarding this specific recipe to a Danish competition hosted by the magazine Isabellas and Dansukker, the name of this competition is "Danmarks Lækreste Syltetøj" (The most delicious Danish Jam).

Apricot jam with lavender:

• 860 g apricot - each cut into 6 pieces
• 100 g water
• 12 g pectin / gelling powder   
• 480 g sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of white wine or apple vinegar - optional
• 5 strings of lavender.

1. Heat up the apricot slices together with water in a cooking pot together over low heat. Stir on a regular basis.
2. Heat the fruit up to 80'C. Mix the pectin/gelling powder together with 50 g sugar. Add this dry-mix slowly to the apricot, while you stir very well in the cooking pot to avoid lump formation.
3. Let the apricot cook slowly for another 5 minutes. Stir on a regular basis.
4. Add in the rest of the sugar. 
5. Bring the jam to the boiling point and let it boil for 2 minutes.
6. Taste the jam. If you find it too be to sweet/matured in taste, you can add some vinegar to bring freshness back to the jam. I normally do this in smaller steps, so I can fine tune the flavour profile to my preference. It is more easy to add some extra, than to remove an overdose of something. As starting point I noticed, that I need to increase the sweetness level as starting point to get more ripeness in this apricot jam, so I needed up with adding an extra 50 g sugar and also the vinegar amount was reduced to only 1/4 teaspoon.
7. Prepare the jam glasses by filling them with boiling water. I do not use any preservatives in my home-made jam, so this is important to increase shelf-life of your jam. Another thing you can do is to store the jam cold afterwards.
8. Fill the glass with jam, place individual lavender flowers on top of the jam. I adjusted the amount of lavender depending on the size of the jam glass and when close the glass.
9. Store the jam cold.

Midsommer Marmelade - jordbærmarmelade med hyldeblomst

Denne uge har jeg "lånt" et jordbærbed bestående af 3 rækker på hver 5 meter af jordbærplanter for den fantastisk "gratis" af en roven. Jeg synes, at ​​det er et fantastisk tilbud - tænk at kunne plukke friske jordbær hver eneste dag for 0 kr !!! Jeg ved ikke noget bedre end at sidde på hug en dejlig sommerdag/aften i et jordbær og svælge mig i sommervarme jordbær :-)

Det eneste, som jeg ikke havde overvejet nærmere, var mængden af ​​jordbær, som jeg kan plukke hver dag ! Jeg kan plukke imellem 1-2 kg jordbær hver evige eneste dag !!! At spise 1-2 kg jordbær vil være noget af en opgave med mindre du har en større husstand. Så jeg måtte iføre mig min idehat, så jeg kan få alle disse mange dejlige jordbær.

En af mine første idé var at lave denne her Midsommer Marmelade, som er en kombination  af jordbær og hyldeblomster, som begge har højsæson på nuværende tidspunkt. Samtidig kan jeg også deltage med denne her opskrift i opskriftskonkurrencen "Danmarks Lækreste Syltetøj", der arrangeres af magasinet Isabellas og Dansukker. 

Jeg elsker denne her kombination af jordbær og hyldeblomster, det gør, at marmeladen smager som ren magi :-) Og mine kolleger, der ligeledes havde fornøjelsen at smage den pågældende marmelade i går morges til vores ugentlige morgenmøde, elskede også smagen i min marmelade og udbad sig samtidig opskriften.

Midsommer Marmelade - jordbærmarmelade med hyldeblomst:

• 800 g jordbær - skåret i to halvdele
• 3/4 dl hyldeblomst koncentrat
• 12 g pectin / syltetøjspulver
• 450 g sukker
• 4 stilke hyldeblomster - kun blomsterhovederne
• ½ tsk hvidvineddike eller æble eddike - valgfri

1. Varm jordbærene op sammen med hyldeblomst koncentratet i en gryde sammen over svag varme. Rør regelmæssigt rundt.
2. Varm frugten op til 80'C. Tørbland pektin / syltetøjspulver sammen med 50 g sukker. Tilsæt denne tørblanding langsomt til frugten, mens du rører rigtig godt rundt for at undgå klumpedannelse.
3. Lad jordbærene koge langsomt i yderligere 5 minutter. Rør regelmæssigt rundt.
4. Tilsæt af sukkeret.
5. Bring marmeladen til kogepunktet og lad det koge i 2 minutter.
6. Smag på marmelade. Hvis du finder, at den er for sød, kan du tilføje lidt eddike for at give marmeladen en mere frisk frugtsmag. Jeg plejer at tilsætte eddike lidt eller lidt, mens jeg finjustere smagen til min præference. Det er meget letter at tilsætte mere eddike end at fjerne for meget eddike, hvis smagen er blevet for syrlig.
7. Efter tilsmagningen tilsættes hyldeblomster og der rør rundt igen
8. Lad marmelade koge i yderligere 2 minutter.
9. Forbered marmalade glassene ved at fylde dem med kogende vand. Det er specielt vigtigt, hvis du ikke anvender konserveringsmidler i din marmelade. En anden måde at forlænge holdbarheden på er, at opbevare marmeladen koldt i køleskabet bagefter.
10. Fyld glassene med marmelade og luk glasset.
11. Opbevar marmeladen koldt.

Midsummer Jam - strawberry jam with elder flowers

This week I have "rented" a strawberry bed consisting of 3 rows of 5 meters of strawberry plants "for free" of a rowing friend. I think this is an amazing offer, as I can go and pick fresh strawberries every single day. The only thing, which I did not consider was the amount of strawberries, which I picking everyday. I pick between 1-2 kg strawberries every single day !!!! Eating 1-2 kg strawberries can prove to be something of task, if you are not a large house hold. So I have to come up with idea as how to use all these strawberries !

One of my first idea was to make this Midsummer Jam combined strawberries and elder flowers, which both are peeking around Midsummer :-) I will also be forwarding this specific recipe to a Danish competition hosted by the magazine Isabellas and Dansukker, the name of this competition is "Danmarks Lækreste Syltetøj" (The most delicious Danish Jam). My colleagues did enjoy a portion of the Midsummer Jam yesterday at our weekly breakfast meeting, and found it all to be very tasteful and a the same time asked me to share the recipe with them, which I hereby do :-)

I love this combination of strawberries and elder flowers, it makes the jam taste like pure magic :-)

Midsummer Jam - strawberry jam with elder flowers:

• 800 g strawberries - cut into halves
• 3/4 dl elder flower cordial
• 12 g pectin / gelling powder
• 450 g sugar
• 4 stems of elder flowers - only the flower heads
• ½ teaspoon of white wine or apple vinegar - optional

1. Heat up the strawberries together with the elder flower cordial in a cooking pot together over low heat. Stir on a regular basis.
2. Heat the fruit up to 80'C. Mix the pectin/gelling powder together with 50 g sugar. Add this dry-mix slowly to the strawberries, while you very well in the cooking pot to avoid lump formation.
3. Let the strawberries cook slowly for another 5 minutes. Stir on a regular basis.
4. Add in the rest of the sugar. 
5. Bring the jam to the boiling point and let it boil for 2 minutes.
6. Taste the jam. If you find it too be to sweet/matured in taste, you can add some vinegar to bring freshness back to the jam. I normally do this in smaller steps, so I can fine tune the flavour profile to my preference. It is more easy to add some extra, than to remove an overdose of something.
7. After the tasting adjustments have be done, add the elder flowers and stir well again.
8. Let the jam boil for another 2 minutes.
9. Prepare the jam glasses by filling them with boiling water. I do not use any preservatives in my home-made jam, so this is important to increase shelf-life of your jam. Another thing you can do is to store the jam cold afterwards.
10. Fill the glass with jam and close the glass.
11. Store the jam cold.

Rose sugar a la Loisa Lorang

Looking around for lilac flower in my neighbourhood I also stumbled on a long row of dog roses, which brought two recipe containing dog roses back into my memory, one being this recipe on rose sugar a la Louisa Lorang  and the second one being rose syrup.

Typically you will find dog roses along the coastline of Denmark, where this plant is an unwanted invasive plant. Dog roses are blooming in the June, right here and now you actually see, that the dog roses have started to turn their roses into rosehip, but you still have time for collecting your own dog rose petals.

The rose syrup can be used in cakes, cookies or ice cream. While I am sitting here and writing this blog post, I am starting to think about making a flower afternoon tea, so my very good friends in Horsens, you can already now start to worry about my "evil" flower idea for an afternoon tea :-)

UPDATE June 2014:
This elder flower tea is another match made in heaven for the monthly blogging event Tea Time Treats have the theme of flower. Tea Time Treast is managed by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedge Combers. The theme for June 2014 has been selected by Karen to be "get floral in flaming June".

Rose sugar a la Loisa Lorang:

• 300 g sugar
• 22 g freshly picked rose petals of dog roses
• 1 stem of lemon grass - roughly chopped

1. Blend sugar, rose petals and lemongrass in a food processor.
2. Spread the sugar on to a baking tray covered with baking paper in a thin layer.
3. Heat the sugar in a conventional oven at 80'C (not using the fan) for 30-45 minutes, until the sugar is t is completely dry.
4. Let the sugar cool and blend it if needed in a food processor.
5. Store the sugar in an airtight container.

Rose syrup a la "Maden i mit liv"

 Quiet some time a go I found this recipe on rose syrup on the blog "Maden i mit liv". In connection with my "hunt" for lilacs for lilac cordial I passed by a long row of dog rose bush in my neighbourhood, and when I remembered two recipes, which were having dog roses as main and most important ingredient, one being rose syrup and he second being rose sugar.

Typically you will find dog roses along the coastline of Denmark, where this plant is an unwanted invasive plant. Dog roses are blooming in the June, right here and now you actually see, that the dog roses have started to turn their roses into rosehip, but you still have time for collecting your own dog rose petals.

The rose syrup can be used in drink and cocktails, as syrup on pancakes, ice cream or yogurt.




UPDATE June 2014:
This elder flower tea is another match made in heaven for the monthly blogging event Tea Time Treats have the theme of flower. Tea Time Treast is managed by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedge Combers. The theme for June 2014 has been selected by Karen to be "get floral in flaming June".

Rose syrup a la "Maden i mit liv":

• 100 g freshly picked rose hips rose leaves
• 400 g water
• ½ lemon - juice of it
• 200 g sugar

1. Rinse the rose petals well, so there is no unwanted animals left in them.
2. Add rose petals and water into a larger cooking pot. Bring roses and water to the boil and let everything simmer for 5-10 minutes. The cooking process is done with the lid on, so all the wonderful flavours remains inside.
3. Remove the cooking pot from from the heat and pass it through a fine sieve, removing the rose petals. Put pressure on the rose petals to get the every single drop of liquid out of them.
4. Add the liquid back into the cooking pot together with lemon juice and sugar.
5. Once the sugar is dissolved, the rose syrup is actually finished, however, you can boil it in to desired consistency.
6. Pour the hot syrup into bottle, which has been heated in advance with boiling water.
7. Store the rose syrup cold in the refrigerator.

Liliac cordial

One of the lovely smells of springtime here in Denmark is the magic smell of lilac blooming in garden and along the roadside together their wonderful colours of white, light purple, light pink and purple.

I had no idea, that you could use the lilac flowers for making jams or cordial. However I recently found some recipe on such on Facebook.

I first took myself the time yesterday for hunting the wonderful flower lilac. It is really at the end of the blooming season for lilac. And I was luckily to find a white lilac still blooming in the boundary of garden, where I hidden could cut the needed flower heads !!! I did not dare to cut the lilac in my neighbours front gardens !!!

I imaging, that I will use this lilac cordial for ice cream, cake and cocktails.

This lilac cordial is fitting perfect into the monthly blogging event Tea Time Treats, which is managed by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedge Combers. The theme for June 2014 has been selected by Karen to be "get floral in flaming June".

Lilac cordial a la "Mad og Bolig":

• 1½ organic lemon - thinly sliced
• 20 lilac flower heads
• 900 g sugar
• 30 g of citric acid
• 1250 g boiling water
• ¼ teaspoon Atamon (preservative) - optional

1. Remove all the small flower head from the the bunch of lilac flower, as the green part easily can give bitterness to the final cordial.
2. Put flower heads, sugar, citric acid and lemon slices into a big bowl.
3. Pour the boiling water over and stir a few times in it, so the sugar is dissolved.
4. Mix Atamon in some of the hot juice and add it to the mixture.
5. Cover the bowl with a lid or cling film
6. Let the mix stand in refrigerator for 3 days.
7. Sieve the liquid into clean bottles.
8. Store the lilac cordial in the refrigerator.

Easter Tea with violet and orange - Easter Calendar 2014

Today is Easter Saturday, being the third day of the Danish Easter vacation. And today it is time for making your own Easter tea. Instead of using various spieces as done in Christmas tea, I decided to use the approach, when making this Elder flower tea. As the violet petals are dry, where was no need for drying them, before mixing them with the tea.

UPDATE 13 March 2016:
These Easter eggs are being forward for the monthly blogging event Tea Time Treats having the theme of Easter and Spring. Tea Time Treast is managed by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedge Combers.

Easter Tea with violet and orange: - 50 g tea

• 50 g Assam tea
• 1 orange (organic) - only the zest 
• 2 tablespoons of violet petels

1. Use a citrus peeler to remove the zeat in a thin layer from the orange
2. Let the orange peel dry for 2-4 hours on top of  a warm radiator.
3. Remove all the petals from the violets. As they seem to be dry, where is no need for drying them.
4. Mix the tea with the dried orange zest and violet petals together in glass, which is air tight.
5. Let the tea stand for a few hours, before making the first cup/pot of tea.

Rose Lemonade Scones a la "Lavender & Lovage"

When I original found these recipe by Lavender and Lovage on Rose Lemonade Scones I knew at once, that I needed to save this recipe, so I could make it for an afternoon tea. This afternoon tea turned out to be the PINK fund-raising afternoon tea 2013, which I find very fitting PINK and rose scones, they sort of both belong to the same colour :-)

The only minor hurdle about this recipe was, how to get hold of the most important ingredient in form of Fentiman´s Rose lemonade, as I not living in England, but here in Denmark. To overcome this minor hurdle you need to involve your surrounding network !!! My good friends from Horsens were going to England on Summer vacation bringing their own car, so they were "informed" to keep their eyes open for this specific lemonade. Luckily enough they found this lemonade and took it home to me. Later on I have located a wine web shop here in Denmark, which apparently should be selling this lemonade. So now I need to try our this "Danish option".

The taste of rose is great, however I was not to happy about the consistency of the scones dough before baking, as it extremely difficult to cut and handled. So another time I think I will be using this scones recipe as starting point instead of


Rose Lemonade Scones a la "Lavender & Lovage": - 9 scones

• 125 ml rose lemonade - Fentiman's Rose Lemonade
• 300 g (cake) flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 50 g sugar 
• 125 g sour cream with 38% fat
• 2 tablespoon milk for glazing

1. Heat up the (conventional) oven to 250'C.
2. Add the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar into a mixing bowl. Stir it well together.
3. Add the rose lemonade and sour cream on top, and stir the mass together to a homogeneous mass, but do not over mix the dough.
4. Place the dough onto a surface covered with flour and pressing out into a thickness of approx 2 cm.
5. Cut the scones out, I normally a glass for this purpose
6. Place the scones a baking tray covered with baking paper.
7. Glaze the scones with milk.
8. Bake the scones in the upper part of the oven at 250'C for 10-15 minutes.
9. Serve the scones warn with whipped cream and rose jam !!!

Lavender honey flapjacks with extra lavender

After my first attempt on making fruit and mixed seed flapjacks for the monthly Tea Time Treat blogging event I have become a little attracted on these flapjacks. Some how they remind about one of my childhood favourite in form of mixing oat flakes with sugar and when just eating the dry-mix as a "sweet treat". Flapjacks are containing these two things combined with yet another good thing butter - plenty of butter !

So when I was looking through the September 2013 Tea Time Treats round up, I found an interesting recipe made by Lavender and Lovage made from lavender honey, oat flakes, sugar and butter, and I just knew at once, that I needed to try out this recipe, as I have am having an attraction towards using flowers in my food.

I decided to add in some extra dried lavender, doing my best to constraint myself keeping the dosage down to 1/4 of teaspoon full. I think this extra addition of lavender would give my good girl friend in Horsens a serious nightmare, when she reads this post on something containing lavender !!!! as she is still recovering from these meringues with lavender and orange bloom.

Lavender honey flapjacks with extra lavender: - 12 flapjacks

• 3 tablespoons lavender honey
• 125 g butter
• a pinch of sea salt
• 75 g soft brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon lavender - optimal
• 250 oat flakes

1. Heat up the (conventional) oven to 200'C.
2. Cover a 20 x 25 cm baking tray with baking paper.
3. Melt the butter, lavender honey, salt, sugar and lavender together in a small cooking pot over medium heat, until it is bubbling.
4. Add the oat flakes into this mass and mix everything well together.
5. Add this mix into the baking tray and use the cooking spoon to press the mass even into the baking tray.
6. Bake the flapjack at 200'C for 20 minutes or until the flapjacks are just browning around the edges.
7. Use a sharp knife to cut the warm flapjack mass into squares.
8. Let the flapjacks cool down in the baking tray, before storing them in a airtight container.