Elderberry Rob
Elderberries have been an important part of a herbalists medicine store for millennia. As far back as 700 A.D. Charlemagne had elder planted throughout his Kingdom to be used medicinally. More recently scientific research has proven the role elderberries have in boosting the immune system.
There are many recipes for Elderberry Rob (a thickened fruit or vegetable syrup) but this is the one we have used for years. At the first sign of a cough or cold we reach for the Rob. You can either take it as a syrup straight from a spoon or as we prefer, add hot water to make a hot toddy and add lemon, honey or whisky as you wish.
Ingredients
Elderberries
Sugar
Spices (choose from cinnamon, fresh ginger, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns)
Method:
Wash the elderberries and pick them off the stalks. The eaiest way to do this is with a fork. Elderberry juice stains everything it touches so take care.
Put the elderberries and spices in a pan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Cool and strain off the liquid.
For each 100 ml of juice add 50g sugar.
Slowly bring back to the boil stirring to dissolve all the sugar.
Pour into hot sterilized bottles and seal
This should keep for a year until the next picking season. Refrigerate after opening.