Wild sloe and elderberry

elderberry with honey

elderberry fermenting in honey

sloe coulis

First dry and sunny morning, get out to have a walk, knowing that it is the season for wild berries, we bring along bags for foraging. 

Indeed found very juicy sloe and elderberry. 

Elderberry seed and stalk have mildly irritating materials and need to be either cooked or fermented out. I choose using honey for the fermentation. Simply add raw honey 1 part to 2 parts of elderberry, mix well and let it ferment at room temperature. Stir once or twice every day until berries submerged. When bubbling stop, ready to use the cordial. 

For sloe, there is a lot more work to get rid of the small stone. First cover with water and bring to boil, berry will be soft very fast.

Press with potato crusher to break the berries, then press and pass through a sieve, to get the stones out. 

Boil the puree and sweeten to your taste, store in freezer.