This time of year is one I enjoy the most - the time when the elder is in bloom - first flowers with a delicate, perfumed taste, followed by elderberries for a rich, fruity flavour.
So a simple start to the season - elder flower fritters. These are shallow fried ones, akin to scotch pancakes or blini, as opposed to the other way of doing them - dipping the whole heads into a tempura-like batter and frying. I’ve found the green stems, even in small quantities can give a sour or bitter taste, so always prefer to put the loose flowers directly into the batter.
Ingredients
1 cup Plain Flour
3/4 cup Milk
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
5 tbsp Elderflowers
2 tbsp Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
Sugar for Dusting
Take 4-5 heads of elderflowers and strip off the flowers with a fork to make 4-5 tbsp of loose flowers.
Beat the egg, milk and vanilla together. In a different bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and sugar together, and whisk in the liquid. Pour in the elderflowers and gently mix.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, and pour in small dollops of batter. Fry until small holes appear in the fritters, flip them over fry the other side until browned.
Dust with sugar and serve hot.
