Elderberry Syrup Recipe
Elderberry syrup is practically a treat in our house. Fresh batches never stick around very long and I find myself making more often. I tested a lot of recipes when I first set out to develop one and finally settled on this one as my absolute favorite base recipe. It can also be easily customized if you want to tailor it to your own needs or work with what you have available in your garden, kitchen or apothecary.
Elder is one of the herbs that is associated with a rich history of folklore in seemingly every culture. The elderberry used most often for medicinal purposes comes from the Sambucus nigra tree-like shrub, which produces clusters of dark purple berries from mid summer to early autumn. I have a full lesson on elderberry that I have made available to the public for free here on our website. It is an excerpt from our Herbal Aromatherapy Certification Program™ and you can read it here if you would like. In it, I teach you about how to identify elder when foraging and how to work with the flower and berries in your apothecary. I also share some information about many of the scientific studies that have been done with elder.
Elderberries are a valuable addition to the home apothecary but they are best used after they have been cooked or dried. The raw fruits can cause nausea and digestive issues when consumed because of the chemical composition of their seeds.
Ingredients for the Base Recipe
2 cups of filtered water
1 cup organic elderberries
1.5 cups organic, unrefined sugar (adjust as needed - see instructions below)
1 tsp organic dried ginger root
1/2 tsp organic dried cinnamon powder
1 tbsp organic lemon juice (optional, add with the sugar if you want to use it)
Instructions
Add your water and herbs to a medium sized saucepan and turn on your stove’s burner. Bring the mixture up to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low to keep it at a simmer until the liquid in your pan has reduced by half. This can take anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes. Stay near the stove to keep any eye on things. You don’t want to step away and accidentally let your pot run dry.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove the plant material. Use a spoon or spatula to coax any remaining liquid out of the berries. Measure the amount of liquid decoction you have.
Place your decoction back in your saucepan and add your sugar to the pan. If you are using lemon juice, add that to your pan at this time as well.
The amount of sugar you use depends on how much decoction you used. For my recipe, I had 3/4 cup of decoction, so I used 1.5 cups of sugar. This gives me a 1:2 ratio (decoction : sugar). A 1:2 ratio works well for producing a shelf stable syrup. The sugar acts as a preservative and allows my batch of syrup to last for a longer period of time in the fridge.
You can also use a 1:1 ratio if you want your recipe to contain less sugar. Just keep in mind that it will be less shelf stable and will have a shorter shelf life. You would want to store your syrup in the fridge and use it up within a couple of weeks. It will start to mold / spoil more quickly than a syrup made at a 1:2 ratio would.
Turn the heat back on at a low setting and stir consistently until your syrup begins to leave a coating on the spoon. It will cool to a slightly thicker consistency than you see in your pan. If you have a candy thermometer, you’ll know your syrup is finished when it reaches 220 degrees F.Pour your syrup into a heat-safe container (you can let it cool first if you’d like), add a label with the ingredients and the date you made it, and store it in the fridge.
Elderberry syrup can be taken a teaspoon to a tablespoon at a time throughout the cold and flu season to help support healthy immune function. You can also customize the recipe based on which herbs you have available or the flavors you want to achieve in your finished syrup.
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Erin! I am the main instructor here at Floranella. I am a clinical herbalist, aromatherapist, artisan distiller and organic gardener based in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Floranella, I teach people how to work with plants safely and effectively from the garden to the apothecary. Thanks for being here! I’m glad you stopped by.