It was a cold and frosty late afternoon on December 30th when Zillah and I decided to go chasing Gorse flowers. Vibrantly bright, Gorse certainly isn’t a timid plant. I love to graze on Gorse flowers when I walk. The sweet nectar that hides itself away at the bottom of the bud trickles onto my taste buds.
Today we gathered enough Gorse flowers to make a gorgeous Mid-Winter cordial you can have as a refreshing drink, or why not try it dribbled liberally over ice-cream.
A sweet, delicate cordial that becomes infused with the subtle coconut flavour of Gorse. It’s actually best to make this recipe in the Spring time when the flavour of the Gorse flowers is stronger. But we couldn’t resist this Mid-Winter treat, and although the flavour wasn’t as strong as in Spring time, it still makes a lovely drink.
Ingredients
- 600ml/21fl oz cold water
- 250g/1/2lb caster sugar
- Zest: 1 orange
- Juice: 1 lemon
Step 1
Gather 4 large handfuls of Gorse flowers.
Step 2
Measure out 250g/1/2lb of caster sugar.
Step 3
Measure out 600ml/21fl oz of cold water.
Step 4
Bring the water and sugar mixture to a rapid boil and keep boiling for 10 minutes. Remove pan from the heat.
Step 5
Juice 1 lemon
Step 6
Grate the zest of 1 orange.
Step 7
Measure 4 handfuls of Gorse flowers.
Step 8
Add the lemon juice, orange zest, and Gorse flowers to the sugar water (syrup). Stir in well and leave until cooled or overnight.
Step 9
Strain the liquid through muslin or a jelly bag into a clean container such as a glass jug.
Step 10
You should end up with roughly 500ml/18fl oz of liquid.
Step 11
Pour into a sterile bottle, cap and store. Refrigerate once you have given into temptation. Enjoy your Gorse flower cordial syrup.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Your presentation of recipes including very, very, VERY clear HOW-TO illustrations for identification of the appropriate plants, is *exactly* right, and dispels the inevitable edgey feeling of
‘ermermerm …have I picked something I can *really* eat’ -
that can quite spoil any meal made with wild weeds, no matter how sure you know you ought to be.
Got to try the Gorse syrup tomorrow.
So far, from my own efforts, crispy fried nettles (just leaves from the top of the plant – they dont have to be baby leaves) are among my favourites. They are SO light – fairy crisps, with a distinctive aristocratic flavour. I drop in a few handfuls into hot oil, for a couple of minutes with some stirfry veg., when the rest is cooked.
Hi. Just made some gorse champagne the other day, well my partner did but i helped pick the flowers. This will deffo be out next experiment with the gorse flowers i think.
Oh.My.Gosh.. this recipe is just amazing! I made a batch last week, and my husband, daughter and I are now so addicted we went out to the local moors and gathered a whole shopping bag full of flowers!
We’ve had it as a drink, poured over vanilla ice-cream with strawberries, and mixed it in with smoothies. It also makes an amazing cocktail mixer, with rum added and served over ice. I should imagine it’d make a great sorbet too!
Thank you!
is there a secret to picking the flowers so that you don’t get spiked by all those prickles?
Mary: The best way to prevent getting pricked is to ‘Pay Attention’ and ‘Be Observant’. ‘Mindfulness’ is a word useful to would-be foragers. Kind of like a meditative state of ‘Focused Presence’.
hello sounds goodto me i am going down to the river to pick some gorse flowers keen to try it
I remembered this page when I was knee deep in a sand bunker on the 4th hole of my local golf course….funnily enough, being stranded in a bunker with a bountiful gorse bush behind me was no longer a bad thing!!! Great recipe! Thanks for the inspiration :O)
Great post. I’ve been looking for January wild food recipes and this fits the bill pefectly as I intend to collect flowers for the dyepot anyway. Thank you PS, I have posted this to the Wild Food Foraging Facebook group page as it will be refreshing to see a january recipe that is not fish
http://www.facebook.com/WildFoodUK?ref=ts&v=wall#!/WildFoodUK
Surely there is an easy way to pick of the flowers from the gorse bush, also does anyone else have any other reciepes from gorse flowers
Gorse is a major problem over here in New Zealand and I have been wondering what else we could do with it. It does make very good firewood. Our guests love produce grown in our own garden and particularly our own honey so I will certainly be making the cordial. I would be grateful to receive a copy of your wine or champaign recipe please.
Well done, your instructions are superb.
Susie
Susie – I don’t have any gorse wine or other alcohol recipes.
apparently Alex has a gorse champagne recipe – c’mon Alex – share it
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