The Elderflower Is the New Flavor Inspired by Meghan Markle

It’s official. Elderflower is the “it” ingredient. According to Food Network Magazine, it is the flavor of the year. Elderflower liqueur has been zipping up artisan cocktails for a while. But the big kickoff was Meghan Markle’s lemon sponge wedding cake soaked in elderflower liqueur. Now elderflower seems to be everywhere, even in sodas. Now that Markle just gave birth to a baby boy – maybe you can have something with elderflower to celebrate.

Want proof of elderflower’s popularity? US sales for IKEA’s elderflower syrup and marmalade jumped more than 50 percent in the last year. What does elderflower taste like? It’s subtle, a little bit like pear, more of a perfume than a taste. Cordials and liqueurs have a reputation for sweetness, to preserve the fruit. Elderflower is therefore used in small proportions of any recipe.

British Company Belvoir Fruit Farms, which brought its elderflower syrups and lemonades to the US six years ago, has dozens of recipe ideas on its web site, including desserts, soups, main dishes, even one involving prawns. The image at top is Belvoir’s elderflower poppyseed cake.

Food Network magazine suggested this: mix elderflower with white wine, or drizzle it over ice cream for a floral flavor is lighter than lychee but still fruity and sweet.

If you are interested in the elderflower wedding cake recipe for the royal wedding, here is an interpretation in Food and Wine magazine. Baker Claire Ptak said she chose it because ““The elderflower is so quintessentially British to me as a Californian.”

– 200 Amalfi lemons
– 500 organic eggs from Suffolk
– 20kgs of butter
– 20kgs of flour
– 20kgs of sugar
– 10 bottles of Sandringham Elderflower Cordial
– Topped with a light and fluffy buttercream-elderflower frosting

Presumable at-home cooks handy with a calculator could reduce that for serving, say. six.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also had an elderflower cordial at the wedding. The elderflower, a small, white, typically English blossom that flowers for only a few days in the spring, came from Queen Elizabeth’s Sandringham estate.