So what could I do with these? I noticed that when the flowers are a little bit yellow they can smell a bit fishy, which isn't that nice, so I've avoided using these as I didn't fancy anything that smelled like fish. I looked online and found a Hawthorn tea recipe. Simply put a load of flowers into a teapot and pour over boiling water. Apparently good for high blood pressure, this tea has a slightly numbing floral scent to it and a bit like a hot summer day hedgerow. It is pleasant enough when sweetened with a little honey or maple syrup, but I'm not a fan of herbal teas so won't be going down this path again soon.
I reckoned that the simple, summery floral aroma would also be able to be made into a cordial - slightly lighter than Elderflower, but hopefully just as nice. I typed into Google 'Hawthorn Cordial' and came up with several recipes, but one stood out. From www.vintagerecipes.net, I found a very simple cordial recipe involving the flowers and brandy.
Now obviously brandy is expensive and I wouldn't be able to go out and buy some, but I did have half a bottle sitting in my kitchen and thought i might as well make use of this and add it to the menu. At least I now have something alcoholic for the end of the meal!
Hawthorn Boozy Cordial
Ingredients
Hawthorn Flowers minus any leaves or stalks
Brandy (make it something half decent)
A tablespoon of sugar
Simply, I put a lot of flowers (minus any stalks or leaves) into a glass bottle and a tablespoons of sugar. Then poured in the brandy over the top and there I will leave it for the next three months. In September, I'll drain off the flowers and pour it back into another bottle (having a taste in the process) and see if I've wasted some perfectly good brandy or not.
