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Drink

Elder Wine

A homemade elderberry wine made by boiling berries, straining, sweetening, and cooling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Elder Wine

Elder Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Gather ripe elder berries.

  2. Place them in a stone jar or heat them in a kettle of boiling water until the jar is hot.

Make the wine

  1. Strain the berries through a fine cloth, wringing them to extract the juice into a clean kettle.

  2. Add 1 cup of fine sugar to every quart of juice.

  3. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam.

Bottle and store

  1. Once clear, pour the wine into a jar.

  2. Cover it tightly and let it cool.

  3. Store until ready to use in raisin wine.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Elder berries
Provide the juice, color and fruity flavor that form the base of the wine.
Fine sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the berries' tartness.

The step that matters

Bring to a boil and skim off any foam. Foam rises from proteins and plant material in the juice. Skimming it removes these impurities, which helps the finished wine become clear and keeps off-flavors from developing.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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