Canning Elderberry Syrup

Usually I make just enough Elderberry Syrup to get a through a season but this year I decided to try canning Elderberry Syrup. My husband came home one day with two pounds of dried elderberry and it would make a lot of syrup, more than would stay fresh in the fridge for the season.

I enjoy making elderberry syrup and it sure helps with battling the various colds during the winter. If you don’t have access to fresh elderberries you can find dried elderberries. Often you can find a good deal on Amazon. My husband found a local source of dried elderberries, which is what I used. I used a local source of honey as well. You can also use maple syrup as a sweetener.

Elderberry Syrup

Ingredients:

2/3 cup organic dry black elderberries (3 ounces)
3 ½ cups water
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon powder
2 whole cloves
1 cup raw local honey

Directions:

Pour the water into a medium saucepan and add your elderberries, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for about 45-60 minutes.

The liquid will be reduced to almost half. Remove from heat and let cool. Mash the berries using a spoon. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar.

Discard the elderberry mash into your compost. To the elderberry syrup in the jar add one cup of honey and stir well.

That’s all there is to it! Store in the refrigerator and take daily for its immune boosting properties. Standard dose is ½ tsp. – 1 tsp. For children and ½-1 Tbsp. for adults. If you do get the flu you can take the normal dose every 2-3 hours. I am not a doctor so if you are really sick don’t hesitate to see professional advice from your primary care physician! Hopefully you are enjoying a healthy winter!

Now if you have made more elderberry syrup than you can use in the next two weeks the syrup can also be canned. While the berries are simmering prepare your jars for canning. The jars should be kept hot until ready for use.

Once you have prepared the syrup pour the hot liquid into your hot jars leaving 1/8  inch headspace.  Process the jars in boiling water for ten minutes using your water bath canner. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated.

The syrup can also be stored in your freezer.