Super Easy Elderflower Fritters

These simple elderflower fritters really are the best and tastiest treat of springtime. Super easy to make they have crunch and flavour and come together in just a few minutes.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Elderflower fritters aren’t something you can’t pop out to the shops to buy, they are a special springtime treat you make yourself.
• This is a fun and easy recipe and really economical as your main ingredient is foraged for free.
• These delicious elderflower fritters are quick to make and on the table in a matter of minutes.

I love using foraged elderflowers in springtime and have shared my recipes here for elderflower liqueur and elderflower cordial to elderflower jelly and many more.

Elderflowers

Elder trees are incredibly common across the UK from parkland to the countryside they are everywhere. The leaves comprise 5-7 oval leaflets with feathery edges that form umbrels of creamy white tiny flowers. Elderflowers bloom from May till July and sometimes even August and have the most amazing floral scent.

You might know the elder tree by one of these other names, such as Black Elder, Ellhorn, Pipe tree, Bore tree, Eller and Holler.

These beautiful trees have many associations within folklore, for example, it was once believed that if you fell asleep under an elder in full bloom, you would be invited into the world of the fairies and be protected from evil spirits. It was also believed that if you chopped down an elder tree it would be replaced by a witch!

Elderflowers have been used for thousands of years for their medicinal and healing properties.
Elderflowers have both anti-septic and anti-inflammatory effects, so country folk have been using them in home-remedies for centuries. A mix of elderflower and water can be used to alleviate symptoms of anything from the common cold to some forms of arthritis.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Rules of foraging

• Seek permission before foraging. In certain areas, plant species will be protected so it is important to do some research and check with the landowner before you start gathering.
• Don’t pick elderflowers from the edge of a busy road as the flowers will be full of pollution from traffic.
• Only pick from areas that have a plentiful supply. Look for areas where you can find food in abundance and then only collect a small amount for personal use. Never completely strip an area as this could damage the species and deny another forager the chance to collect.
• Leave enough for wildlife and avoid damaging habitats. Many animals rely on plants for survival, so never take more than you plan to eat as this could also deny wildlife from a valuable food source. Be mindful about wildlife habitats and avoid disturbing or damaging them.

Ingredients for elderflower fritters

There aren’t many ingredients for these simple elderflower fritters, in fact, they are all real larder basics and you’ll probably have them all lurking around in the kitchen already.

Elderflowers – Yes, you now have an excuse to get out there and do a bit of foraging, or get the kids to do it for you. Please check out the foraging notes above.

Flour – You are going to need two kinds of flour here, your main one being self raising flour (baking flour in USA) and the other being cornflour (or corn starch in USA). These together will be the base of your batter in this elderflower fritters recipe.

Other ingredients – an egg (free range please if you can), some caster sugar (fine sugar or just whizz up standard sugar in food processor if you don’t have it), a wee pinch of salt and soda water. The soda water gives for a lovely light batter.

How to make elderflower fritters

Start by preparing your foraged elderflowers. Give them a jolly good shake to remove any little bugs and dust and pick off the main stems so you have the smaller umbrels where the stem is fine that holds together all the tiny stems with the dainty flowers on them.

Now mix that all-important batter for your elderflower fritters. Simply put all the batter ingredients into a bowl and give them a good whisk together.

I like to do this just in a bowl with a hand whisk, no need to haul out the mixer, for this nice easy and pleasant task.

Get a big pan ready and pour in about 2″ of basic vegetable cooking oil. Do not use olive oil as it would flavour your elderflower fritters and you don’t want that. You just want a simple flavourless oil to fry the fritters in.

Now comes the messy bit. Take your elderflower heads and dunk them into the batter. or you can just drop them in there to make sure everything is well coated in the creamy batter mixture.

Carefully fish them out of the batter (told you this was messy) and carefully drop them into your pan of hot vegetable oil. Don’t crowd the pan, give your elderflower fritters some space as these little guys are going to puff up beautifully as they cook.

These elderflower fritters only take about 30 seconds to fry and turn gorgeously golden and crispy.

As they are ready carefully lift them out of the hot oil and place them on a plate covered in kitchen paper so that the paper will absorb the excess oil.

Continue to fry your elderflower fritters in batches till you are done.

Sprinkle some icing sugar on the fritters and you are done!

How to serve elderflower fritters

You are now ready to eat those elderflower fritters just as they are with their dusting of icing sugar. They are lovely with a glass of bubbles or elderflower fizz or even a wee glass of my gorgeous elderflower liqueur.

I like to serve my elderflower fritters on a plate for sharing with some strawberry syrup on top and a few slices and whole strawberries on the plate too.

Add some good quality vanilla ice-cream on the side and you have the perfect springtime celebration dessert.

Looking for more fun springtime foraging recipes to try? Then check these out before you go;

Dandelion jelly

Elderflower and strawberry jam

Wild garlic dip

Homemade dandelion liqueur

For more foraging recipes theck out the Foraging Section of this web site for a whole host of ideas to keep you going throughout the year.

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.