Walking through local woods, I was delighted to discover that Elderberries were in full bloom. It wasn’t hard to find them as their sweet smell was potent.
I’m still trying to understand what kind of flavors infuse best with sourdough bread. This created an excellent opportunity for an experiment. I’ve plucked one cup of Elderflowers flowers and mixed them with 500g of flour. The rest was my standard sourdough recipe at about 75% hydration.
Baked bread really delivered a potent punch of elderberry flavor. The taste really came through, and it got that aroma that you get when you drink elderberry syrup. The main difference is that it’s a bit bitter as the bread isn’t sweetened.
What I would do differently next time
I would make mix the elderberry flowers into more of a dessert type of bake. That way, you’d get the sweetness and also more association with the syrup drink.
Elderberry flowers don’t last long after they’re picked, so I would time the whole process to start mixing sooner after coming back from the forest.
Killer ear on that loaf! Good looking bake!