Pretty in pink

Every Spring I forget how much I adore the taste of rhubarb & while this year was no different it was in a most spectacular style. Last weekend I had THE most delicious dessert at No Man's Grace, of vanilla creme brulee, rhubarb doughnuts & rhubarb sorbet. Of course there is no photo as it was eaten far too quickly.

Obviously the next day I hit the local green grocers & purchased an armful of Yorkshire's finest. So far it's been roasted with vanilla to have with yoghurt or icecream...

Chopped up & added to gin

Helpfully the only jar I could find was pink, so it's a bit difficult to see the gin turning colour! Recipe based on this one, minus the sugar which I'll add when the fruit is taken out.

Cooked, whizzed up & frozen for sorbet..

I made the mistake of starting this off late at night & so couldn't do the mixing hence why it looks a bit strange. It doesn't make it any the less tasty though. Recipe source

And while I was on a rhubarb kick, I saw this in the local supermarket & snapped it up. It's very tart & very delicious.

Elderflower syrup

Gin is my numero uno summer time drink and one of my favourite combinations, among many, is to add a splash of elderflower syrup (cordial) to a G&T. Having spotted a nearby elderflower tree was in bloom, I set about making my own syrup. I am always one for making life simple and as many online recipes require citric acid or other random ingredients, the recipe I've based my syrup on is this one, who in turn based hers on a Sophie Grigson one. Last years batch of syrup I made was a little sweet for my taste and so this time I decided to drastically cut down the amount of sugar involved.

Ingredients
5 large elderflower heads
350g granulated sugar
300ml water
1 lemon

Follow directions as explained in the link above.

And this is the final result:

To be honest it's still very sweet and if I get chance this year I'm definitely going to try making it again but with less sugar although I am tempted to give elderflower champagne a whirl too!

In the meantime, let's pray for the sun to come back out again and there'll be G&T&E's all round