Elderberries identification please.

[AndyP]

Hi Folks,

Can anyone assure me these are elderberries before I pick them and add them to some gin and sugar ready for Christmas.

I noticed this tree down my local reserve and it's full of berries.

Many thanks for any info.

 

[Mesquite]

Pick them to your hearts content, they're elderberries for sure

 

[Toddy]

Yep

Ours are all gone….and there's a wee flock of rather fat looking wood pigeons around, and some purple splotched paths.
I'm told three of the pigeons make a good pie, especially if you have a rabbit too.

M

 

[AndyP]

Cheers folks..

Anyone know what these taste like with gin.?

Similar to sloe berries.?

 

[Toddy]

Fruitier, I think. Don't spill it on anything, it's dyes well.

M

 

[AndyP]

Thanks Mary..
👍👍🤞

 

[Mesquite]

Cheers folks..

Anyone know what these taste like with gin.?

Similar to sloe berries.?

I dunno about gin but I know you can make a really nice rich tasting cordial from them

 

[MrEd]

Anyone got any good, simple recipes? There are elderberries near me

there is also a hazelnut tree near me I foraged from last year, however this year there are no nuts on it?

 

[Janne]

Here’s one for Daddy:

Pick a handful or two of berries, clean, remove everything except the berries and set aside.
Take a liter bottle of Åhus Absolut
Open it
Take a drinking glass
Fill it with Absolut
Drink it
Put the berries into the bottle. Do not lose any on the floor, as wife will get angry of you getting drunk and staining the carpet.
Add one to one and a half soup spoon of sugar.
Put screwcork back on. Put bottle in a south facing window a few weeks.

 

[Zingmo]

Wifey harvested a bag of what she thought were elderberries. At first glance I was taken in, until I saw a leaf that had come along. They were dogwood berries.
The real difference was easy to see when the berries were squashed - the dogwood berries have a relatively large seed inside surrounded by green pulp whereas the elderberries have a small seed in dark red pulp.

Z