Ingredients:

6 large elderflower heads (shake thoroughly to remove any insects!)

1 kg caster sugar

4tbs cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1 lime (juiced)

2 large ruby red grapefruit (juice and zest)

8 litres of water

Method:

1. Bring to the boil four litres of the water.

2. While the water is still on the stove place the sugar into a sterilised bucket.

3. When the water reaches boiling point pour it over the sugar.

4. Add the remaining four litres of water when the sugar has dissolved.

5. Add the elderflower heads, lime juice, vinegar, and juice and zest of the grapefruits.

6. Cover the bucket with a clean cloth or piece of muslin.

7. Leave the bucket for two to four days until it starts to bubble.

8. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve or muslin cloth into thick glass champagne bottles.

9. Insert plastic corks and wire tops (available from home brew supply shops).

10. Leave in a cool dark place (away from people!) for around two weeks.

11. Chill in the fridge for at least one day before opening.

12. Sit back and relax and enjoy your glass of homemade, foraged fizz!

A word of warning, extreme caution and diligence is essential when making elderflower champagne which is highly volatile and explosive!

Always use thick glass bottles made for champagne and fizzy wines, and the plastic corks/wire tops that you can buy from home brewing suppliers. Regular glass and plastic bottles such as wine bottles WILL explode.

I rather foolishly used large plastic pop bottles one year thinking plastic can’t explode – I was wrong and my heavily-pregnant girlfriend was most unamused when a series of loud explosions coming from under the stairs shook the house.

The bottles had ripped apart and shards of plastic and sticky wine were everywhere!

Thankfully no one was hurt, so please respect the people you live with (and previous work most importantly yourself!) and use champagne bottles.