There's a beautifully illustrated book out now called Artisan Drinks by Lindy Wildsmith, which shows you how to make elderflower champagne etc.
Divide between four frozen glasses, top with the remaining sparkling elderflower, garnish and serve at once.
8 ice-cream scoops lemon sorbet 200ml sparkling elderflower (or cordial mixed with sparkling water) Mint, lemon balm or elderflower blossom, to serve Put the sorbet in a tall jug, add three-quarters of the sparkling elderflower and whisk by hand until you have a thick, slushy ice.
The cocktails are similarly flamboyant: the Octopussy (pink vodka, pear cognac and champagne mixed with juices of passion fruit, pear and lemon, £9); Wasabi Kiss (vodka, coconut rum mixed with wasabi, basil and kiwi, £8); Love Letter (raspberry vodka mixed with elderflower cordial, cranberry and grape juice, £8); and Lounge Lover (fig liqueur, prosecco, sweet vanilla and lemon oil, £8).
To top it all, another friend is celebrating her impeding nuptials by making her own elderflower champagne.
Gooseberry fool with elderflower By Mark Diacono A classic marriage of spring-into-summer flavours, as simple to make as it is delicious.
Atherton makes a gooseberry and elderflower jam which he serves with duck, for instance, and Weiss marries a sharp gooseberry relish with salt marsh lamb.
Recipes are fool-proof but my no means boring (try the lemon and elderflower or ginger and lime drizzle cakes) and are accompanied by a reassuring plethora of cheats, tips and step-by-step photos.
Note that some elderflower cordials are better than others.
Over a wonderfully creamy wild strawberry fool with elderflower cheesecake foam and almond crumble, we learned from our maitresse d', Anna, that the "mobile kitchen" outside the pub serves wood-fired pizzas and tapas at weekends.
The last person invited to "have a drink", at Mrs Holroyd's 80th birthday party, found the options to consist of an elderly bottle of Warninks Advocaat and some elderflower cordial.
