It's that time of year again...

I've just been away for two weeks, and before I went - scared the flowers would be gone by the time I got back - I threw a bunch of elderflower heads in the fridge. I don't recommend this because when we came back the flowers had wilted and the fridge was whiffy.

The good news is that, thanks to the appalling weather, the flowers are out later this year (I made 2011's batch a month earlier than this year) so there's still time to make yours. If you like elderflower cordial, you'll love elderflower 'champagne'. That's a bit of a misnomer, actually, there no tiresome tuning of the bottles during lengthy storage as there is with the méthode champenoise; it's just equally as explosively fizzy.

To make: pick five or six elderflower heads, preferably on a sunny day. Choose elder trees that aren't on a busy road, and avoid flowers lower down that may be contaminated by the urine of dogs, foxes, or even humans... Pick off any insects etc before using. Don't run the flowers under the tap or you'll wash the natural yeasts off.

To make: pour 20 litres of cold water into a plastic bucket of at least 25 litres capacity. Stir in 1kg of ordinary sugar until dissolved. Drop in the flower heads and stir to submerge. Add the zest and juice of two lemons and 4tbsp white wine vinegar. Stir to mix, then lay a clean teatowel over the bucket and leave for 24 hrs, stirring occasionally.

After 24 hours, pour the liquid through a sieve to remove the detritus, then pour though a funnel into a collection of two-litre plastic bottles (bought for 17p each, full of water, from a well-known supermarket). Leave the bottles for at least two weeks. They'll become more rigid as the fermenting causes carbon dioxide to build up, and you can unscrew the top a little (carefully!) to release some of the pressure. After two weeks you can drink it, and it'll be around 3% alcohol, depending on how your fermentation went. It slips down very easily, and is particularly delicious with gin - probably best not to drive to be on the safe side...

The batch I've just made has just started its two weeks in the bottle period. It's a deep amber colour because I used up some old muscovado sugar, but hopefully it won't spoil the end result.

Want to make something else with the elderflowers? How about elderflower cordial, or elderflower fritters?