To maintain their health, any person needs vitamins and minerals. To do this, we must have on the table everything you need. Or, as a last resort, in every city and village there is a network of pharmacies where you can buy any vitamin or supplement. But the question is, is it useful?
Unfortunately, to take certain vitamins, you need the advice of an experienced doctor. And he, in turn, can recommend taking them in combination with another supplement. Only in this way your body will be able to get the whole complex of valuable elements. And besides, it’s all not as cheap as we would like.
Natural vitamins
Now think about that Mother Nature gives us all the vitamins with the help of different berries, fruits, vegetables and herbs. So why are we tormenting our body, stuffing with obscure pills and dietary supplements? After all, it is enough for us to know how and from which it is possible to prepare a product containing a huge amount of such vitamins necessary for man. And help us in this, for example, black elderberry.
There is also red elderberry, but it is poisonous to humans, they do not make medicines from it and do not eat it. So, back to the black one, it, like all similar vegetation, blooms in season, and then bears fruit. That's what we need to make elderberry honey. We use only flowers, they are white and cream, very fragrant. They contain many useful substances, essential oils, sugar, tannin, vitamin C and many more elements.
The properties
Elderberry honey is very useful for colds (flu, tonsillitis, upper respiratory tract diseases), because it has diaphoretic and antibacterial properties. It can be taken in children and adults in moderation, but only if there are no contraindications or individual intolerance to the ingredients that make up elderberry honey.
It can be used in cooking, added to baking, and also eat one teaspoon each day for prevention, thereby maintaining your immunity in the cold season. Elderberry honey is able to heal wounds if a small amount is applied to a sore spot. They are disinfected and tightened quite quickly.
Good to know
There is a very interesting legend about black elderberry. And she says that this plant has unique properties that extend the life of a person and preserve his youth. Elderberry honey relieves swelling very well, they treat pancreatitis.
They are relieved by pain in the stomach, and also with the help of it they help strengthen lactation for nursing mothers. The acids that make up the flowers have a diuretic effect and remove excess fluid from the body. This allows the use of elderberry for medicinal purposes in order to cleanse the kidneys.
What do you need?
And now that we have learned in detail all the beneficial properties of this plant, we can return to how to make elderberry honey. This medicinal treat is brewed very easily, but first you need to prepare the devices that we need in the process:
- from the dishes you can use an enameled pan. Choose a volume that is more convenient for you;
- a spoon in order to stir our honey from elderberry, it is better to use a wooden one, it does not oxidize.
Be sure to rinse all the utensils used well, prepare containers where you will pour the contents of the pan.
Cooking honey yourself
And finally, the elderberry honey recipe itself:
- Water - 1 liter.
- Sugar in proportion to the amount of broth 1: 1.
- Mandatory - citric acid 1 teaspoon per 1 kilogram of sugar. Or as you like more, you can add less or more to your liking. You can use fresh lemon instead.
- And, of course, the flowers of the healing plant themselves - 300 grams.
It is imperative that before placing inflorescences in a pan, they must be sorted and washed, rid of dry leaves and insects. Next, lay them tightly on the bottom, fill with cold water and cover on top with any plate. The pot of flowers should now be left for several hours. This can be done at night. In the morning, bring the water to a boil and cook for twenty minutes. After that, you need to cool them and leave to insist for a few more hours. When the broth cools down, the flowers need to be wrung out, for this you can use a colander. We estimate the amount of the resulting liquid, return our flowers back to the pan and bring to a boil again.
Next, add sugar to the broth in an amount equal to the volume of the broth. Mix everything thoroughly and cook for a long time. Syrup should not boil vigorously. Do not forget to interfere with it. Readiness is determined by the density and decrease (about two times) the volume of the broth. At the very end, add citric acid or lemon. While honey is being cooked, you need to prepare jars or any other containers with tight-fitting lids.
Everything needs to be washed thoroughly with boiling water and sterilized. And only then we pour the finished honey into jars and tightly cork it. Store it preferably in a cool and dark place.
Conclusion
Well, we have prepared our elderberry honey. The benefits from it are simply enormous, you yourself will see this when it comes time to use it for its intended purpose. Try to bake something using this delicious treat. Very well, honey goes well with ice cream if you pour dessert on top of it. Do not forget to treat your family and friends. Share with them the recipe for making this unusual treat, believe me, they will be very grateful to you.