Hawthorn berry syrup
Put 500g berries in a large saucepan with 500ml water, and slowly bring to a boil. Mash a little with a potato masher. Turn off the heat and leave to stand overnight. Bring to a boil again, then turn down the heat and simmer gently. The berries quickly lose their deep red colour and turn a dingy sort of yellow. Don’t worry if the decoction smells somewhat fishy at this point – the syrup will not taste like it smells!When the mixture has sweated down to half its volume, allow to cool and then squeeze out the juice. Weigh the juice and put back into the saucepan with an equal weight of sugar. Bring rapidly to the boil, then pour while still warm into sterilised bottles. The finished syrup often has a strawberry-like flavour. You can use honey instead of sugar for this syrup, but the honey version does not keep as well.
Dose: 1 teaspoonful daily as a heart tonic or use as a flavouring.
Hawthorn berry tincture
Put the berries in a blender with enough vodka to cover, and blend to a mush. Pour the mixture into wide-mouthed jars – important because hawthorn berries have so much pectin that the whole mixture will set solid, and you’ll find it impossible to get it out of a narrow-necked bottle. Leave the jars in a cool dark place for a month, then poke a knife into the jar to chop the contents enough to get them out. Squeeze the liquid out using a jelly bag – this is good exercise! If you have a cider/juice press, use that as it will be a lot less work.Bottle and label your tincture. This will keep for several years, although it’s best to make a fresh lot every year if you can.
Dose: 1 teaspoon once a day as a general tonic; 1 teaspoon three times a day or as advised by your herbalist for circulatory problems.
Recipes are taken from the book, Hedgerow Medicine by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal
