I am gathering some elderflower blooms so that I can use them in a few different projects. Today I am making soap.
I only need three or four flowers to make an infusion which I will use in place of plain water in my soap recipe.
Elder trees are very common in the UK. They grow wild on wasteland, in parks, and alongside the canals and roads.
The elder trees started to bloom a week ago, and when the wind picks up the air smells sweet with their blossom.
When foraging for food in the wild, it's important to only harvest small amounts, enough for personal use but no more.
Elderflowers become elderberries in late summer, and they are a good source of energy for birds in autumn.
I am gently rubbing the flowers to remove them from the stems before steeping the petals in hot water for one hour.
Marseille soap is made according to a traditional recipe. The soap is cuboid, hard, and made with olive oil.
I have created my own recipe which is inspired by traditional Marseille soap, but includes elderflower too.
My recipe uses 70% olive oil and 30% coconut oil. It is coloured with French green clay but has no scent.
I will share my recipe in the description box below. I used a lye calculator to make sure that it has a safe pH value.
My husband and I now use homemade hard soap in the shower and to wash our hands with. It has been an easy transition.
I am making Marseille soap because it is a very versatile soap that can be used for dish washing and laundry too.
I would like to transition from commercial liquid dish soap to homemade hard soap for washing our dishes.
This is part of my ongoing efforts to reduce the volume of single use plastic that we use in our everyday life.
I have used cheap olive oil - not virgin or extra virgin olive oil - and coconut oil to keep this recipe palm free.
It is a warm day today, and so I am cooling my lye mixture with cold water and ice cubes using a "bain-marie".
My cat is annoyed. He wants to come and see what I am doing, but I have shut him out of the room for his own safety.
He is very curious and I don't want to risk him putting his paws or nose anywhere near the caustic liquid.
This soap takes a little bit longer to mix than other soaps, because it contains a high percentage of olive oil.
I am banging the soap on the kitchen counter to make sure that there are no air pockets hidden inside the soap.
Now that the soap is in the mould, it needs to be left at room temperature for 24 hours to set and become hard.
With the remainder of the elderflower infusion I made, I am going to make a small quantity of elderflower cordial.
After straining the infusion and removing the flowers, I am simmering the infusion to reduce it and make a concentrate.
I reduced my infusion from about 750ml to about 500ml, and now I am going to stir in 200g granulated sugar.
Elderflower cordial is very simple to make. You don't really need a recipe, it is very flexible and forgiving.
I also included a small amount of lemon juice in my cordial, and after decanting it I will keep it in the fridge.
I intend to drink and use this cordial within a few days which means I can be quite relaxed with my method.
If you plan to store your cordial for longer than a few days, you will need to be more precise than I am being.
You will need to use a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water, and to store your cordial in a sterilised and air tight bottle.
After 24 hours it is time to cut the soap.
I am going to cut the soap into four cubes. Each cube weighs approximately 300g and measures 7cm x 7cm x 7cm.
The soap needs to cure for at least four weeks before it can be used, so I will store it in a cool dry place until then.