Honey and elderberry tonic 

As winter sets in, we need to think of foods that can have health benefits to protect the whole family.

Honey is not only a natural sweetener but raw honey is gently filtered to retain all its natural goodness. Raw honey is also a natural energy booster.

In this recipe for a great tasting energy booster, I like to partner Boyne Valley Raw Honey with elderberries to create a fantastic tonic that tastes great and can be consumed throughout the winter.

Raw honey is as close to honey straight from the hive as you can get. It may vary in colour and consistency but you will get an intense honey taste. Boyne Valley Honey, experts in honey for nearly 60 years and a family owned business, place great importance on sourcing and supplying the highest quality, great tasting honey.

Dried elderberries can be purchased in good health food stores or online. Next September, why not try to harvest them yourself from hedgerows in Ireland? They grow from the same shrub that has elderflowers in May/June.

Elderberry tonic

Ingredients:

1 cup elderberries
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup Boyne Valley Raw Honey (for every cup of strained juice)

Directions:
1. Measure out your dried elderberries.
2. Add water — 1:1 cups water-to-berry ratio for fresh, and 2:1 for dried.
3. Add ginger, ground cinnamon and cloves.
4. Bring to a boil on the stove, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes, then allow to cool.
5. Strain the liquid from the berries using a sieve, pressing on them with a wooden spoon to get all of the juice out.
6. Add Boyne Valley raw honey to the elderberry liquid. Stir until well mixed, and decant into jars. Store in the refrigerator.

Serving suggestion:

As a tonic, you can consume 1 tbsp a day, straight from a spoon. It is lovely in a cup of hot water and sipped slowly. I love to add it to my second ferment of water kefir to make a delicious festive sparkling drink that we take each morning to receive our dose of nature’s probiotics!

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This article was written in partnership with Boyne Valley