In the Pipilo story “Herman Gets a Cold” for 3-4 year olds, Frida the Frog makes Herman the Hermit Crab elderberry dough drops to help his throat feel better. The Vitamin C, smooth texture, and low sugar make this recipe a keeper. You can make them too by following this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of elderberry juice, made from 1 paper grocery bag filled loosely with elderberries and branches. Or use store-bought elderberry juice and go to Step 2.
- 1/2 cup honey
- Juice from 1 lemon
Instructions
Step 1: Make elderberry juice
Gather enough wild elderberry to loosely fill a brown paper bag. Rinse with water. Put elderberries into a large stock pot. Cover your bare feet with clean plastic bags, and stomp the elderberries in the pot. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Or, you can squish them with your hands. Strain the liquid and reserve. Discard the stems and other organic matter. You should have about 1.5 – 2 cups.
Step 2: Make the cough drops
Heat the elderberry liquid in a large pot or saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the liquid starts to look as thick as maple syrup. This step may take up to an hour, so this is a good time to set up your cough drop station. Cut a big piece of wax paper and tape to your kitchen counter, and set another piece of wax paper inside a cookie sheet. Cut parchment paper into small squares to make wrappers, about 2” x 2”. You’ll need somewhere between 30-50, depending on the size of your cough drops. If anyone else is home, this is a good time to let them know that you will need their help in a few minutes. Even young ones can help roll the warm balls.
Back to the recipe. Once the elderberries are as thick as maple syrup, add the 1/2 cup of honey. Continue to simmer until the liquid gets to 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer. This is what it looked like for us at 300 degrees:
When the liquid reaches 300 degrees F, pour the liquid onto the wax paper like so:
Starting with the edges, pull off a small piece, about the size of a cough drop. Quickly roll it into a little ball and place it on the other sheet of wax paper. Then keep going! You will want to work quickly while the elderberry is warm. Once it cools, it will get very hard.
Once the balls are cool, you can wrap them in parchment paper. Store them in a dry and cool spot in your kitchen and they will last for 6 months. Enjoy!
