As spring turns to summer the creamy, scented heads of elderflower reveal themselves in the hedgerows. They are filled with the smell and taste of summer.
The original recipe for Sambocade comes from the recipe book of Richard II, 'The Forme of Cury'. I have changed the recipe slightly as it was full of cheese , something not used in the small kitchen, however I have said where to put the cheese in if you want to.
First pick your elderflowers, 5 to 6 heads is plenty. Pick them from a tree far away from roads so they aren't full of pollution and remember to say thank you to the Lady of the Elder for her gift! Shake off any bugs that are on the flowers then pour 250mls cream over them; I use soy cream but double cream is fine. Leave them to infuse for 24 hours. If you use dried flowers use about 2 tablespoons and leave to infuse for about 12 hours or the flavour becomes too strong.
For a 6" tart make a pastry with 100g of plain flour and 50g of margarine or butter and a couple of tablespoons of cold water, adjust the water amount slightly to form the pastry. Roll out the pastry and line a buttered and floured 6" flan tin , one with a removable base is best. Pop the unbaked case into the freezer for 10 minutes to stop it shrinking in the oven then line it with greaseproof paper or baking parchment and baking beans. Bake it blind at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes till it is just golden.
Strain off the elderflowers and to the cream add 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 well beaten eggs. At this point you can also mix in 100g of ricotta if you wish to.
As an extra special twist I like to line the bottom of the flan with halved strawberries!
Pour over the egg and cream mix and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes till it is just firm or you can stick a knife point into the middle and it comes out clean. Leave to cool slightly so it isn't piping hot, or you can eat it cold. Enjoy and savour summer!
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