elderberry – The Herbal Bake Shoppe

Episode 054: A Tea Decoction that Tastes like Juice

Dina Ranade — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 20:57:12 +0000

Herbal teas are a lovely way to be creative and experience herbs on a daily basis. Brewing herbal teas can take on different forms and tastes, including juice-like creations when dried berries are used as the main ingredients. These berry teas are a wonderful way to gain nutrient benefits from herbs. In this episode I am sharing my current favorite method for brewing herbal tea that feels more like a juice. Thank you for joining me.

Tea “Juice” Decoction
¼ cup dried elderberries
¼ cup dried hawthorn berries
¼ cup dried sea buckthorn berries
⅛ cup dried goji berries
⅛ cup dried rose hips
1 tablespoon hibiscus
1 tablespoon dried ginger
1 cinnamon stick
2 pieces turkey tail mushrooms
6 peppercorns
8-9 cups water
Combine herbs and water in 4 quart stock pot. Cover and bring to gentle boil on medium heat. Turn to lowest setting, simmer for 40 minutes. Remove from heat, continue to steep covered until cool. Strain into Mason jars and refrigerate.

Source for Dried Herbs and Berries:
Mountain Rose Herbs
Oshala Farm
Northwest Wild Foods

Favorite Herbal Podcasts:
HerbRally
Herbmentor Radio

CONNECT WITH DINA
Together we can transform our kitchens into a unique apothecary.

—Deepest gratitude to Andrea Klunder, my podcast boss. Find her at thecreativeimposter.com.

Original music by Dylan Rice
—

Please send me your comments, requests, or feedback. Send me a message, voice or write an email, my email is dina@theherbalbakeshoppe.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
To get herb inspired recipes, plant profiles and read more about herbal medicine, visit my website at: theherbalbakeshoppe.com

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ABOUT DINA
—
Dina Ranade is a Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist. She is also a mom of three – two daughters and one son all now in college. Dina loves cooking for her family despite the challenges this creates. She passionately loves exploring culinary herbalism and has been working on stocking her home kitchen apothecary or medicine cabinet.

Episode 028: Herbal Pantry: Cold and Flu Season Readiness

Dina Ranade — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 17:39:34 +0000

Happy Healthy Holiday Hugs to you!

Adding herbs to a cold and flu season supply kit is easy and valuable peace of mind. Clear a space in your kitchen apothecary for dried herb blends for tea and steam inhalations, tinctures for prevention and symptoms as well as a few homemade syrups. Please listen in as I share my favorites.

Cold and Flu Kitchen Apothecary Survival Kit
Foods for medicine
Honey, garlic, onion, ginger, dried sage & thyme
Tea Blends
Chai blend – 2 parts cinnamon & ginger, 1 part cardamom, ½ part clove & black pepper
Diaphoretic blend – yarrow, peppermint, elderflower, linden flower
Steam inhalation Blend
2 peppermint & elderflower tea bags, a spoon of thyme, sage & oregano and a drop or two of lavender & eucalyptus essential oil
Tinctures and Syrups
For prevention – echinacea tincture, elderberry syrup
Tinctures for coughs – wild cherry bark, mullein leaf, angelica

Interested in a medicine making episode on elderberry syrup? Send me a message and let me know!
dina@theherbalbakeshoppe.com

Mentions:
Favorite echinacea tincture: Herbalist & Alchemist Ultimate Echinacea
Echinacea glycerite
Elderberry glycerite
Favorite chaga chai: Masala chai from the Chaga Company
Favorite essential oil brand: Floracopeia

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Original music composed by Dylan Rice — singer, songwriter, guitarist.

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Subscribe to my newsletter. Send me a question. Leave a comment on this episode. I would absolutely love to know you better and learn about your own experiences with herbal medicine!

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Elderberry Wine Chocolate Cookies

Dina Ranade — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 17:53:37 +0000

single serving

wine and bottle

HR wine label

Cookies fresh out of the oven

plate of cookies

As I sat in my kitchen one morning with my visiting nine-year old niece, her father pushed a bottle of Sambucus Elderberry syrup to her requesting she take her daily spoonful. My obedient niece grimaced, poured the syrup onto a tablespoon, sucked it down and shivered saying yuck. I asked her about it. She said she takes it everyday and hates it because it tastes awful. She told me to try it and see. I did. The syrupy berry flavor masked with a medicine aftertaste was not that appealing, I agreed. Her father laughed a bit and reminded her that it prevented the sniffles.

There is no doubt the reasoning behind taking this commercial illness prevention product for better immunity is based on traditional use of elderberry as well as research. It made me sad to think my niece will associate elderberry with disgust. Herein lies one of the herbal bake shoppe ambitions, pleasant tasting herbalism. To truly bring herbalism back into every kitchen, even the most discerning tasters must believe in tolerable fusion.

Homemade elderberry syrup while a bit more time consuming than buying, is easy. Having it on hand opens possibilities for pleasant medicine taking. Elderberry wine is much more of a process to make but purchasing is still a delicious addition to a kitchen apothecary. While there may not be a medicinal dose of elderberry in each of these cookies, it is there nonetheless and more palatable perhaps than a mediciney syrup.

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

Elderberry Wine Chocolate Cookies

Perhaps I date myself in saying while baking these cookies, Elton John’s 1970’s classic Elderberry Wine continuously hums in my head. If you don’t know the song, he sings about missing a wife and happy, carefree feeling gained drinking this wine she made him. I am not sure why he chose elderberry, maybe a reference to homemade wines. In these chocolate cookies, the berry flavor adds richness. Feeling good when eating them could be from the taste or knowing the extra benefit from an immune boosting plant.

Herbelderberry
Apothecaryherbal wine
BakingCookie
Traditional Useimmune protective

Servings	Prep Time
30cookies	25minutes

Cook Time

8-10minutes

Servings	Prep Time
30cookies	25minutes

Cook Time

8-10minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup organic all-purpose flour
3/4cup cocoa powder (Dagoba)
1tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1stick organic unsalted butter, softened
3/4cup organic granulated sugar
3/4cup organic brown sugar
1 organic egg
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup elderberry wine
1/3cup pecans, chopped
1cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, cream butter and both sugars with wooden spoon until well blended and smooth. Add egg, vanilla extract, and elderberry wine. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients gradually in three to four additions, mixing well after each addition. Fold in chopped pecans and chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheets approximately 2 inches apart. Batter will be slightly sticky so you may have to push it off the spoon with another spoon.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are just starting to turn brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Recipe Notes

*I purchased Elderberry Wine online from a distributor. This is a sweet wine and would be delightful mixed as a spritzer.

** Using organic ingredients whenever possible will make your baked goods all the more nourishing. For these cookies, use organic butter, eggs, sugar, and flour if available.

Elderberry Walnut Bread

Dina Ranade — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 22:52:06 +0000

Elderberry Walnut Bread

Elderberry Walnut Bread Sliced Loaf

Elderberry Walnut Bread Loaf

Elderberry Infused Milk

Elderberry Maple Syrup

Delicious and nutritious, not too sweet, perfect for toast or with a cup of tea and not to be underestimated as an immune boosting treat.

Elderberry Walnut Bread

Delicious and nutritious, not too sweet, perfect for toast or with a cup of tea and not to be underestimated as an immune boosting treat.

Herbelderberry
Apothecaryinfusion, syrup
BakingBread

Servings	Prep Time
19-inch loaf	2hours

Cook Time

90minutes

Servings	Prep Time
19-inch loaf	2hours

Cook Time

90minutes

Ingredients

For elderberry maple syrup

¼cup dried elderberries
2cups water
½cup pure maple syrup

For elderberry infused milk

2tsp dried elderberries
¾cup 1% milk

For bread

¾cup raisins
1cup walnutsbroken into medium-size pieces
1cup oat flour, sifted
2cups all-purpose whole-wheat flour, unsifted
¾tsp baking soda
2½tsp baking powder
¾tsp salt
1½cups 1% milk(includes prepared elderberry infused milk)
½cup elderberry maple syrup
2TBS honey

Instructions

For elderberry maple syrup

This can be done ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until ready to bake bread.
Combine ¼ cup dried elderberries and 2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium low heat. Cover but leave lid slightly ajar to allow steam to escape. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half, for approximately one hour.
Cool for 15 minutes, then strain liquid through a cheesecloth into a 16 ounce glass measuring cup. Press on elderberries in strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. This should make about 1 cup of strong elderberry tea.
Add ½ cup maple syrup, return to saucepan and simmer an additional 20 minutes until slightly thickened. Cool and store in glass jar until ready to use.

For elderberry-infused milk

Combine 2 tablespoons dried elderberries and ¾ cup milk in a small saucepan. Bring just to simmer over low heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon or chopstick. When begins to simmer, cover and remove from heat. Allow to steep for 25 minutes and until cool.
Strain liquid into a 16 ounce glass measuring cup, pressing on elderberries in strainer to extract as much of milk as possible. You should have just over a ½ cup of elderberry infused milk, pour in additional milk to reach 1½ cups and set aside until ready to use in batter.

For bread

Adjust rack to middle of oven. Preheat oven to 275 °F. Generously butter a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan.
Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 5 minutes, then strain and allow to cool.
Break the walnuts into medium size pieces, set aside.
Sift the oat flour, then sift again into a large bowl with the whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk, elderberry maple syrup, and honey. Mix with large mixing spoon until combined. Stir in raisins and walnuts.
Pour into the prepared loaf pan, smooth the top, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The loaf should begin to just pull away from the sides of the pan.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Then cover the pan with a clean, folded kitchen towel and turn it over onto the wire rack. The bread will slide out easily. Remove the pan and flip over so loaf is upright on wire rack. Allow to cool completely on the rack.