There is a proverb in Hungary: It is good to be anywhere, but the best is to be at home. This is what I think when we get out of the car after our 3000 km journey. Within a week we crossed complete Europe in north-south direction and very typical for us we chose driving instead of flying with our very experienced travel companion sitting on the back seat: Beeper our little dog. Our destination was the city Vejle in Denmark and the reason was for me to immerse in the wonderful world of food photography for a couple of days at the bi-annual Food Photography Festival. We wanted to make the most out of our the long journey, so beside of the great festival we visited our beloved friends and relatives in Germany, stroked a wheat-field, looked for shells at the seacoast, saw a lighting tower face to face and tasted artisanal Danish sourdough bread. I wanted to share a bit of Denmark with you in photos before we return in story to our home, the little cottage with 18 fruit trees in the heart of the Barony mountains in Hungary. 
The moment we arrived we go straight to the garden, not into the house. We take a look at each of our trees, check fruits, we are glad to see that green pea plants have grown a lot and the flowers we planted just before we left took root. Fortunately apricot tree didn’t drop too many unripe fruits that gives me a strong hope for apricot jam this year. There are signs of good cherry and sour cherry harvest and also cherry plums that Beeper our dog loves so much. But there is one thing which makes me really enthusiastic: our elderflower bushes have started to bloom while we were away. I didn’t need any better news! I can look for the blue enamelled jar used for storing pork fat before which wonderfully worked for mellowing elderflower syrup. I can finally try making fried elderflowers in pancake batter, which I missed last year. I cut off a few flowers from our bushes, prepare a thick pancake dough which I season with lemon zests and vanilla sugar. I dip the flowers into the batter and fry it immediately so we can taste them in a couple of minutes. After taking the first bite of the flower-scented sweet pancakes I have to state that I cannot imagine anything better than arriving home after a long journey and taste our garden literally and figuratively. 
Fried elderflower in pancake batter
Ingredients:
10-12 elderflowers
250 g flour
280-300 ml milk (can depend on the flour)
2 eggs
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package of vanilla sugar
zests of a lemon
sunflower oil for deep-frying
confectioner’s sugar (maybe flavoured with vanilla or cinnamon) for serving
Mix flour, salt, sugar and vanilla sugar. Beat eggs lightly, add milk mix well then add mixture to the flour and combine gradually. Finally mix in lemon zests and put the batter into the fridge for 20 minutes. Wash elderflowers and dry them on paper towel. If the batter seems to be to thick you can add more milk, or if the opposite too thin, you can add some flour. Heat up sunflower oil in a pan. Dip the flowers into the batter, gently shake of the excess then fry both sides in hot oil. Place them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and serve it hot.
