Pomatum (Elder-Flower)
Melt together over a slow fire two ounces of marrow, and the same amount of refined lard, then add four ounces of elder-flower oil and stir till it is nearly cold.
Source: Recipes for the Million
Elder Ointment
Melt 3 lbs. of mutton suet in 1 pint of olive oil, and boil in it 4 lbs. weight of elder flowers, full blown, till nearly crisp; then strain, and press out the ointment.– Another: take 4 oz. each, of the inner bark of the elder tree, and the leaves, boil them in 2 pints of linseed oil, and 6 oz. of white wax. Press it through a strainer.
Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett
Ointment for Sunburn
Make a stiff paste with white Fuller’s earth, or good French chalk, and elder flower water. Let it remain on the face for a few minutes, then wash it off with hot rain water and apply a little cold cream.
Source: The Dudley Book of Cookery and Household Recipes, Georgiana Dudley
Elder Tea
Make a strong tea of elder-flowers, either fresh or dried. Sweeten with honey. This tea is to be drunk as hot as possible ,after the person is warm in bed; it produces a strong perspiration, and a slight cold or cough yields to it immediately; but the more stubborn requires two or three repetitions. Used in Russia. This is an excellent remedy for colds attended with feverish symptoms and sore throat.
Source: The Universal Cookery Book, Gertrude Strohm
Elder Flower Ointment
Lard, twenty-five pounds; prepared mutton suet, five pounds; melt in an earthen vessel; add elder flower water, three gallons. Agitate for half an hour, and set it aside; the next day gently pour off the water, remelt the ointment, add benzoic acid three drachms; otto of roses, twenty drops; essence of bergamot and oil of rosemary, of each, thirty drops; again agitate well, let it settle for a few minutes, and pour off the clear into pots.
Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie
Scalds, Elder Berries Soothing for
“The flowers of the black elder berries and the bark all possess valuable medicinal
properties. An ointment made by stirring the fresh flowers into melted lard or vaselin and occasionally stirring it, will be found an excellent remedy for scalds or burns.” It is not only soothing, but forms a coating thereby keeping the air out.
Source: Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remidies from Mothers of the United States and Canada, T. J. Ritter