I don't care for almond, but that is a personal preference.
I have mixed raspberries and blueberries with elderberries.
Other than that I make elderberry jelly, syrup, or honey.
Gosh, if I could get that many elderberries I would make a pie, too, lol. Birds get more of the berries than me usually

Malna - you ask how the recipe sounds so here is a Brit perspective. I am always interested to hear of elderberries being used by you US cooks because over here they are only used for jelly or wine as the seeds are considered too unpalatable to eat. To me that recipe sounds very seedy and crunchy. And although I love almond flavour I don't really like the sound of mixing it with elderberries which have a very distinctive flavour of their own. I think there is quite a fundamental culinary difference in taste between the UK and the States. Many of the recipes you exchange on this forum sound a bit excessively flavoured to my ear. For example, I mean no offence by this but raspberry and chocolate preserve which I have read of here sounds absolutely disgusting to me. I love both and feel that mixing them would detract from both. However, through you I have discovered that strawberry and rhubarb is delicious. And that's a combination I never would have dreamt of trying before. But then I believe that blackcurrant is widely disliked in the US. I find these differences really interesting and I hope none of you will take offence at my comments. I think we just have plainer tastes over here.

I just finished canning 28 quarts of elderberries for pie. It's a family favorite. I also made jam using powdered pectin. I cooked the berries first without water using a potato masher to crush. I put all through my food mill and measured 4 cups of juice and pulp. Wanted to get rid of the seeds.
I followed the recipe as usual and processed 15 minutes in a BWB. It was syrupy for two days and then jelled beautifully. The next day I cooked the elderberries with raspberries and added 1 cup of currant juice. Followed the same recipe. It turned out beautifully. Tonight I will use elderberries, strawberries and currant juice.
I also have three 5 lb bags in the freezer for wine making later.
I picked 6 heaping half bushes of elderberries. It is messy prepping, but well worth it.

I think, as soon as the pectin arrives, I'll try a half-batch. I agree, flora_uk, that US taste buds are on a different wavelength than UK buds. My neighbor is from the UK and her cooking, while very good, is...different. Don't know how to describe it.

Shirley,
Pie fillings are not in my future. My family (rightly so) says my pies are a waste of perfectly good fruit :-)

Just thought I'd report back - I finally got around to making the elderberry preserves (I took out the seeds so I guess it's technically jelly) with honey and almond.

Great stuff! You don't taste the almond, but it really makes the elderberry flavor sparkle. I like it much better than the traditional Sure-Jell recipe (don't get me wrong - that's good, too, but this one, IMO, is better.) Definitely a keeper.

It sounds wonderful. I have always wanted to taste an elderberry. Never have had the chance, but I know you have to cook them first. Glad to hear this turned out so well.

Around here, elderberries and even gooseberies are not allowed into MA. Right now, most of Worcester has to get all their trees of all kinds cut down and destroyed everywhere. Its due to an Asian horned beetle that has no eradication solution. Many areas within several are now under quarantine by the USDA. Sad to see this, but it will take billions to remedy and take at least 10 years or more to show any kind of impact. That past summer, I saw a 1/4 inch hole in the side of my grafted peach/plum/apricot tree. It oozed a lot of clear gooey sap. Not sure what it is/was, but hope its not going to destroy that tree. If it does, I must cut it down and somehow destroy all the wood. The tree cutting is going on right now nearby, as the beetles lay eggs inside all the trees. Even all the mMighty oaks are lost to this.

Here, a new addition to prohibited plants is the bush cherry.