Lilac Flower Syrup
A shrub with purple flowers, which you are 80% likely to have in your garden, which bloom at the turn of April and May. White, purple, pink or burgundy flowers gathered in clusters like grapes, which smell sweet and suffocating and which you probably know but you probably didn’t know that they are fully edible.
You can prepare tea, tincture, tonic or… syrup from them! While elderberry syrup is widely known and can be bought in stores, and elderberry lemonades are often available in restaurants, you have to prepare lilac syrup at home to try it. (At least in Poland ;)) If you have it in your garden, you don’t have to walk through forests or meadows like in the case of black elderberry to get valuable flowers, which makes preparing the syrup much easier ;). It tastes floral. Its taste reminds me a bit of strawberry compote or red currant syrup.
How to prepare lilac syrup?
Preparation is very simple, you need sugar and water in 1:1 proportions, lemon juice (I like sour drinks, so in my opinion, the more the better, but you can always add lemon juice to lemonade or tea with elderberry syrup, so don’t worry, if your syrup is not very sour), lilac flowers (the more, the better) and a large jar (or several smaller ones). I used a large jar of approximately 5 liters for this recipe. You can pasteurize the syrup. After pasteurization, the color of the syrup may change to a lighter – more yellow. This is normal.
Use of lilac syrup:
- addition to lemonade,
- addition to tea instead of honey or sugar,
- lilac jelly (dissolve gelatin in hot water and add a few tablespoons of purple lilac flower syrup),
- addition to drinks.
Recipe modifications:
- Flowers: The more flowers, the better, the flowers after pouring the syrup will significantly reduce their volume, so you can first fill the jar with flowers, then pour hot sugar syrup over it, add the rest of the flowers and mix. This will allow more flowers to fit in the jar.
- Lemons: If you prefer a very sweet syrup, add less lemons, or you can leave them out. I like the sour taste, which highlights the sweetness of the syrup. By giving a lot of lemon juice, you will no longer have to add lemon separately to tea or lemonade. Taste the syrup after it has cooled down, if it is too bland for you, you can add more juice.
IMPORTANT!
- Don’t wash the flowers! Washing the flowers will remove the pollen that we care about.
- Don’t pick flowers immediately after rain! Rain washes away valuable pollen, so it is best to collect flowers on a sunny day.
- If the flowers have started to turn brown (fade), throw away the brown parts and use only fresh flowers
- Pick off the flowers carefully, do not add leaves or twigs to the syrup. The fewer green parts that go into the syrup, the better. When picking flowers, there will be a lot of pollen on your hands, so I recommend that allergy sufferers do it with gloves.
Are lilac flowers edible?
Lilac flowers are edible. Raw ones have a bitter taste. They can be fried in pancake batter like zucchini flowers. You can prepare a tincture, syrup, lemonade or tea from them. Lilac flowers are also a good cosmetic raw material. You can use it to prepare a tonic that calms the skin and helps fight acne.
How to store lilac syrup?
The syrup can be pasteurized to store it longer. Opened or unpasteurized syrup should be stored in the refrigerator. Due to the high sugar content, the syrup can be stored for a long time and will not spoil.
What is lilac syrup good for?
Properties of lilac flowers:
- antipyretic, antitussive and anti-inflammatory,
- support immunity,
- antifungal and antiparasitic,
- help fight rheumatism.
When to collect lilac flowers?
We collect lilac flowers in April and May, when they bloom. It is best to collect fully developed flowers, with few buds and without brown, dry petals.
What is the difference between elderberry and lilac ?
Elderberry and lilac are two different plants, although both are commonly called ‘bez’ in Poland.
- Flowers: Elderberry has small, tiny flowers gathered in flat, white-yellowish umbels. Lilac has much larger flowers gathered in clusters like a grape, in colors ranging from white, through lavender to dark purple. They have a floral, intense, suffocating scent.
- Leaves: Lilac has lighter, wider, heart-shaped leaves. Elderberry has darker, oblong leaves with jagged edges.
- Occurrence: Both lilacs and elderberries can often be found in parks, forests and roadsides, but we see lilacs much more often in private gardens.
- Flowering: Lilacs bloom earlier (April-May) than elderberry (May-June).
- Fruits: After flowering, elderberry has small black fruits gathered in umbels, just like flowers. Lilac, on the other hand, does not produce fruit.
The proportions given above make approximately 4 liters of lilac syrup. Lilac syrup does not contain gluten. It is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Read the step-by-step recipe on how to prepare purple elderberry syrup and watch the video below the recipe.
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Lilac Flower Syrup
Lilac Flower Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 l water
- 2 kg sugar
- 8-12 lemons
- 15+ lilac inflorescences
Instructions
- Boil water in a pot, add sugar and mix. When the sugar dissolves, add lemon juice poured through a strainer.2 l water, 2 kg sugar, 8-12 lemons
- Place the flowers in a large jar. Only flowers without stems and leaves. The fewer green elements there are, the better. Pour hot syrup over the flowers. Mix. Cover the jar with a lid. When the syrup cools down, close it slightly and leave it in a dark, warm place for approx. 48-72 hours.15+ lilac inflorescences
- After 2-3 days, pour the syrup through a strainer and, if necessary, also through cheesecloth. Pour the clear syrup into sterilized bottles or jars.
Pasteurization
- The syrup has a lot of sugar, so it can be stored for a long time, but if we want to store the syrup for several months, you can preserve it. Place a cloth at the bottom of the pot, place the closed bottles with syrup on the cloth, pour cold water into the pot so that it reaches about ¾ of the bottles. Boil the bottles for about 20 minutes (from the moment of boiling). Then remove the bottles, tighten the caps and turn them upside down. Leave the bottles in this position for approximately 24 hours. After this time, check whether the bottles are closed properly – if the caps "click" when pressed with your finger, you need to seal them again.You can also dry preserve the bottles in the oven or dishwasher.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
