BlueJayLewis Wild Recipes

The smell of lilacs in the spring are one of my favorite childhood memories! Every year, that first smell of lilac on the breeze sends me back to afternoons at grandma’s house, picking baskets of lilac flowers and helping her put bouquets in every room of the house. Little did I know back then, lilac flowers are edible! In this recipe, we’re going to be making Lilac Syrup. Perfect for adding a beautiful and fragrant touch to spring cocktails and recipes!

Before we get started with the recipe, here are a few items you will need to make your syrup:

• Container for picking Lilac blossoms
• Medium to large non-reactive pot
• Cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer
• Sterilized bottle for storage
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar(or favorite sweetener)
• 1 Tbsp of lemon juice, or 1 lemon sliced
• 2 hibiscus flowers(optional for color)

My lilac bushes pale in comparison to my grandmothers, but they are one of favorite landscape additions. I caught the scent of their blooms while taking out the garbage this afternoon and quickly got to work on gathering. The wind was blowing, the preamble to yet another sudden Indiana Spring thunderstorm. I needed to work quick!

Lilacs in bloom put on such a show! Not just with the fragrance, but the colors of lilac are an inspiration to artists, bakers, and pollinators alike. The life cycle of lilac blooms are notably short, only a couple weeks each spring. It is a yearly task of mine to get them at their peak to make Lilac Syrup so that they’re beauty and fragrance can be extended into the early summer in other ways.

With the incoming storm, I had little time to grab my foraging baskets. I opted for my foraging hat instead as it was handy. With this recipe, the number of blossoms needed can vary. There are multiple varieties of lilac, each with varying colors and bloom sizes. I gathered all that I could, making sure to leave one bush entirely untouched for our local pollinators.

Lilac syrup is made with only the blossoms. Once you have gathered your blossoms, you will need to pluck the fragrant blossoms from their stems, being sure to remove any of the green parts. The green parts of the plant will make your syrup bitter, so be sure to remove them all!

Once you have separated each of the blossoms, the next step will be to rinse them well. Lilacs can host a number of small bugs in them, and we certainly don’t want them mixed into our syrup! I like to put my blossoms into a large mason jar for this step.

Once you’ve gathered your blossoms into a container, cover with cold water and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. You can give them a bit of a stir to ensure all blossoms are rinsed as they will float in the water.

Once rinsed, strain the blossoms from the water and set aside for a moment as you get your other ingredients and tools ready.

In your pot, add your rinsed lilac blossoms.

Next, I like to add 2 hibiscus flowers to ensure a bright color in our resulting syrup. This is entirely optional. You can also add other ingredients to add to the color, such as blueberries or butterfly pea blossoms!

Next, add the lemon juice(or lemon slices). Lemon juice will help with the resulting flavor of the syrup, but can be excluded if desired.

Next, we will add our water and our sugar. With how many blossoms I was able to gather, I am making a double batch here and adding double ingredients.

Turn on your heat source on high and continue to stir the pot to ensure all the sugar has dissolved. Bring the syrup to a boil and continue to boil for about 5 minutes or so. The longer you boil here, the thicker your syrup will be. I personally like to keep a thinner lilac syrup as this is easier to work with in cocktail recipes.

Once your mixture has boiled for about 5 minutes, turn the heat source off and let sit for at least 4-6 hours. This will allow the lilac blossoms more time to really infuse into the syrup and capture all of the beautiful aromas.

After your syrup has infused for at least 4-6 hours, it is now time to strain the syrup. For this step, you will need either cheese cloth or a fine mesh strainer.

Once you have strained the syrup, it is time to start bottling! Be sure to sterilize any containers you plan to use to store your syrup. For this recipe, I am using a flip top bottle, as well as a small container to gift to my mother-in-law!

And… voila! Now you have your very own Lilac Syrup! For storage, it is best to keep refrigerated or use immediately. This syrup will store for weeks in the refrigerator and can be stored in the freezer for use at late summer gatherings if desired.

Some of my favorite uses for Lilac Syrup are in Lilac Lemonade, and if you are someone who imbibes, a Lilac Lemon Drop martini! There are so many fun ways to use this syrup in deserts, drinks, teas, and so much more! Let me know in the comments what your favorite use is!