Walking through our backyard the other week, I couldn’t help but enjoy the way the lilacs smell while in bloom. I look forward to it every year and it always makes me smile. I couldn’t shake the thought that there must be something I could do to preserve the blossoms before they were gone. Like most things, someone wiser on the internet had come up with an answer and the answer was to make lilac sugar!
I was a bit skeptical because I have found myself here before. A few years ago there was a disastrous attempt at lilac jelly that was bitter and inedible. (The only flower jelly I have made that was a complete loss.) I am still not entirely certain how things ended quite so badly, so whatever I attempted couldn’t have too large of an investment of time or ingredients. Thankfully Pinterest agreed, lilac sugar was the answer! Simple, quick and with only one other low cost ingredient.
I followed this tutorial here (https://kellyneil.com/lilac-sugar), because it also came with a list of uses for lilac sugar. (We all know what happens when you get excited about some fancy new canning project and end up with a cupboard full of some weird syrup or condiment that you have no idea what to do with…) It was exactly as simple as it sounds. From walking out my front door with a bowl to pick lilacs, to having my little jars of sugar in the cupboard took no more than 15 minutes. The only work after that was to give it a good shake every day for a week, and to remove the petals when it was done.
Don’t the little petals peeking out from the sugar look sweet and cheerful? What a happy springtime recipe to make! What should I make with them first? I am leaning towards cookies.
If the lilac sugar turns out well I am going to try my hand at some flower syrups next year! My husband actually thought that is what I was doing when I started pouring the sugar. I hadn’t gone that direction because we only use a very small amount of syrups a year, mostly for pancakes but very occasionally as a dessert topping. Then the very next day a friend posted how she makes lilac syrup to mix her own homemade soda and I am dreaming of my chance to try it for myself next year.
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