The lilacs are in bloom, which is always one of my favourite times of the spring. I read a post about making lilac sugar and that sounded like a wonderful way to preserve some of the scents of May.
Jess and I went out last night and picked a mix of flowers and then stemmed them (much like grapes), picked out the critters and gave them a wash.
Some we dried to make sugar with--with the coming rain this took a long time! The rest went into a pot to make lilac syrup.
The blossoms for the sugar quickly cooked down. We then strained the flowers out and jarred the syrup.
The recipes I read on line suggested that the syrup could be refrigerated for about a month or frozen. I'd think it is not acidic enough to can and I didn't have the patience to make jelly. So I put two-thirds of the syrup in freezer-jam jars and reserved one in the fridge to make drinks with.
This morning we layered sugar and blossoms to start the lilac sugar. I'm keen to try sugar cookies this autumn.
I've been reading a book of recipes and I think we'll make some rhubarb chutney next weekend. The rain is causing the rhubarb to grow a lot and it needs to be cut back a but anyhow.
Added some of the syrup to a gin and tonic and can't say I noticed the taste (tiny bit of floral bouquet). Next up is as syrup in a bowl of oatmeal.
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