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Every year I can’t wait for the lilac to bloom and every year I’m sad when it fades again a few weeks later. That’s why I try to preserve those beautiful flowers as best as I can and thus prolong their season. Lilac flowers are not toxic as many people think. One of my favourite recipes is this homemade lilac syrup. Its colour is stunning and lilac syrup in a lemonade or on top of ice cream is a treat!

For the colour we must use a trick, however, as it does not come from the lilac itself. Nevertheless, it’s totally natural and organic. I’ll show you how to do it.

Lilac syrup

Yield: 500 ml

Ingredients

a bowl full of lilac flowers
250 ml water
250 g sugar
3 – 4 blueberries for the colour
1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. Carefully plug the flowers off the stems. Make sure that nothing green gets into the bowl, only the flowers.

2. Wash the flowers with cold water.

3. Put the water and sugar into a pot and boil it while constantly stirring. The sugar must be dissolved completely.

4. Remove the pot from the heat and add the blueberries and lemon juice. Stir slightly until the liquid has the colour you like.

Blueberries add the wonderful colour to the lilac syrup

5. Let the syrup cool down to room temperature, add the lilac flowers, cover the pot and let it all rest for about 18 – 24 hours.

The lilac syrup is ready to rest for about 24 hours

6. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into another pot. Gently press the last syrup out of the lilac flowers.

7. The mixture is ready for use now but will only last 2 – 3 days in the fridge. If you want to preserve it for longer, bring the syrup to a boil once more and the boiling liquid into glass bottles.  Alternatively, you can freeze the lilac syrup.