The Lilacs were at their peak here in western, New York this past week. I took a day to focus on preserving the blossoms for future use.
Today, I will share three ways I use these beautiful, edible flowers. Perhaps many of you have used them for baking and making jam, which I have done in the past. Below are the three ways that I preserved them this year.
It takes a little time to remove the blossoms from the stems, but oh how lovely the scent is as you are doing so.
Lilac Syrup
1 cup fresh lilacs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 lemon sliced thin
Instructions:
Pick fresh lilac clusters when in bloom. Approximately 4 clusters yield about 1 cup of flowers. Remove the buds from the stems trying not to add green stems or leaves. (Don't fret if you have a few little stems)
Using a fine-mesh strainer, rinse the flowers thoroughly to remove any dust or tiny insects.
Add lilacs, sugar, and lemon slices, to a small saucepan and cover with 1 cup of water. If you want to tint the syrup purple, add a few blueberries.
Stir to dissolve the sugar while bringing the mixture to a boil over medium heat for 3 minutes and then turn it to a simmer. Continue to cook the syrup until it is reduced by half.
Strain the syrup using a fine strainer pressing down on the flowers to extract as much syrup as possible.
Pour the Lilac Simple Syrup into a sterilized jar or bottle and keep it refrigerated.
I personally water-bath can my syrup. I add a teaspoon of bottled lemon juice to each half-pint jar and process it for 15 minutes since I make so much of it. ;-)
Lilac flowers have a delicate floral taste and are great for infusing with recipes like lilac lemonade or adding some to your favorite cocktail!
Lilac Tincture
Follow the same procedure above for cleaning and separating the blossoms from the stems.
Making a tincture is quite simple, just fill an appropriate size jar with your blossoms.
Fill the jar 1/3 full of food-grade glycerin and press down the flowers to remove any air bubbles.
Next top off the jar with 80 - 100 proof Vodka. Seal the jar and shake it well. Store in a cool, dark place for up to 6 weeks, shaking it occasionally.
Strain the liquid and store the tincture in the refrigerator for up to 1 1/2 years. The tincture is mostly for upper respiratory conditions like coughs and congestion due to a cold. The Lilacs are anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial too which helps support lung health.
Dehydrated Lilacs
Dehydrating the flowers is useful for baking, sachets, and tea. If you are fortunate to have a dehydrator with a low-temperature setting it would be perfect for drying the buds. If not you can do the lowest setting with your oven.
It took about 5 hours on the lowest setting to dry the buds completely.
I packed the dried flowers into jars and vacuum-sealed them with the food saver unit. This will keep them preserved until I am ready to use them.
It was a full day preserving the Lilacs and "wowza" my home smelled amazing throughout the entire process. I hope you have enjoyed today's post and are inspired to preserve your edible flowers too.
Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day