Lilac Simple Syrup

Cheers to all the mom’s out there. Happy Mother’s day! In celebration of Moms, springtime, and lilac season. Let’s make a really pretty cocktail! This syrup will bring a light fruity floral touch to any spritzer or cocktail. I think this would be a fabulous mixer for champagne. Lilac mimosas?! Yes! I do know that the lighter the shade of lilac, the lighter colored the syrup will be. (you can always add a few drops of food coloring if you’re counting on that purple color to be a little more pronounced. Oh, and white lilacs are not as flavorful as the purple varieties! Check out the video below, or jump down to the instructions and ingredients.

Step one:

Gather your lilac from your garden or a place where you’re sure that they haven’t sprayed pesticides. Lilacs are edible, but please do your own research and testing with allergies and food sensitivities. Also, know your plants. They are wonderful creatures, but deserve respect, and can do a lot of damage if you identify them incorrectly.

You’ll need about 4 cups of lilac blossoms for this recipe.

Step two:

Prep and rinse your blossoms. Remove only the flowers, avoiding pieces of stem and browning flowers if possible. The stems can be bitter. Rinse your blossoms in cold water with a strainer to remove any particles, bugs, and outside debris.

Step three

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a sauce pan. Adding in equal parts of granulated sugar. Bring back to a boil and make sure the sugar fully desolves.

Step four:

Turn off the sugar water heat and add in the lilac blossoms. Remove the pan from the heat and let the blossoms steep in the sugar water for 2 hours or more. After that time, strain the whole thing into a large liquid measuring cup so that it’s easier to transfer to bottles or mason jars. Save in your fridge for about 3 weeks. If it becomes cloudy it’s probably time to toss it. I have heard that you can preserve simple syrups in the canning method. But I have yet to try that, so if you wanna do your research I’m all ears and would love to try it. Lilacs are only around for such a short window of time, I would love to save it!

Step five:

I almost forgot! Make a drink!!!

I made my kids Italian sodas using it. SO GOOD. I also saved some for adult beverage time. This syrup works well in just about any drink where you need a soft floral element. I have tried it with certain Gins and it was great. I am really looking forward to using it in champagne this year like a mimosa.

Thanks for reading and watching! We’ll do this again, I have some more ideas like this one.

-Gina