Last summer I bought a copy of a beautiful book called Cooking With Flowers by Miche Bacher. I tend to regard flowers as things that belong in a garden or a vase, so cooking with flowers was a new concept for me. Visually this is a very beautiful book, but to be honest after my first look through it sat on the shelf last summer. This year I have decided that I am going to put it to better use.
The book is helpfully divided up by flower type rather than by recipe. This makes it easy to see what you have in the garden and then find something suitable to make. Last week lilac seemed a good place to start. Many of the recipes rely on maintaining a good store cupboard of flowery jellies, syrups and sugars, so I decided to keep things simple and start by making a lilac sugar. Flower sugars have a long shelf life and can be used to replace ordinary sugar in any recipe where a hint of floral taste takes your fancy.
I was surprised to see when I edited the photos that I had used a table cloth very similar to the one used in the book!
The proportions in the recipe are half a cup of lilac flowers to one cup of sugar, layered to fill whatever jar you are using. These little copper pans that I bought in an outlet in America last summer were just the right size for measuring my ingredients.
The most time consuming part of the recipe is preparing the lilac flowers. Each flower needs to be removed from its cluster and as far as possible the green sepal should also be removed as this can taste bitter. Once I had started this fiddly job it was actually quite pleasant to sit in the kitchen with the scent of lilac and a simple task to occupy me.
I used granulated sugar, although this was not specified in the recipe. I am sure any sugar would work, but granulated was what I had in abundance in the larder.
The idea is to pour in a cup of sugar and then half a cup of lilac flowers in layers until your sterilised jar is full. The jar should be kept in a dark cool place for a month to allow the flavour to develop.
Once made the sugar should last for a year. If it starts to clump together it can be turned into a food processor and whizzed for a few seconds to break it up. I often make vanilla sugar for the larder, but have never tasted anything made with a flower sugar. If the lilac sugar is a success it can be repeated with many other edible flowers – rose, lavender and violet are just a few examples.
This may only be a small step forward in my culinary skills, but I am pleased that I have started to use my lovely flowers in the kitchen. As the lilac is now fading I am turning my sights to the elderflower – another sugar, some cordial, a sorbet, perhaps an elderflower jelly with prosecco.
As the elderflowers are almost ready all suggestions for interesting ways to use them and links to recipes you have made would be very welcome!
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Sounds and looks wonderful. Fingers crossed it’s a success 🙂 Love the pics by the way.
Thank you Joe.
Maybe it will be ready by September???
I think that could be arranged!
What a wonderful idea, it sounds very interesting, I will wait for your comments on the result!
Thank you Pauline – I am looking forward to trying it and will let you know what I think.
I like the sound of this and I have lilac flowers for the first time since planting.
It is so exciting when new plants start to flower – you have to be prompt with using lilac flowers though – they lose their freshness very quickly.
This looks wonderful and indulgent and quite a relaxing thing to make.
Thank you Julie – it was surprisingly relaxing.
Thank you for my jar of lilac sugar. I look forward to using it.
You are very welcome Chloris – I will look forward to hearing what you do with it and whether you can taste a lilac flavour.
And so simple too. I look forward to seeing what other things you find to make with your flowers
Thank you Cathy – I am looking forward to seeing whether I like using flowers in the kitchen.
That book sounds like one for my list Julie… That lilac sugar looks so pretty! I love the idea of floral sugar and would like to try it with elderflowers. For the last few years I have made either elderflower syrup or elderflower liqueur (or both) and use the syrup in many other recipes too. Here are the links: http://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/elderflowers-the-fragrance-of-summer/
http://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/elderflower-liqueur/
Thank you for these lovely links Cathy – I had not thought of making a liqueur but I am going to try that this year – it will make lovely Christmas presents! Also I am a bit worried now about cutting down my elders – they pop up like weeds here so I take them out quite regularly.
Beautiful photos!
I will try this recipe soon – my lilac are not blooming yet, but it won’t be long. Last year I made a cake with lavender and some beautiful little lavender fragrance umbrellas – you can see them here: http://www.vangelyst.dk/diy-lavendelparaplyer/ – I also make elderflower lemonade each year 🙂
Thank you for your link Nina – lavender is on my list for the kitchen too. How do you make elderflower lemonade – are you adding elderflower cordial to a home made lemonade? Perhaps you could post the recipe on your lovely blog when your elderflowers are blooming.
I’m very much looking forward to using the jar that you gaveme, thank you.
You are very welcome – I will look forward to hearing what you think about it.
that is so beautiful! i have tasted scone type of things made with wisteria years ago, so good, but never thought of getting a recipe!
I would not have thought of using wisteria – I will have to save that idea for next year as my tiny wisteria has stopped flowering now.
oooooohhhh…that is too neat! Really have to get that book someday!
It is a lovely book Robbie – well worth purchasing if you have flowers to use.
Hi Julie! I come straight from BYW and am pleased to have found your poetic blog. This post is enchanting, quite simply (gorgeous pictures too!) and I so would like to try the lilac-scented sugar! The book is also a great present idea I find. Happy week to you!
Ooops, did something wrong and need to start commenting again…sorry! I come straight from BYW and am glad to have found your blog, such a source of poetry and natural beauty. I would love to make the lilac-scented sugar and possibly this is a good way to start cooking with flowers! Your post is exquisite, quite simply, and I find your pictures enchanting. Happy week!
Oooh this sounds devine, can you tell me please, do you leave the flowers in the sugar for the first month only or leave them there for as long as the sugar lasts? ☺
Thank you Lynn – the flowers stay in the sugar until you are ready to use it. They do lose their lovely colour as the sugar ages, but the lilac taste remains strong.