LILAC SUGAR
Few edible flowers are as lovely as the lilac; packed with scent and growing in a range of beautiful hues, from dark to light, I am so fortunate that my predecessors in the Hatted House planted one many years ago. I must give a gift to future occupants by planting another. I don’t hold with the old wive’s tale that they’re unlucky to bring indoors - what could be lovelier? If you are fortunate and can get hold of a bunch, do make some lilac sugar to preserve their sweetness even longer…
Take six heads of scented lilac and trim the blossom from the stalks (they taste bitter). Wash and dry the flowers in a salad spinner, to ensure they are critter free. Take a kilner style jar and a small bag of granulated flower and make alternate layers of 1cm depth of sugar and petals. When the jar is almost full, lock the lid and shake well. Shake again EVERY day for the next seven days, at which point the sugar will have take on the delicious aroma of lilac.
You can use the sugar in all sorts of dishes and any intact candied petals would make a great flourish to the top of a cake or a loaded summer meringue. Pair with soft fruits in a pancake or stir a teaspoon into a cup of hot chocolate for a floral edge which will delight. Stuff the old wives - lilacs are lovely. Good luck…
