Last Updated on July 17, 2020 by Michelle
Making syrup from trees in your own backyard is extremely rewarding–not to mention so sweetly delicious! But I’m not just talking about making maple syrup. While I do love DIY maple syrup, I’m actually writing about something that may surprise you today… Lilac Syrup. (Of course you can also read all about our backyard production of maple syrup in my DIY Maple Syrup Series on that sweet topic.)
Lilacs: Their perfume is sweetness personified. And their purple blooms tumbling over each other on my window ledge? They’re beauty personified.
Lilacs even offer a wonderful history lesson to old-home owners. But my daughter who inspired my whole homesteading lifestyle (the one who was fascinated with the homestead mentality long before we moved to 14 rural NH acres) has taught me to assume everything has multiple uses, and I started wondering if savory smelling lilacs could be turned into a sweet dessert. So we delved into an ambrosial experiment. And I have to tell you making syrup with lilacs is so much easier than our extravagant maple syrup production.
To start, we clipped a vase-worth of blooms. Turned out this was about twice as much as we needed, so the rest are now gracing my mantle.
As we gathered, we found numerous others were enjoying the lilac delicacies as well.
We separated the purple blossoms from their green sepals and yellow pistils.
They slid off effortlessly; in only a few minutes we had a cup full.
We boiled water, added sugar and the blooms, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
The syrup is delicious in our tea, and we plan on trying it on ice cream for tonight’s dessert and on pancakes one morning soon. I do wish the syrup was a thicker consistency, but I’m pleased with the subtly sweet taste.
I also learned that adding a small handful of blueberries will turn your syrup a beautiful deep purple color. Without the berries, our syrup was a grayish-purple hue.
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Would you like to plant some lilacs of your own? Or maybe you have one but would like more variety? (I recently planted Bloomerang lilacs that bloom multiple times throughout the summer!) If you click that image above, it’ll show you the huge variety of lilacs that you can order from my favorite nursery, NatureHills. I am impressed with everything I’ve ordered from them.
If you’d like to water bath can your syrup and keep it all year long, I give you all the details you’ll need to know, and offer a video tutorial in this post. (Trust me, it’s super easy. If I can do this you can too.)
I was fascinated to learn that our lilac trees may very well have been here on our homestead long ago. This post tells you more about that and the history of the lilac and old farmhouses.
Or maybe you’d like to know more about the iris, the dandelion, or–my favorite potted plant–succulents.
If you’d like to know more about the maple syrup we make here on our homestead, I’ve written extensively about that. This post is a great one to start with.
Our Recipe for Lilac Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup lilac blooms
- Heat water and sugar until dissolved.
- Add lilac flowers and simmer for 10 minutes.
- If desired, add a few blueberries for color.
- Filter the syrup into a glass jar–to remove the flowers.
- Let it cool, then keep refrigerated.
NOTE: I like to boil 10 cups of water at a time, dissolve 10 cups of sugar, and simmer 10 cups of blooms with about 10-15 blueberries to make one gallon of syrup. I’ll then can that into 8 pints of syrup to enjoy throughout the year ahead.
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Canning and using your lilac syrup,
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I welcomed y’all into my little farmhouse kitchen and made some lilac syrup with you in the live video below.
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“Consider the lilies [and lilacs], how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in
Savoring my lilac-sweetened tea, I am in awe that God would package such amazing splendor, scent, and sweetness in these simple flowers. Truly, through such a simple flower he shows us his splendor.
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy…
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.”Isaiah 35:2
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My subscriber library includes my favorite go-to recipe ever–Grandma’s Cheesy Egg Souffle–along with an easy-to-print copy of my Lilac Syrup recipe. Now that’d be a seriously good brunch: Grandma’s souffle and pancakes with lilac syrup!
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Could you use another sweetener besides sugar for the lilac syrup?
Good question! I haven’t tried it any other way but please please share your results if you do!! Maybe this year I’ll experiment when our lilacs are in bloom.
Hello! I made this wonderful lilac syrup this afternoon. Immediately after making it, it smelled so much like lilac and it was beautiful in our tea. But several hours later after being refridgerated, the scent changed. Almost like a wilted bouquet. Did I do something wrong? And is it still safe?
While I would totally assume it’s safe to consume, I do wonder what made the scent change when you refrigerated it. Hmmmm, it’s been a few years since I made this, but I would certainly remember if I noticed any odd smell when I’ve made it before. I will be making a few batches this week, so I will have to pay close attention and let you know if I notice any odd scent changes in mine.
How long is the syrup good for and how did you store it?
Thanks for reminding me to link this post to my new one from just this week! In that post I share more details about making, canning, and using lilac syrup, as well as an instructional video. (see that here: https://soulyrested.com/2018/05/28/join-live-5-29-making-lilac-syrup/)
If you want to can your syrup, it will keep for a long while (probably years, honestly; way longer than you can resist using it I’m sure). If you want to just make it and keep it in the fridge, it’ll be good for many weeks, maybe even a month or two.
I am originally from Pennsylvania and we had the most beautiful lilac bush you’ve ever seen right outside our front door. I always loved the wonderful aroma of that bush. I wish back then I would have known all the uses for those flowers! Now I live in Florida and I must say that I miss the lilacs more than I miss the changing of the seasons! Maybe you can bottle that syrup and sell it! I would be standing in line for it! Great post, thanks for sharing!
I know! I can’t believe it took me this long in life to figure out all these delicious uses of lilac blooms! 🙂
Hi there! I just made a small batch and it tastes somewhat bitter. Did I do something wrong? I followed your recipe exactly ☺️
Hmmmm I’ve never had it turn out bitter, but I’m wondering if maybe there may have been some leaves, branches, or tips to the flowers? Maybe that would make the taste a little bitter?
Just finished making this today, but something strange had happened—the syrup is green! It doesn’t taste bitter, it tastes sweet, and the smell is vaguely floral but not incredibly. Is that an issue, or has this happened to anyone?
Hi Katie. If you don’t add any blueberries for color, the syrup will be light green. Totally normal. And I would agree the smell is not a strong floral smell. Hope you enjoy it! Let me know your favorite way to use it. I love it in my cup of tea.
I came here because I searched for why my syrup is green and it showed me this comment. Thanks for allowing me to stop freaking out!