Wild Flower Syrups

The delightful aromas of blossoms and wild flowers is one of the true joys of spring and on into summer. Walking past cherry blossom or lilacs you are hit by both the beauty of the flower and the sweet smell coming from them. I will often collect various edible flowers to add to salads or to decorate cakes, but the best way to capture the aromatics is to infuse them into some sort of liquid. This could be as simple as letting them step in just boiled water for a floral tea, but to preserve their scent (for times when we cannot enjoy them fresh), I like to infuse them into vinegars or syrups. 

This year I have given myself the fun task of making a range of wild cocktails and for my brothers wedding in the summer. Wild flower syrups will provide perfect mixers as I can use them for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Hence I’ve already started to build up my stock! I’ve used slightly different methods for each, but generally all of the methods explained below could be used for different aromatic edible flowers (don’t just do this with any flowers…make sure you are 100% sure they are a safe and edible flower variety before using!). 

First up for me was sweet violet syrup. I am incredibly lucky to have a big patch of sweet violet that grows around the farmhouse that I now call home. So on a sunny day towards the end of February I gathers a full jar of the deep sweet violet flowers. 

Sweet violets flowers and leaves are both high in vitamin C. The leaves have a long history of use in folk medicine including for the treatment of cancers and whooping cough. Other medicinal uses include easing headaches and treating wounds and skin conditions. 

I covered my jar of sweet violets with boiled water, replaced the lid and then left to steep for 24 hours. The next day I strained the sweet violet flower out and added equal volume sugar to the sweet violet ‘tea’. I then heated this gently to allow the sugar to dissolve, and then poured this back into my jar (which had been well cleaned with hit soapy water…I don’t believe in any chemical sterilization!). Stored in a cool place or fridge this should keep for at around 12 months. 

Sweet Violet syrups

Around a month later, whilst out on a family walk (fittingly on the day of my brother and sister in laws official wedding…big celebration party is in the summer, that’s the on I’m making the wild cocktails for!), we got came across a big gorse bush. The sweet coconut smell of gorse is one of my favourites. With help from all the family, we gathered a full bag of gorse flower buds. An important principle of foraging is around sustainability and never over foraging…always leave plenty for wildlife (and a bit for other foragers). Luckily this bush was so dense with flowers that you couldn’t tell we’d foraged there. 

Gorse bushes help to fix nitrogen in the soil, hence creating nutrient rich soils for other plants to grow.

For the gorse flower syrup I used a lower ratio of sugar…using 50% sugar compared to water. And for this one I did the reverse method compared to the sweet violet one…so I started by making the sugar syrup and then poured that over the gorse flowers and allowed it to steep for 24 hours. I also decided to add some orange and lemon juice and zest (inspired by other recipes I’d come across). 

On that same walk where we came across the gorse, we also were lucky enough to pass many magnolia trees. Magnolias have to be one of my favourite trees. They come in a range of varieties from the ones with deep pink tightly closed buds to the ‘stellata’ variety which has white open flowers (like stars!). 

Magnolia have many medicinal properties; in Traditional Chinese Medicine they have been used to treat coughs and congestion.

Interestingly the different magnolia varieties have quite different taste profiles. Generally I find most magnolias have a gingery taste, sometimes with notes of citrus or cardamom, and some more fiery than others. Hence one of my favourite things to do with magnolia blossoms is to pickle them to create a gingery pickle that can be served with sushi or noodles. On this occasion I was struck by the smell and taste of the ‘stellata’ variety which I found more vanilla-like, almost peachy. Delicious! As I was in a public park (where it we are allowed to forage fruits, flowers, foliage for personal consumption…but not roots) I allowed myself to pick a few flower buds from each tree. For the magnolia syrup I used the same method that I had used for the gorse syrup but this time didn’t use any citrus. 

Watch this space to see what other wild syrups and drinks I concoct for the summer wedding…I’ve got many ideas!