How to Make Lilac Sugar and 10 Recipes to Bake With It

flatlay of lilac sugar jar next to lilac flowers

April 26, 2020

How to Make Lilac Sugar and 10 Recipes to Bake With It

Food, Recipe Collections, Spring

By Bekah

2 Comments

lilac, lilac recipes, lilac sugar, lilacs, recipe collection

jar of lilac sugar next to vases of lilacs

flatlay of lilac sugar jar and mortar and pestle

The lilacs are in bloom (albeit a tad early) and that means it’s time to make lilac sugar! I make a small batch or two each year, and it’s one of my favorite edible ways to use these gorgeous purple-hued beauties. It’s so simple, and the whole process will add the most beautiful aroma to your kitchen. You will, in essence, be baking spring!

woman pouring lilac blossoms into jar of sugar

woman pouring lilac petals into jar of sugar

jar of lilac sugar on a table with vases of lilacs

How to Make Lilac Sugar

To be entirely honest, lilac sugar is hardly a recipe. All that’s required is dry, fragrant lilac blossoms and sugar. I’ve outlined the steps and quantities below.

Cut off 2-3 large lilac flowers from the bush. Use a sharp knife or shears (these are what I’m currently using) and preferably cut above a leaf or branch junction. Also, as a friendly reminder, you should not use lilac flowers that have been sprayed with any kind of pesticide. Chances are the lilacs growing in your backyard are just fine. Those from a greenhouse or garden supplier are likely not.
Before bringing the flowers inside, thoroughly shake the flowers to rid them of any bugs or loose stems. You will also want to ensure they are dry. If they are not, leave them to dry outside or inside on a paper towel.
Once the flowers are dry, begin removing the blossoms and putting in a bowl. Take care not to add any leaves or small green stems as these are not edible. We’re aiming for approximately 2 cups of lilac blossoms (a few more or less is perfectly fine). Set aside.
Using 2 cups of sugar and a glass jar or bowl, begin layering the sugar and blossoms into the jar. I do this by adding 1/3 cup sugar to the jar, then 1/3 cup blossoms, etc…until the sugar and blossoms are all layered.
Leave on the counter for a day. Then shake the jar over the course of the next 2-3 days to infuse the lilac scent.
After shaking for 2-3 days, sift the sugar to remove the lilac blossoms. The lilac sugar is now ready to use. (While you can technically eat lilac blossoms, they are actually bitter to eat.)

This year, I used a mortar and pestle to crush about half of the lilac blossoms and added them to my jar, mostly to see if crushing a portion of the blossoms lent any additional flavor or color. The results? Not great. The sugar was wet as I expected, and I left it to dry in the jar for 5-6 days. After that time, I blended it in a food processor; however, I was unhappy with both the texture and smell of the sugar. It was far too fragrant (unpleasantly so) which made me equally hesitant to bake with it. I’m going to try this method on Food52 that calls to blend both the sugar and blossoms in the food processor first then let it air dry on the counter. Until I test that method, I’ll be sticking to my tried-and-true approach I outline above.

woman pouring sugar into a jar surrounded by lilacs

jar of lilac sugar next to mortar and pestle and vases of lilacs

flatlay of lilac sugar in a jar and lilacs

Now what to bake with lilac sugar?

Lilac sugar sounds so beautiful, but what to make with it, right? Below are 10 recipes (including one of my own) that you can use to bake something scrumptious and aromatic.