Lilac

It is always fun to learn new things, and when I recently read that lilacs were considered an edible flower, well I started plotting. What freedom to release these fragrant buds from their glass cylinder cell, and not to mention, the fact that I will not be vacuuming up the puddle of purplish petals that gather around its vase. Though if your fancy is like mine make sure you buy organic lilacs – if you find yourself in a florist’s shop they have most likely been cured with color retainers, fungicides and other nasty compounds that won’t do a body good. So, head to a farmer’s market, the backyard or roadside stand to harvest these heady, precious blooms. They are at their most fragrant once the bud has opened.

Given how pungent this flower is working them can teeter on creating an eau du toilet so I recommend using them judiciously as a hidden accent.

I immediately buried them in sugar to make a lilac sugar to be employed later in the year. I removed the flowers from their stems then placed them in layers of sugar and flowers. Then into the cupboard for a few weeks before I will even contemplate using them. However, I am already agog with ideas for my new secret scent – in my white cake batter instead of plain sugar; a macadamia nut brittle; peach iced tea come August. It is a start, and who knows where it will go from there.