Lilac Sugar

This Easy Lilac Sugar will add a subtle and pleasant floral note to your baking, desserts, and drinks. And with this simplified recipe, you will be able to use it in mere hours. Be sure to make a batch before the blossoms fade!

Hey, folks! How are you doing? I hope you all are having a great weekend.

Also, can you believe it’s almost the end of April? Say what, right?

I was not going to post any lilac recipes until around mid-May. But I have noticed that my older lilac recipes on the blog have been getting popular recently. I guess it makes sense because in some places lilacs are either already blooming or about to bloom. Here, in Nova Scotia, they will not bloom for at least another three weeks or even a month. So, I decided to sneak a few lilac recipes now while my readers might find them timely.

Easy Lilac Sugar Recipe

Normally, it takes time to make lilac sugar. You alternate the layers of granulated sugar with lilac petals in a jar and let the sugar infuse for at least five days or even slightly longer – until the petals have released their juice, wilted, and browned. As a result, you have fragrant sugar.

The traditional method is excellent, but it requires some patience.

The method I suggest? You can use your lilac sugar in mere hours – or even right away.

How to Make Easy Lilac Sugar

First, you will need to collect flowers that are in full bloom and far from the roads. If you are lucky to have a lilac bush in your backyard, be sure you don’t use dangerous pesticides. You will need only lilac florets. Remove all green parts (leaves and stems) as they could make your sugar taste grassy, even bitter. The ratio is simple: one cup of tightly packed petals to one cup of sugar. 

Next, using a blender, grinder, or food processor, quickly blitz the mixture. Be sure not to grind it into powdered sugar, unless you require super fine texture. The mixture will look wet and clumpy.

Spread it in a thin layer on a baking tray lined with parchment or foil and let it dry out for a few hours. Depending on how humid your place is, it could take longer. In my case, I left the sugar overnight, and it was enough. If you have a dehydrator, I believe you could accelerate the process by drying out the sugar over the lowest temperature.

And if you are using this sugar to make cookie dough or lemonade, you don’t even need to wait.

Downsides

We already established that the preparation time is the main advantage of this method.

However, there are several downsides of this simplified recipe that the traditional method doesn’t have. First, the sugar will have grayish hues. Also, coarse sugar generally looks more beautiful than fine sugar – especially if you are using it for decorating. Lastly, this method tends to result in some little clumps. And so does the traditional method. But I found it was a little bit more challenging to get rid of them by sifting. As you can see from the photos, I was not too meticulous. I know you can do a better job! :)

These are not huge downsides, and if you don’t mind them, you should make this lilac sugar!

How to Use This Easy Lilac Sugar?

You can use lilac sugar in place of regular sugar or lilac syrup when making cookies, cakes, desserts, and drinks. Please keep in mind that its flavour isn’t too strong, so don’t pair it with another flavour that could overpower it. I haven’t posted recipes with lilac sugar yet – please stay tuned. But I have a ton of ideas with lilac-infused syrup; please check them out!

Lilac Infused Recipes

• Lilac Syrup
• Blueberry Trifle with Lilac Infused Cream
• Lilac Lemonade
• Lilac Mojito
• Crêpes with Lemon Lilac Sauce (With Lilac Syrup and Limoncello)
• Lilac Ice Cream
• Lilac Shortbread Cookies (With Lilac-Infused Butter)
• Blueberry Oatmeal with Lilac Syrup

I hope you like this Easy Lilac Sugar Recipe, and you will try it this method soon. If you make this recipe, please let me know in the comment section of this post, send me an Instagram message, or share your photos by adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

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Lilac Sugar

Recipe by Ben | Havocinthekitchen

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Infused Sugar and Salt

Yields

1

cup

Prep time

1

hour

Drying time

2-10

hours

This Lilac Sugar will add a subtle and pleasant floral note to your baking, desserts, and drinks. And with this simplified express method, you will be able to use it in mere hours.

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 1 cup (200 g.) granulated sugar

• 1 cup lightly packed lilac petals – 3-4 medium-small sprigs

Directions

• First, collect the lilac sprigs that are in full bloom and far from the roads. If you have a lilac shrub in your backyard, be sure you don’t use pesticides. Pick off any wilted or dried up petals. Gently shake the sprigs to remove any dirt or insects from the petals. You can also quickly rinse the petals, but this step will increase unwanted moisture. If rinsing, be sure to pat dry springs using paper or regular kitchen towel.
• Next, pick off any green parts (leaves and stems) and discard them. You need only lilac florets. Those green parts could alter the subtle botanical flavour of your sugar by making it taste grassy or even bitter.
• Combine the lilac florets with the sugar. Using a food processor (ideally) or a blender blitz your sugar mixture, ideally using the “pulse” option. Please don’t use too powerful settings unless you want icing sugar. The goal is to mince the petals with sugar to the consistency of the fine sand.
• The mixture will look moist and clumpy. Transfer it on a large baking tray lined with parchment or foil in a thin layer. Let it dry out. Depending on humidity of your place, it could take between few hours to overnight; in my case it was about 10 hours. If you have a possibility, you can mix the sugar with a spatula, crushing the large clumps, for a few times, while it’s drying. While I have not tested this myself with this lilac sugar, generally any clumpy sugar can be dried out in a dehydrator – typically, at a lowest temperature setting for 1-2 hours. And if your recipe does not require dry sugar (i.e., drinks, cookie dough), you can use the sugar right away.
• Once dried, get rid of smaller clumps. First, you can again briefly pulse the sugar in a processor (or even using an immersion blender). Then, sift it using a mash sieve – you may need to do it more than once. I was not able to get rid of all little clumps, but I sift it only once, and they dis not bother me.
• Makes 1 cup of infused sugar. Keep the sugar stored tightly at room temperature away from direct sunlight for up to 1 month. Over time, it could start accumulating more moister clumping up, as any other sugars.

Ben | Havocinthekitchen

Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.