Oh no, it's the long boring text before the recipe! Don't worry, I'll generally only add text if adds importance to the recipe. Like frequently asked questions, stuff you need to know to perform the steps, or information about the finished product.
Why do you call it "Viole(n)t?"
My partner and I were crawling around our lawn, popping the heads off of flowers. I remarked how hilariously violent it sounded, and the name stuck.How does it taste?
It is a sugary floral flavor. Very light and friendly. I swear the end result tastes like what my brain translates as "purple sugar." :) It smells wonderful, as it is the syrup of a hundred flowers.Why make violet syrup? What are its uses?
Violets are antifungal, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. They are high in Vitamins A and C. And they are dang tasty. So finding a use for them is not a terrible idea. If you don't want to make syrup you can make jelly, vinegar, and even candied flowers. I have personally used violet syrup in the following ways:- With gin. It was delicious... for gin. I'm not a huge fan of gin. I am told by others that it was delightful.
- Because I was ambivalent about the gin, I substituted it for lime in a Moscow Mule. IT WAS TERRIFIC and I will love it forever. Much wow, it was my favorite drink all last summer.
- In sparkling water. Also very delicious, it has such a light flavor that it is very refreshing. Keep in mind this syrup is laden with sugar, so if you have to watch calories or sugar intake you should use caution.
- Use it as a flavor in homemade ice cream. This was AMAZING. It was also amazing drizzled on ice cream as a topping. Just make sure the ice cream flavor pairs well with violets.
- As a topping on pancakes and waffles. This was fairly good, but is best with very light or sweet batter such as almond. Buckwheat was... okay, but did not induce joy. Was fantastic with berries on top as well.
- As an added syrup to compote. The fruit and violets made good friends.
- As tea, or as a tea additive. Just keep in mind that too much violets can make your gut over-active. None of the other uses should give you enough violets to cause a problem, but tea could be enough of a violet dose to make your gut viole(n)t.
- Add to icing or batter to make delicious violet cakes. The flavor pairs with white flours and vanilla so well!
Will it always turn out so purple?
It depends on a lot of factors about the flowers themselves, but it is ok if it does not. Adding more lemon juice can help skew it purple if it is too green or blue. If you keep out the stems and leaves you will have better luck getting a good purple color. Try to avoid the temptation to add food coloring, it is not necessary!If you want it to look Pinterest-perfect, then make sure that you are using a fine strainer like a coffee filter or cheesecloth. That will make the syrup more transparent so you can see the purple easier. If you do not, the liquid may appear a more opaque purple/black. I was fine with that, so I just used my usual metal strainer that I use for straining frozen vegetables and noodles. You can see from the photo that it is still very purple when it is back lit.
How do you identify wild violets?
Not touching that with a ten-foot pole. Please be educated on how to identify plants before injesting them. I don't know if there are any dangerous copycat plants out there, and don't know if violets look different anywhere else. So use my recipe only after you have made a positive identification of YOUR violets.I can tell you that African Violet houseplants are NOT EDIBLE.
What I will show you is what MY wild violets look like. I have both white and purple violets, but I've been just using the purple ones to encourage my syrup to be more purple. I have no reason to believe the white violets would impact the flavor. My violets grow in clumps, with almost heart-shaped leves.
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| MY yard wild violets. Results may vary. |
How Many flowers should I pick?
As many as you want. As many as you can stand to pick. The recipe is a 1-to-1 ratio so it is easy to adapt to how many flowers as you have picked. But you need to know that a single cup of violet heads yields about a quarter cup of finished syrup (I'm estimating here- I never thought to measure it). You need enough flowers to make the effort worth the bother.How long will it keep?
If you can it, it will last years. If you put it into a sterilized container in the fridge, it can last many months. Mine is more than a year old and still going strong. You can freeze it, but you probably don't want to use a glass container for that.I cannot stress enough the importance of using a STERILIZED container. A container that you washed months ago and put in your cupboard is not sterilized. Something that is clean enough to eat off of is not clean enough to store food in for months.
There are several ways to sterilize containers. The first common way is to boil it in a pot for at least a minute (one of the reasons you need to use a glass container for this and not plastic). The second is to put high-proof alcohol in the container and shake it for a minute. In each case, it would still be a good idea to add a shot of vodka to the mix after you pour it into the container.
The method I used was to mostly finish off a bottle of whiskey (cooking can be fun!) and then pour the mix into it. To each their own. As I said, it's a year later and my syrup is still as good as it was a year ago. If you have any alcohol bottles that have only a few shots left, it is a GREAT container for syrup!
Viole(n)t Syrup
Serves: A lot • Prep: 25 hours • Cook: 25 mins
Suggested
Hardware
- Pot for boiling
- Glass container for soaking violets
- Strainer, cheesecloth or coffee filters
- Sterilized glass container or canning tools for preservation
Ingredients*
- Flowers from land not treated with pesticides and other harmful chemicals
- Water (enough to submerge all flowers in your glass container)
- Lemon juice (as needed)
- White sugar
- Shot of clear hard liquor (suggested for longevity)
* Amounts needed are dependent on
how many flowers you pick. To help you ballpark it, you will need about as many
cups of water and sugar mix as you have cups of flowers.
Procedure (Short)
- Pour boiling water over violets and let soak for 24 hours in a glass container
- Deflower your water (strain out the flowers 💋)
- Add sugar in a 1-to-1 ratio to your now colored water, and add drops of lemon juice to bring the color to your desired purple color
- Bring to a boil until all sugar is dissolved
- Put it into sterilized glass container, freeze or can it
Procedure (Long)
- Pick violet flower heads, taking care to not include any stems or leaves. (It is much easier to do this now than go back and remove them later!)
- Rinse violet flowers to remove all insects and debris
- Place violet flowers in glass container
- Boil enough water to be able to submerge the violets in water
- Pour just enough boiling water over the violets to submerge them
- Put a cover over the glass container and let them seep for 24 hours
- Strain out the flowers. Get rid of the flowers, keep the liquid
- The liquid may be green, blue or violet at this point. All are fine don't worry about it
- Measure the liquid you have left in cups, then pour it into a pot
- Put an equal amount of sugar into the pot. (So if you had 3 cups of liquid, add 3 cups of sugar)
- Add drops of lemon juice to the pot until the mixture turns purple (if it is already purple, then just add 1/4 teaspoon per pot)
- Bring to a light boil until the sugar is dissolved
- Remove from heat, and let it cool
- Put in a sterilized glass container with a top (such as a whiskey bottle...)
- For extra longevity, add a shot or two of clear hard alcohol such as vodka
- It will last in the fridge for months, freezer for longer, or you could can it
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