Holger’s favourite recipe

Lilac syrup—flowery, delicious and refreshing

Everyone knows elderflower syrup, but have you ever tried lilac syrup? Lilac blossoms are usually best collected from May to June. To prepare the syrup, you will need the following ingredients:

• 500 g cane sugar (it's best to use light brown cane sugar to bring out the colour of the lilacs—in my picture you can see what it will look like with dark cane sugar)
• 1 litre of water
• 20–30 lilac panicles
• 1 organic lemon

I start by mixing the cane sugar with the water and let it simmer for 5 minutes. In the meantime, I pick the small blossoms from the stems (try to remove as much of green bits as possible), wash the lemon and cut it into slices. Once the 5 minutes are up, I remove the pot from the heat and add the blossoms and lemon slices. I cover the pot and leave the mixture to infuse in a cool place for at least 48 hours. Then I strain the lilac syrup through a fine-mesh sieve, bring it to boil again and fill it into bottles.