Violets are in full bloom throughout the garden so I made some sweet violet syrup. A spoonful in a cup of herbal or darjeeling tea is delicious. A splash in a glass of iced water adds a tinge of color, subtle flavor and a bit of sweetness. It can be added to fruit salads, lemonade, iced tea or cocktails.
I picked violets without the stems and washed them in cold water. Then I loosely packed the flowers into a clean glass jar and covered them with boiling water. Eight hours later, I strained the infused water and measured it . There was 3 cups. I put the violets, infused water and 3 cups of sugar (same measurement as the infused water) into a non reactive pan and stirred it over low heat until all the sugar was dissolved. I added the juice of 1 lemon. (Lemon is optional. I like the taste better with the lemon but it does change the color of the syrup, giving it a pinkish hue instead of purple.) I strained the violets out with a fine mesh strainer and poured the syrup into a sterilized glass jar. Once it cooled down, it went into the fridge where it will be stored.
I should probably mention that violets that may have been exposed to pesticides, lawn fertilizers or sprays should never be used. Also, I took some shortcuts from traditional methods. I infused the violets for 8 hours and most recipes recommend letting them sit for 24 hours. I used organic cane sugar which isn’t pure white and I didn’t remove the green parts at the bases of the flowers, probably compromising the color of the syrup. Here’s a link for a recipe without the shortcuts and with some more good ideas on how to use the syrup.
Fascinating
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The best part was watching the liquid take on the violet color.
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Wow, that’s a lot of violets! Looks lovely
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Lots of violets! Plenty more left for the bees still:). Thanks!
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That’s a lovely idea, Cynthia. Great photos.
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Thanks, Mary. I really like all the colors in these pictures:).
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Thank you for a most wonderful post on this Sunday morning Cynthia, why even the photos of the beautifully coloured little flowers make one feel real good. I must say that I love the look of your syrup too. I did not try it this year but you have inspired me to put it on my list for next spring, thank you. Have a relaxing day.
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Thanks, Agnes! It is an easy and gratifying project. Happy Day to you:)
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Makes me wish I had violets. I wonder if I could go them here, early in the year while it’s still cool. Maybe I’ll try it next year. Thanks, Cynthia.
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If not, You could do the same thing with rose petals. I know you have beautiful roses! Just check first how much color you get out of them with a quick infusion of a few petals. I’ve made it a few times and added a cardamom pod. It was pretty.
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I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll try it. I have dried petals already. I’ll schedule a time to experiment. 🙂
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That’s useful to know. I don’t have any violets but hopefully the roses will be in bloom soon 🙂
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I lost many of my roses this year and the survivors are looking peaky.
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How did you lose them? That’s sad 😦
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I think the temperatures fell too low for too long this winter. Roses can be tricky here. Bug magnets, disease magnets… They are so hard to resist but so high maintenance and especially challenging for organic gardeners
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That’s a shame! Where are you?
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I’m in the USA, up in the northeast, zone 5. Lots of us try to replicate those beautiful, traditional English gardens but it just doesn’t work here.
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No, I can imagine the winters you get are too cold?!
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This one especially! And temperatures are so extreme here. Really hot and humid in the summer. Frost until almost June sometimes. The past week is dry as a bone and in the 9o’s. Tomorrow they say high winds and 60 degrees.
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And of course plants don’t really like swings in the temperature… It’s bad enough here, though the plants are bred for our climate. I guess we each need to garden according to what we’ve got…
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Too bad our violets are done, but we are going to remember this post next spring. Sounds very cool 😉
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A snap for you guys!
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What a neat idea, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks! I bet your garden helpers would have fun just making violet tea and watching the water turn blue.
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We did it with chive heads in vinegar last year and they loved having pink vinegar!! I have never seen violets in our yard though…boooo.
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Alas my violets are all gone for this year but I bookmarked this page. I was taught how to make candied violets, which is a lot of delicate work but your syrup not only looks easier but seems to have a lot more uses. I can certainly gather the required amount of violets. It will be so much fun.
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This is so flexible as to how many flowers to use. The trick is to match the amount of infused water to the sugar measurement. I went overboard because I wanted to send some syrup home with my daughters.
I’ve never made candied violets. They are so pretty. Seems like a delicate and time consuming project. Very special!
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The violets are in bloom now so this post hit me at a perfect time.
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We seem to hit a lot of things at the same time, Ginene. I thought your area was much colder than it is here. Are you zone 5? Maybe it’s just because we are both having flukey weather this year. I’m reading all of Miss Read’s books again. Just finishing the ‘Caxley Chronicles’.
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Noddfacrafts
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Such a lovely colour and “happy”flowers!
Barbara
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You are right! Violets are happy flowers. I love the color too.
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Thanks so much for the recipe !! I must try !! I love violet syrup but usually I’m buying it in the supermarket. It must be rewarding to be able to do it by yourself 🙂
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You’re welcome! I’ve never seen violet syrup in stores here. It’s very easy to make. The most time consuming part is picking all the violets:)
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Yes, picking them must be very time consuming ! These flowers are so small ! 🙂
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I had no idea violets are edible. Thanks for the tip.
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Thanks for mentioning to be careful about exposure to environmental toxins! It’s so hard to tell the history of soil just by looking. Hard to tell what folks put into the ground today/yesterday even years ago. Some of it (like lead) still lurks, alas. Thx for sharing!!!
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Thank Goodness more people are becoming aware of these things and hopefully more discerning about what they do themselves
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