Creating things from our land is a big part of my smallholding journey. I like trying new crafts or recipes, especially creating something edible from plants that aren’t often used, things like hawberry sauce or rose petal wine. Scrolling through a facebook smallholding group I saw a Swedish recipe for Lilac cordial. I have to admit I didn’t realise lilac was edible.
We have lots of lilac growing at the front of the house and it just so happened that Sam cut some back that had been overhanging the drive a bit too much. We like the motto of ‘waste not want not’ so figured we’d give the recipe a go.
It makes a beautiful colour whilst it’s steeping which really makes me want to have a go at dying yarn with it. The recipe is really simple, although I think I’d try to adapt it for the mehu liisa if I try it again. I really do like being able to store things in the cupboard rather than fridge or freezer and with the mehu liisa it comes out hot enough that it’s already pasteurised. As to the actual flavour its a bit too floral for me. I find the same with the rose petal wine we make, which I’m told is a lot like turkish delight, something else I’m not so keen on. The initial flavour is light and refreshing but the floral taste comes in after and puts me off a bit. If you like turkish delight and other floral things you may like it though. At the very least it’s something easy to try, maybe just do a smaller batch.
Lilac cordial
about 30 heads of lilac
1.5 kg of sugar
1.5 litres of water
4 lemons – sliced
50g of citric acid
Bring the water, sugar and citric acid to the boil.
Pour over the flowers and lemons.
Place in the fridge and allow to steep for 3 days.
Strain and bottle.
Can be stored in the fridge for a year.
This batch made 3x 750ml bottles. Let me know if you give it a go.
Filling the pan 
Boiled water poured over 
After removing the flowers and lemons 
Removed flowers and lemons 
Finished cordial
Dans
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