In this recipe I have, to my delight, figured out how to capture the intoxicating scent of lilacs and make it accessible to the taste buds. Having experimented before with wild flowers, I know how their delicate aroma and colour are not always easy to use for edibles, and I considered lilacs another one of those barely-worth-it ingredients. The flavour of the blossoms is bitter, and cooking them leaves little flavour apart from the sweetness of the recipe.
I decided to make a no-cook ice cream, realizing that the result might be bland or even bitter. Also, how to infuse the blossoms without using heat or alcohol?
Some flowers I ground finely with equal parts sugar. I also took one cup of blossoms and mixed them with milk, set them in a sunny place outdoors for three hours, which was as long as the sun lasted. I then left this milk/blossom infusion for another 12 hours in the fridge.
The rest was easy. I strained the blossoms from the milk, and feared the flavour was not as strong as I needed it. However, once I mixed the lilac sugar with the milk and an equal amount of cream, the flavour was definitely that of lilac – sweet, aromatic and superb.
“Lilac
So now I have another favourite ice cream which inspired me to use lilac in other no-cook ways. One is to preserve some in raw honey, leaving the infusion for a few weeks and leaving the blossoms in to serve. I will also try and preserve as much as I can in sugar which I have no doubt will be useful in all sorts of creamy ways.
Related Links: Honeysuckle Ice Cream
Linked to: Fiesta Friday #173; Love in the Kitchen and Her Life is Love.
May 26, 2017 at 3:27 am
I can’t wait to try this, Hilda! It sounds divine! 😀
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May 26, 2017 at 9:56 am
Another wonderful idea, Hilda. I love unusual ice cream flavours.
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May 26, 2017 at 11:54 am
Wau!! We have believing, that eating lilac 5 petals blossom, it brings good luck. But add for blossoms some ice- cream this is more wonderful idea (and taste)!!! 🙂
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May 30, 2017 at 5:23 pm
I never heard of that superstition before, but I like it! Maybe I should collect the blossoms only in multiples of five.
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May 31, 2017 at 5:28 am
Yes 🙂 If you need some luck 🙂 It would surely help 🙂 🙂 🙂
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May 26, 2017 at 12:02 pm
Fantastic! Another wonderful and inspiring recipe!
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May 30, 2017 at 5:22 pm
Thanks Christina. I liked it so much I made some lilac syrup too. I figure you can’t have too much lilac flavour stored away for special occasions.
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May 27, 2017 at 7:13 pm
OMG, your creativity is stunning. You deserve a Michelin star, Hilda.
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May 30, 2017 at 5:20 pm
Thank you Anna.
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July 15, 2017 at 11:53 pm
Thanks! Wouldn’t a Michelin star be nice!
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May 28, 2017 at 4:54 am
Waw, another very interesting delightful tasty recipe, dear Hilda! Yummm!
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May 29, 2017 at 10:26 pm
What an unusual idea, Helen.
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May 30, 2017 at 9:12 pm
This sounds incredible, I love the idea! The lilacs are long bloomed here but I will try it with other flowers. Thank you for the inspiration! 🙂
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May 31, 2017 at 12:51 am
So glad I could inspire, and yes, I think this would work with a variety of scented, edible flowers.
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May 30, 2017 at 9:18 pm
This is an interesting idea, Hilda. I love ice cream and think it’s interesting to make use of flowers as edible food. Mixing the two together look fantastic! Thanks for joining Fiesta Friday this week 😀
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May 31, 2017 at 12:54 am
Thanks Paula, and for co-hosting this week. I was late because our internet was down from Friday till today, but I’m glad I was able to participate, even though I was a bit late.
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June 2, 2017 at 10:53 am
Oh, too bad my lilac is done blooming. Maybe I can use lavender?! Or maybe that’s too strong?
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June 3, 2017 at 4:38 pm
Lavender ice cream would be wonderful, but not with this recipe. I think just adding a pinch or two to any plain ice cream would suffice. But this technique would work well with any edible aromatic flower, or maybe even lemon balm which I believe you do have.
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June 3, 2017 at 10:50 pm
Lemon balm is a great idea, thanks! And do I have lemon balm! More like lemon balm infestation 😄 Wish I could eat it like lettuce or kale 😄
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June 3, 2017 at 3:49 pm
This sounds amazing Hilda! I have to try it this spring–in my experiments with lilac last year, I barely managed to get the flavour through if at all. The creaminess of ice cream with lilac sounds heavenly, I can’t wait to give it a go! 🙂
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June 3, 2017 at 4:40 pm
Getting the lilac flavour to survive any preparation was a challenge, but now I am encouraged that it is possible. My experiments with lilac will continue, but that will have to wait till next year.
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July 15, 2017 at 11:52 pm
It is worth persevering! I wish I had made more.
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June 12, 2017 at 11:51 am
ah, beautiful! I will certainly try it! I love both images btw!
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July 15, 2017 at 11:51 pm
Thank you Justyna.
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July 15, 2017 at 10:17 pm
Yummy, it looks gorgeous too!
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July 15, 2017 at 11:50 pm
Thank you!
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August 11, 2017 at 10:21 pm
This looks absolutely divine Hilda. You are like a magician to have extracted the delicate flavor/scent of lilacs for a culinary adaptation. The sugar looks a bit like a lavender or vanilla sugar. Such a pretty color. Missed this post while my lilacs were in bloom. Hoping my yellow lilac will have its 2nd fall flowering to try it then. Lilacs are my favorite flowers.
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August 11, 2017 at 10:32 pm
Thanks Johanne. Yellow lilac sounds rather special. And it flowers in the fall? I would love one of those. I must research it!
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December 12, 2017 at 3:50 pm
Lilac ice cream is one of my favorite ice creams! It’s so delicious! 🙂 I infuse soy milk with lilac flowers because I can’t eat dairy. And have you tried jasmine flower or lemon flower ice cream – it’s so delicious too.
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December 12, 2017 at 6:42 pm
Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog. I haven’t much experience with floral flavours but now that I’ve tried a few, I hope to experiment with more. It is remarkable how much flavour comes from a few petals, and just how aromatic it can me. Jasmine and lemon sound wonderful, but there aren’t too many of those in our region. I think soy or other non-dairy milks are also a great idea.
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