Wild Violet Syrup

Violets are going crazy right now, so I figured it was a good time to dig this post up again. If you have violets, too, you can make wild violet syrup. You can store it all year and use it as a mild cough remedy or just to add a little local flavor to anything sweet.

The hardest part is picking enough flowers. Recipes vary a bit, but seem to suggest that you need between one and four parts violets for every part water.

I got a bit less than a cup and a half of petals (partly because I didn't want to pick them all), so I decided to use 3/4 cup of water.

I boiled the water, poured it over the flowers and let it sit overnight. This morning I strained out the petals and added 3/4 cup of sugar (it's also possible to use honey, but the flavor of violet is so delicate that I thought it might be better to keep it simple).

Then I brought the syrup to a boil and simmered for half an hour. Since I had so little liquid, I kept a close eye on it to make sure it was a really low simmer.

That's it! My syrup came out a bit muddy looking, but the flavor is pretty strong, polleny and complex, a little like a mild and earthy vanilla.