Violet Syrup Recipes

Steps:

• Select only the freshest and most unblemished violets. Place violet petals in a deep bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Weigh down with a heavy dish to keep them submerged. Place the bowl in a draft-free place at room temperature for 24 hours.
• Line a colander with layers of rinsed cheesecloth(I use a clean terrycloth towel) and place over a bowl. Pour violets and liquid into colander, squeezing out juice from the violets; discard the violets.
• Place sugar, lemon juice and water in a saucepan and boil into a very thick syrup.
• near the candy stage. Add violet water and bring to a rolling boil. Boil 10 minutes or until thickened. Pour into sterile bottles. Allow to cool, then seal and refrigerate. Serve with ice water or club soda.
• VARIATION: Substitute 4 cups fragrant rose petals and add 1 cinnamon stick per bottle of syrup. Yield: 2 quarts.

Steps:

• Remove and discard violet stems. Rinse violets gently with cool water in a colander, and remove any insects. Place 2 cups of water in a 1 1/2-quart saucepan. Add violets, cover, and simmer gently over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; let steep, covered, for 20 minutes. Strain liquid through damp cheesecloth or a coffee filter; the liquid will be green.
• Measure 1 cup of liquid. Pour into a small saucepan; add the sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool for 5 minutes. Slowly add just enough lemon juice for the liquid to turn purple; the acid in the lemon juice is balancing the pH of the liquid. Don't add all the lemon juice or the liquid may turn red.
• To make one serving of Wild Violet Sparkling Water, add 1 tablespoon of Violet Syrup to sparkling spring water.

Steps:

• You need a bain-marie for this recipe and a sterilised bottle.
• Remove all of the green, stalks and leaves from the violets and put the flowers into a non-reactive metal pan or in the top of a bain-marie. Pour the boiling water over the flowers, cover with a lid and allow to infuse overnight or for 24 hours.
• The next day, add the sugar to the water and violets. Bring the water in the bottom of the bain-marie to a boil and keep stirring the violet mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved. Keep the water at a rolling, but gentle boil. If you don't have a bain-marie, place the sauce pan on top of larger pan with water underneath.
• Strain, bottle and label the violet syrup and keep in a cool place, or the fridge for up to 6 months. Use in cakes, scones, pancakes, icings, butter creams, ice creams, biscuits (cookies), beverages, cream puddings etc.