Lilac Sugar

Making lilac sugar is a great way to preserve the delicate flavor of lilac flowers so you can add it to drink and dessert recipes. I make a batch of this floral-scented sugar every spring because it’s so delightful!

Preparing lilac flowers

The first step to making homemade lilac sugar is to find a good source of fresh flowers. Look for flowers that are open and free of pests, damage, and disease. You’ll want to pick lilacs from areas you know haven’t been sprayed or treated with any pesticides or herbicides, and where there is minimal opportunity for pollution (away from roadsides, for example). You can use any type of edible lilac for this recipe.

Cut a handful of healthy-looking lilac branches and place them immediately in a vase of water to keep them fresh. Then bring the blooms inside and wash them gently.

Pluck the flowers off their stems and lay them on a towel-lined sheet pan in a single layer until they’re dry. You can also blot them gently with paper towels to speed up the process.

How to make it

There are two ways to make your own lilac sugar, and they’re both super simple! Essentially, all you need to do is combine equal parts granulated sugar with fresh lilac flowers.

Option 1: Food processor method. Process lilac flowers and sugar in a food processor until the flowers are completely broken down. You can use this sugar immediately!

Option 2: Layering method. Layer flowers and sugar in alternate layers in a large clean glass jar, starting and ending with sugar. Put a lid on the jar and give it a good shake. Place the jar in a dark cupboard for a day or two, shaking the jar a few times as it sits. Once the sugar is infused with lilac flavor, it’s ready to use. You can strain the flowers out or leave them in the sugar, but they lose their color and aren’t nearly as pretty as when we started!

This isn’t so much a recipe as it is a technique. You can use as many lilac flowers as you have available to you; measure the amount of flowers after you remove them from their stems and combine them with equal parts sugar, though it doesn’t have to be exact.

My top tip

Most recipes for lilac sugar stop after the infusing process. However, this will leave you with a very wet sugar, which will quickly begin to ferment and take on a vegetal taste and funky aroma.

You need to remove the excess moisture that the flowers leave in the sugar. An easy way to do this is to dry it on the lowest setting in your oven (mine is 170° F). Pour the lilac sugar in a thin, even layer onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until the sugar is dry and crumbly to the touch.

You can also use a food dehydrator if you have one. Spread the sugar onto dehydrator trays and set the heat to medium low, anywhere between 100° – 125°F. Let it run until the lilac sugar is completely dry.

If your lilac sugar is clumpy after drying, you can pulse it in a food processor to break it down.

Storing & using lilac sugar

Once the infused sugar is nice and dry, you can store it in a sealed container for at least a year in a cool dark cupboard.

Use this sugar in recipes in place of regular white sugar to give a subtle lilac flavor to your desserts! Try it with Lilac Snickerdoodles, Lilac Crème Brûlée, or this Lemon Lilac Butter Cake.