MAKES 2 litres
• 1 litre picked hawthorn blossoms
• 800g caster sugar, plus extra for packing
• 1.25 litres water
• 7 tbsp lemon juice
I picked a carrier bag full of lovely white blossoms. You need about 1 litre of blossoms. Gently snip the flowers from the stalks and pack them loosely into sterilized kilner jars (see page 280) in layers about 2.5cm deep. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar between each layer of flowers, until the jars are full.
In a pan, bring the 800g sugar, water and lemon juice to the boil and boil for 3 minutes, then allow to cool.
Pour the cooled syrup into the jar with the flowers and put the lids on loosely. Stand the jars in a large pan on top of a few sheets of folded newspaper, with some newspaper between the jars so they don’t touch. Fill up the pan with cold water and bring to the boil slowly. Reduce the heat and simmer very gently for 1 hour.
Carefully lift out the jars using a cloth, and tighten the lids. When everything is stone-cold open the jars and strain the flowers from the syrup through a muslin cloth into sterilized jars or bottles. Seal and keep somewhere cool. It will keep for months.
It’s a delicious apricot-coloured syrup. Serve with soda, ice and a squeeze of lemon with a few flowers scattered on top. It’s also good with gin and tonic or drizzled over pannacotta or ice cream.