Ah, violets! One of spring's first flowers and arguably the sweetest. If you look around Vancouver Island right now, you'll see their lovely blooms popping up everywhere. From deep purple to pale yellow, violets add a welcome and wonderfully fragrant note to the changing landscape. If you've a patch growing plentifully near you, pinch a few and make your own violet sugar. Lovely added to tea or sprinkled on baked goods, this colourful sparkly floral sugar is quite literally springtime in a bottle.
Note: Bee sure to leave plenty blossoms for our pollinators! Violets and dandelions are among our pollinators first foods of the season.
INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup packed wild violet petals
- ½ cup organic sugar
- ½ tsp lemon zest
METHOD
Pick your violets, pinching off the heads and leaving as much green behind as possible. Be careful not to destroy the plant.
Rinse the blossoms gently under cold water and allow to dry thoroughly.
Combine sugar, violets, and lemon zest in a food processor and process until the petals are finely ground and you're left with a lovely, purple-hued sugar. The processing can dull the sugar crystals a bit, so feel free to add a couple of teaspoons of fresh sugar to regain a bit of sparkle.
Store in an air-tight container and enjoy!