Violet Syrup Food

VIOLET FLOWER SYRUP

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Pinch violets off at the top of the stems. Remove calyxes, or the green parts at the base of the flowers, by twisting petals free. Save petals and compost, or discard calyxes.
• Place violet petals into a nonplastic, heatproof, nonreactive container, such as a glass canning jar or a stainless-steel bowl. Reserve.
• In a small saucepan, bring cup of water to a boil.
• Pour hot water over violet petals. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. The liquid will turn a gorgeous clear blue with a slight lavender hue.
• Pour liquid and petals into the top of a bain-marie . Or, if you don't have one, put an inch or two of water in a pot over medium-high heat and set a large stainless steel or other heatproof bowl on top of the pot. Place violets and their infusion liquid in it.
• Add sugar and cook syrup over steam created by the bain-marie. Stir often, until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Strain syrup through a finely meshed sieve to remove flower petals.
• Let syrup cool to room temperature. Transfer to glass jars, label them, and store in refrigerator for up to six months.

VIOLET SIMPLE SYRUP

Steps:

• Bring 1 cup of filtered water to a simmer in a small pot. Turn the heat off, let the water stand 5 minutes to cool slightly, then add the violets to the pot, stir, and let cool completely. (Do NOT boil the violets.) Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for at least 24 hours on the kitchen counter.
• Strain the violet-infused water through a fine-mesh sieve, gently pressing any additional liquid from the violets. Return strained Violette water to a bain-marie. Add sugar. For every cup of liquid yielded, add 1 1/2 - 2 cups of sugar.
• Stir sugar into the violet water over a bain-marie or in the same pot over very very low heat, just until the sugar dissolves.
• DO NOT SIMMER or BOIL as you will lose the gorgeous color of the violets. Just warm enough to dissolve the sugar. You should have a beautiful cool blue-hued syrup.
• To turn the syrup to more of a clear purple color as you see here, stir in one drop of lemon juice, one drop at a time (1-5 drops) or if you prefer the cool blue hue, leave the lemon out! Too much lemon will make the color go away so be careful here.
• Store the syrup in a bottle or jar in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
• Makes about 2 cups of violet simple syrup.

HOW TO MAKE VIOLET SYRUP

Steps:

• Place the petals of violet flowers into the canning jar.
• Cover the violets with the cup of boiling water.
• Cover the jar and leave the mixture to steep for 24 hours.
• Strain the liquid and remove the violet flowers. Compost the flowers or use them for baking something violet-ish immediately.
• Pour the strained liquid into the saucepan. Add the lemon juice and the sugar.
• Bring the mixture to boil. Then turn down the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Pour the syrup into a suitable storage jar and refrigerate. Use it in cooking for flavoring cakes, pancakes, scones, frosting (icing), drinks and other food.

WILD VIOLET SYRUP AND SPARKLING WATER

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.

VIOLET SYRUP

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.

TRADITIONAL SWEET VIOLET SYRUP

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.