Lavender Syrup Recipe

I have a very sweet tooth and started making simple syrup years ago as a way to sweeten drinks at parties and celebrations. I'm not a fan of ‘dry’ drinks such as prosecco and champagne and found that by adding a little simple syrup I could have celebratory bubbles that I enjoyed. I know I could just buy sweeter bubbles, but these were often drinks brought by guests or given to us as gifts. 

Flavoured syrups have lots of other uses beyond sweetening the dry – although they really do come in useful when making cocktails. 

When my boys were little, I made a mixed berry syrup which was delicious as a cordial – and though they liked it, they declared it still not as good as Vimto! Fizzy water from the Soda Stream turned it into quite an elegant refreshment. 

Other ways you can use flavoured sugar syrup include: 

• As a delicious drizzle on ice cream, pancakes or deserts. 

• Giving a twist to your coffee. 

• With hot water as a ‘tea’. 

• Stirring into your breakfast porridge.

• Offering as original homemade gifts. 

• Apply with a pastry brush on top of freshly baked cakes, pastries and bread to add a sticky, moist flavour.

I like my sugar syrup on the thicker side – more like syrup – so I use a higher ratio of sugar to water approx. 2:1. Where a thinner consistency is required you can use a 1:1 ratio but to me, that's not syrup 😉 

The higher sugar ratio also increases the shelf life. A syrup can last from a few weeks to a few months in the fridge depending on the sugar content, but I tend to use it quickly so shelf life is never an issue. 

You can use all kinds of herbs, fruits and flowers [make sure they are safe to eat first!] to make a syrup – mint, vanilla, rose, blackcurrant, lemon etc. 

As its lavender season – here is my lavender syrup recipe. 

400g Granulated sugar 

200ml Water 

6g of fresh flower heads or 3g of dried.

Only use flowers that you are certain have never been exposed to chemicals. If buying dried lavender, purchase culinary lavender sold specifically for cooking with.

1. Place the sugar and water in a pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved.  

2. Simmer for a few minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. 

3. Carefully stir in the lavender flowers and leave to cool completely. 

4. Once cool, strain the syrup through a sieve to remove the flowers. 

5. Pour the syrup into a clean container with an airtight lid. 

6. Refrigerate. 

Enjoy!