Late March in North Carolina means wild violets. Lots of them. I harvested wild violets from my yard (which is not treated with pesticides or anything else) to make a Violet Simple Syrup. I was inspired by the blog Feasting At Home. Gathering the violets is an easy thing for small children to do. Just grab a bucket or bowl and start picking. Just make sure you are gathering violets and not something more sinister.
Once you have a few cups gathered, you can get to work removing the leaves and stems. Once that is done rinse the flowers in a cool water bath to remove any dirt, etc.
Next you’ll need to boil a couple cups of water and then let it cool for about 15 minutes. While the water is cooling, I stuff a mason jar full of violets. Once the water has cooled a bit, pour it over the flowers in the jar. You’ll want the barely cover the flowers – which should be tightly packed in the jar. Let that sit about a full day.
Once the flowers have steeped, pour them through a strainer back into another jar or bottle. Press the flowers so you get all the liquid you can. I like to reuse sparkling lemonade bottles that have been thoroughly cleaned. Fill the bottle about halfway or 3/4 full.
To this lovely purple mix, you’ll add simple syrup to sweeten it. I make an extra sweet version of simple syrup for this. I add about 2 cups of white sugar to 1 cup of almost boiling hot water. Stir until the sugar dissolves. It’s your mix so add as much simple syrup to the violet mix as you like. Having kids or friends act as taste testers doesn’t hurt. Once your violet simple syrup is as you like it, you are ready to create drinks. For a kid friendly mocktail, mix with lemonade (and watch the color change like magic).
Or, if you are looking for a twist on mimosas at brunch, mix the simple syrup with Prosecco or Champagne and garnish with a sugared lime. Keep your violet simple syrup refrigerated and it should last up to about 6 months (as if it won’t already be consumed by then – ha).
