rhubarb lilac spritzer.

May 16, 2016

rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves
I won’t forget the first time that I was in France as a young teenager and I witnessed kids my age pouring mint syrup into flat tap water at a sidewalk café. The result was green water the color of a gemstone. The taste like mouthwash minus the alcohol. The entire ritual was baffling to this American girl.

I’m still not the world’s biggest fan of syrups added to flat water, but when there’s a little sparkle—some bubbles for all of that flavor to bounce around in—I’m sold. Enter the spritzer.

The most delightful springtime spritzers have started to appear on menus across the city in the past few weeks and I couldn’t be more delighted. Pleased as punch. I’ve seen rosewater spritzers, rhubarb and rosewater spritzers. I’m already imagining strawberry and basil spritzers. Sour cherry spritzers? Yes, please. If you ask me, nothing makes a gathering—or an ordinary Saturday afternoon—festive like a the addition of a syrup or two to add to sparkly things.

Last week, I made a variation on the theme, but instead of rosewater, I used edible flowers that are in season: my beloved lilacs.rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Lilac season is so fleeting, it makes me want to gobble the blossoms whole to avoid missing out. And so. I scoped a bunch of lilacs at the market on Saturday, double-checking with the farmer that the little beauties were safe for eating. Finding that they were, I hunted for the most fragrant bunch in the bucket and came home with an armload of purple blossoms and a few stalks of rhubarb.
rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Rhubarb sliced into small pieces.

I followed the same basic recipe that I used to make my rhubarb syrup last May: about 1.5 cups of rhubarb (my stalks were significantly longer this go-round and I only used 4), a cup of water, and a cup sugar. This time I added a large handful of lilac blossoms to the mix and a few peels of lemon rind to keep things interesting.

The result is the same super vibrant syrup that turns into the perfect shade of light pink when it gets poured into water with ice. 
rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Rhubarb and lilac flowers.

The lilac fragrance is subtle enough to be enjoyable—too much and I fear it would be called soapy. With a few lilac blossoms sprinkled onto the top as garnish, the heady floral scent gets you right where you want it, in the nose. And besides, who can resist a flowery flourish?

Rhubarb and Lilac Syrup

Here’s what you need:

1.5 cups rhubarb, washed and sliced
1 cup granulated cane sugar
1 cup water
1 large handful of lilac blossoms removed from the stem
2 small segments of lemon peel, taking care not to include too much pith.

Here’s what to do:

Combine sugar, water, rhubarb, lilac and lemon peel into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the fruit has broken down completely and the color from the stalks has leached into the syrup. (This takes about twenty minutes. Depending on the color of your stalks the syrup will range from light pink to a deeper magenta.) Strain your mixture over a fine mesh sieve. I used cheesecloth this time, but it’s not strictly necessary. Whatever you don’t gulp straightaway, you can pour into a clean jar and keep refrigerated. It’ll last a very long time in the fridge, but not if I get to it first.rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Very roughly measured ingredients.rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Lilac blossoms removed from the stem and leaves.
rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Rhubarb, lilacs, and granulated sugar.rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Plus a few lemon rinds for good measure.
rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Straining the rhubarb.
rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Rhubarb and lilac syrup, strained.
rhubarb and lilac spritzer | reading my tea leaves

Rhubarb and Lilac Spritzer.

If not in sparkling water, the syrup would be just right in a summery gin cocktail or a cold glass of lemonade. It would be just right drizzled over vanilla ice cream. You wouldn’t be wrong to use it to drench a slice of pound cake or a bowl of strawberries. 

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14 Comments

  • Reply Maria Lara May 16, 2016 at 7:07 am

    what a lovely read to kickstart my week. *adds to Summer brunch menus*

  • Reply Alix May 16, 2016 at 7:41 am

    I had no idea lilacs were edible — just another reason to love them!

  • Reply Janice Armstrong May 16, 2016 at 8:12 am

    I have never thought of this…and I didn’t know lilac flowers are edible. Wondering is it safe to try the trees in our garden!!!! Love it, so summery; am definitely going to have a go!

  • Reply Jackie (York Avenue) May 16, 2016 at 10:40 am

    I also had no idea lilacs were edible! This is the prettiest spritzer I’ve seen as of late…can’t beat that light pink color.

  • Reply Christine May 16, 2016 at 11:04 am

    Such pretty photos! When I waitressed in Nice, I got obsessed with almond syrup in ice water–I could never get into the mint syrup either!

  • Reply Sara May 16, 2016 at 11:05 am

    I’m from the UK so I’ve never really heard of spritzers until recently, they’re not really popular where I’m from! These look incredible, and I love the idea of making your own syrup.. I want to experiment with different recipes now…

  • Reply Carmella May 16, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    Oh, THIS! Just brought Armload of Lilacs No.2 in for the dining table yesterday. They are incredible right now! And I’ve spied a patch of rhubarb going to seed in someone’s backyard. Think I’ll make a neighborly knock on their front door. A jar of syrup in exchange for some of their rhubarb, maybe?

  • Reply Sarah May 16, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    Wow, this is such a pretty looking drink, we love fruit and experimenting with new flavours, I think this will be a firm favourite in the house of Each and Peach this summer.

  • Reply d'Auria May 16, 2016 at 2:39 pm

    I definitely am going to be making a riff on this!

    This spritzer also called to mind the delicious spritzers we had at your SpringsLA event. Did you post a recipe for that, that I may have missed?

    bis bis.

    • Reply Erin Boyle May 16, 2016 at 2:40 pm

      Totally! Jessa was the one that made the syrup: hibiscus + blood orange!

  • Reply Erin May 16, 2016 at 3:41 pm

    Wahhhhaa! I wish I wasn’t so ungodly allergic to lilacs. They remind me so much of my childhood (my grandmother had a huge lilac bush in her yard) but, I get all stupid sneezy around them. 🙁

  • Reply eve May 16, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    this sounds perfect! my lilacs are still a week or so away from blooming, and rhubarb is just starting to come up- but I am counting down the days until I can make this!

  • Reply Resi May 17, 2016 at 10:48 am

    Wow! What an amazing color that syrup turned out to have! It sounds very tasty too. Greetings from a German spritzer-loving girl who can’t wait for summer 🙂 yay!

  • Reply carla June 13, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    Just re-posted this refreshing summer drink. Thanks!

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