With foraged hawthorn blossoms and some sugar, you can make a flavourful syrup for baking! Hawthorn blossom syrup has a delicious sweet nutty flavour – just like almonds – that’s tantalising when baked into cakes, drizzled over pancakes, or stirred into coffee.
Almond extract costs around £3 a bottle. Hawthorn blossoms are free from your hedgerow and give the same flavour naturally.
The almond flavour comes from benzaldehyde, a natural compound also found in cherry pits. This is not the same as nut proteins that trigger nut allergies, but if you have a severe allergy please consult your doctor before trying.
You will need to let the blossoms infuse to get a good flavour, so start this recipe the day before you plan to use the hawthorn blossom syrup.
Ingredients
Creates around 300ml of syrup.
- 60g foraged hawthorn blossoms (roughly 2 handfuls)
- 250g granulated sugar
- 200ml water
- 1tsp lemon juice
Method
- Measure the sugar into a small saucepan and add the water. Stir over a low heat to bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low until the sugar has fully dissolved.
- Set aside to cool to 40°C (or room temperature if you don’t want to fuss around with thermometers).
- Meanwhile, spread out your foraged blossoms and carefully pick over them to remove bugs, damaged petals, and any leaves or thick stalks hidden among the flowers.
- Once the simple syrup is cool enough, gently stir in the blossoms until fully submerged.
- Use tin foil or a small plate that will fit inside your saucepan to weigh down the flowers.
- Let the syrup infuse for 24 hours in a cool, dark place then strain out the flowers. Mix the lemon juice into the syrup and pour into sterilised bottles. Store in the fridge for up to a month.
How to Use Hawthorn Blossom Syrup
This recipe creates a hawthorn blossom-infused simple syrup which is ideal for replacing simple syrup in any recipe.
I have used it in:
- My Hawthorn Blossom, Lemon and Cardamom Cake Recipe
- Poaching pears
- As a syrup in my coffee (this flavour combo tastes like amaretto biscuits)
- Poured over pancakes and waffles
- Homemade hawthorn blossom ice cream (recipe coming soon)
- Fruit tarts (it’s amazing as a glaze)
- Stirred into overnight oats or porridge
- Used as a cordial with sparkling water
- Mixed into cocktails and mocktails
I’ve also found this amazing Hawthorn Bakewell Tart recipe at Totally Wild UK, though I am yet to try it myself.
FAQs
This is a simple syrup recipe with roughly equal amounts of sugar and water, so it should keep for up to a month in the fridge. Storing it in sterilised glass bottles rather than Tupperware will help it keep longer.
The lemon juice adds some acidity to the syrup which helps it to store for longer. It’s basically the natural version of adding citric acid as a preservative. Lemon juice also enhances the flavour of the almonds – it doesn’t add any lemony flavours when you’re only adding a small amount.
You can easily make this hawthorn syrup last for up to 6 months in the fridge by increasing the amount of sugar to 600g and keeping the remaining ingredient quantities the same as listed above. The higher sugar content helps to create an environment that bacteria can’t get a foothold in.
Hawthorn blossom syrup can also be frozen. Pour it into an ice cube tray and transfer to a ziplock bag once fully frozen. It should last for up to a year.
Another way to extend the life of your hawthorn blossom syrup is pasteurise it in a hot water bath. After decanting into sterilised glass bottles, submerge the bottles in boiling water (leave a little headspace) for 10 minutes. The pasteurised syrup should last up to a year in a cool, dark place. This isn’t my preferred method as the heat can reduce the almond flavour.
Regardless of preservation method, check your syrup for cloudiness, any floating fuzz, or off smell before using it. Trust your senses.
Hawthorn flowers typically bloom in the UK from late April to early May. Pick them on a sunny day and either use them immediately or store them in the fridge overnight. The longer they sit around, the more their flavour leaks out. Use my Hawthorn Foraging Guide to identify the plant.
Not an issue. You can either reduce or increase the other ingredients to scale the recipe up and down, or you can just use what you have.
The quantities of sugar and water are tied together – they create the density of a syrup and ensure it stores as expected. The blossoms simply add flavour, so if you increase or decrease the amount without touching the other ingredient quantities, you’ll get either a stronger or lighter flavour.
Hawthorn blossoms might have a rich, strong almond flavour when infused with syrup, but too much heat can make them bitter. 40°C is roughly the same temperature as a hot bath – any higher temperature and you risk ruining the flavour. You don’t need to be precise, however. You can let the syrup cool to room temperature.
Don’t skip weighing down the flowers at this stage. Keeping them submerged in syrup and reducing exposure to oxygen ensures a fresh, rich flavour.
Hawthorn blossoms are a source of benzaldehyde, a natural compound that gives cherry pits and almonds that distinctive nutty flavour. Most imitation almond extracts use a synthetic version of benzaldehyde to give it that almond flavour, but hawthorn blossoms are a natural alternative.
