I just love the smell of the lilacs in my garden. I would’ve loved to have cut some for a vase to enjoy them inside and fill my home with that wonderful scent, but there aren’t all that many flowers so I left them to be admired where they grew.

However, I just couldn’t resist using a few to try in this beautiful sorbet!

It was lovely to make together and so simple (even more so if you have an ice cream maker but we did it by hand).

We mixed together 1 cup roughly chopped lilac flowers, 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 cups water. Brought to a boil and then turned down the heat for a further five minutes. We left the syrup to cool and then sieved and put into a container and into the freezer. (I think the lilac syrup would also be rather lovely in a cocktail!)

My son took great delight in stirring the sorbet every so often to break up the ice crystals.

Served in the little teacups from my childhood, this special sorbet was a perfect treat to enjoy in our garden on a sunny day.

It has such a beautiful, delicate taste and really captures the essence of the lilacs.