Mistakes, Or Why My Violet Syrup Went To Hell

So a few weeks ago, I made a post about some amazing violet syrup that my best friend and I made.

I'd like to take a minute to share my recent findings with you all, so that you won't make the same mistake I made with this delicious treat.

About three days after my best friend went back home (boo-hoo!) I decided to see how many violets we had left in the lower yard and to try and make a bigger batch of violet syrup since I had sent some home with her. Luckily, and to my delight, there were PLENTY of flowers left, and I set to picking them in the morning, before the sun got too hot. I followed the same recipe I had last time, though the flowers were more tightly packed (which resulted in a near neon-purple color that was absolutely divine.)

As I had last time, I put the jars of syrup in the fridge and began thinking of all of the magnificent things I could do with it. (At the time I was trying to devise a way to make caramels with the violet syrup. If I ever figure out how to, you'll be the first to know!)

Well, the weeks passed and I just didn't find anything worthwhile to use the syrup for. I had some on ice cream, some in a glass of raw milk, mixed a little with a glass of red wine (which, unless you like sweet wine, really wasn't that phenomenal).

A few mornings ago, Wee One asked for pancakes for breakfast. I thought, what the heck, I'll have some violet syrup on mine! (He specified that he wanted blue pancakes, so I thought the violet syrup would work nicely with the color they ended up being.)

Lo and behold, when I got the syrup out of the fridge, something was off. I knew right away. There was...stuff in my syrup. Brownish gunky stuff. And when I opened it up, there was a smell that was entirely unpleasant. I braved a spoon-lick and immediately regretted it. My syrup had gone bad. It tasted horrible. Like rotted fruit and mold. Disgusting.

I was devastated. I had two entire jars of this ruined syrup. (I won't lie. I cried.)
What had gone wrong? What had I done? And more importantly, HOW could I stop it from happening again?

I flocked to the internet, trying to find the answer. What I found was no surprise, and made me feel like an idiot for not realizing it at the time I made the syrup.

For perfect syrup, the following steps need to be taken:

1. Boiling the liquid. The recipe I used didn't call for it, because of the delicate nature of the violet flowers, but in the future I will be doing it anyways. After straining out the flowers and before adding the sugar, bring the liquid to a boil for at least one minute. This way, we know anything icky that the syrup may have been predisposed to can be eliminated. (Note to self: strive to work the word 'eliminate' into your vernacular. It's a nice word.)
2. No eyeball measuring. Essentially, you must weigh and or measure out in exact amounts. I did not do this. I usually don't unless baking. For syrups, however, it is a necessity.
3. Same amount of sugar to liquid. No more. No less. This too was an issue, since I didn't measure exactly how much liquid there was, I didn't exactly how much sugar I needed. I eyeballed. Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea culinary culpa. The reason you need the same amount of sugar to liquid is simple: Too much sugar will prevent your syrup from properly diluting, and too little will cause the mixture to become contaminated with bacteria. (Hindsight is 20/20, yes?)
4. Acid, acid, acid. Add about a teaspoon of lemon juice (before the sugar, of course, because exact measurements tra-la-la!) and a teaspoon of citric acid (found at any brewing store or online and in some groceries) to your liquid. The acid keeps the syrup from molding, which is precisely what happened to mine.

I'm confident that with the above precautions, the next batch of floral syrup I make will be a success. And when it is, I'll definitely share it with you all.

Until the next adventure, my culinary comrades!